When the 950 and the Rotel 1066 first came out early last year, for many of us I think the raison d'etre for getting either one of them, rather than an earlier generation pre/pro (for under $2000 list) was to get DPL II and DTS NEO, which can be used to convert 2 channel CD's and FM into very realistic 5.1 channel sound. Although many people prefer listening to 2 channel as 2 channel only, the 5.1 channel in DPL II and DTS NEO are significantly better than anything in any "under $2000" pre/pro's, before the 950 (and Rotel 1066) came out.

It's not just for music. It can also be used for broadcast video. Even today, I sometimes use DTS NEO-C or DPL II-C decoding on the stereo-out of broadcast TV.

Unless you are sure you don't want DPL II or DTS NEO, you maybe owe it to yourself to at least listen to DPL II or DTS NEO on your favorite 2 channel CD's, somewhere, before getting the Parasound 1800.