phatlac, if you've already made your decision to go with the Outlaw 950/770/755 (etc.), I'm sure you will be extremely happy with your purchase and the level of performance it gives you. If you are still comparison shopping, I would like to suggest you look a little more deeply at the Rotel gear.

First, don't believe everything you read for or against various products without asking someone who actually knows. For example, I had a long conversation with a Rotel manufacturing rep just last week and learned that the Rotel 1066 has improved its bass management substantially from its first production run. You can now choose to have or not have the double bass so often mentioned. You can have bass management on analog as well as digital inputs. Yes, you have the same low filter setting on all speakers (rather than the 950's different settings for mains, center, and surrounds), but you can assign completely different settings for each digital (or analog) playback mode (vs. the 950's one size fits all modes). Since I haven't yet gotten big into DVD-audio playback, the Rotel's option makes more sense to me, as I find DD5.1 requires different bass mgmt. vs. DTS 5.1 vs. DD Prologic II vs. DD6/7.1 vs. DTS 6/7.1, vs. stereo analog, etc. I don't want to have to change the bass setting each time a DVD requires a different playback mode from the previous one. If/when I do get big into DVD-audio, I'll go with 4 full range speakers, or an Outlaw ICBM, or both. (the ICBM is cheaper than a new pair of speaker cables!) Or I might just upgrade to the new Rotel 1088 pre/pro which has separate bass mgmt for each speaker in your system (similar to the Anthem, and priced the same -- $3,000)... Unless Outlaw has their high-end pre/pro off the drawing boards by then.... (Our local Rotel dealer gives 100% of the purchase price as an incentive for any trade-up ocurring within one year from date of purchase - on any piece of audio/video gear including cables!) One last item, everyone still claims the 1066 does not have HDTV-capable component switching, which is untrue. Rotel changed from the original 50Mhz chip after the first 3-6 months of production, and currently uses a 200Mhz chip for its component switching in the 1066. What bandwidth does the 950 employ?

In summary, just as you always need to "listen for yourself," you should also do a little of your own research. Especially when you are asking the "defenders of the faith" about some one else's philosophy. Make up your own mind and then enjoy!