Price IS an issue for me, so I tend to buy budget pre/pro's or pre/pro/tuners and for the same reason, I don't upgrade every year like some folks do. I won't upgrade what I have unless it's for a "gotta have" feature and of course, the price has to be right. At the time I got my 950, a "gotta have" feature was DPL II.

As I recall, the very first inexpensive pre/pro available to the general public that supported DPL II was the Rotel 1066 closely followed by the even cheaper Outlaw 950. Even today, these two remain two of the least expensive pre/pro's or pre/pro/tuners with DPL II available to the general public -- which is remarkable since they've each been out for about a year and a half.

I don't yet know what will replace my 950. I don't know when I'll replace it. But I'm pretty sure it will be replaced by a budget pre/pro/tuner. I think a "gotta have" feature will be it has to support the STANDARD digital interface for DVD-A and SACD. And I think budget pre/pro's and pre/pro/tuners will support this standard before long since players and receivers (from different brands so they should interoperate) already support it. Hopefully budget pre/pro's and pre/pro/tuners will be available soon that support the same standard interface that receivers are already starting to support.

Best,

Will

[This message has been edited by Will (edited August 31, 2003).]