I've been tracking these forums for a looong time and finally decided to give some of these products a whirl. I've got a dedicated theater, custom built with sound proofing, etc. Atlantic Technology 370 THX Ultra system with sub. I mostly listen through SPDIF (new creative card) with my HTPC (powerDVD). For the past couple of years, I've been using a Denon 3801. I recently got a 950/770 combo and did some initial compares in three configurations, 3801, 3801+770, 950+770. I use the room almost exclusively for movies, so that's what I've been comparing.

I am definitely not a professional reviewer or anything, so I can only say what my ears and the few people I've had over have found. Also, I've calibrated everything with an SPL and speaker distances.

With this combination, we found that the greatest improvement in clarity came from the addition of the 770 to the 3801. Throwing in the 950 added a little more clarity (the 3801 sounds a bit "muddy", but much better than standalone). Two drawbacks to adding the 950 are "pops" that occur almost any time I resume playing and the delay for the sound to start when playing is resumed.

Still searching for more, yesterday I got a Lexicon MC-12 (version 2 upgrade) on loan and connected it up. Surprisingly, the Lex also does the "popping" thing that the 950 does, although the pops seem to be not quite as loud. And, the Lex also has a delay to the sound (for example, at the menu on "Shrek", when you click "play", the sound delay caused me to miss the first pig saying "Play the movie". The 3801 neither pops nor delays.

With the price point differential, I was expecting to be bowled over by the Lex, but I wasn't. I ran a test of the Lex versus the 3801/770 at first. Again, clarity was better and the panning from front to back seemed to be a little smoother, but it wasn't a gigantic leap. My wife was also able to pick the Lex as the better piece. When I switched in the 950 versus the Lex, we could still hear a difference with the Lex, but again not dramatic.

So far my tests have included the THX intro and the Pod race on the SWE1 disc, multiple Matrix scenes, the Superbit intro and DTS intro on Johnny Mnemonic, Intro and beginnings of Juraisic Park 3, beginning of Agent Cody Banks, and watching Das Boot.

Can anyone recommend other things I should listen to to really hear the benefit of Logic7? I haven't watched regular TV with it yet, but will try this tonight (Sopranos). I have until tomorrow morning to play with the Lex.

At this point, it almost comes down more to inputs and outputs and what features will work better with my system. I might decide to keep the 770 or maybe go back to the drawing board and test a new integrated receiver. Or maybe I need to upgrade my speakers to hear a more significant difference?