Smitty,

My current unit is a Yamaha RX-V630 (75Wx6) and I've listened to the Rotel 1056 and 1067, the Arcam 300, Yamaha RX-V1500 and RX-V757. I'm on the pre-order list for the Emotiva ULs (pre-pro/amp combo) but obviously haven't heard this yet since it's not shipping (the amp is listed as 125x5, 2x50 into 8ohms IIRC). The Arcam clearly sounded the best - even though it seems lacking in power initially as well - but my budget can't handle its price tag. Compared to the rest, the sound of the 1070 is "neutral" meaning no excessive low-end or high-end coloration of the source. I too only have 5.1 but it seems harder and harder nowadays to get a good 5.1 unit (or maybe I'm just not looking hard enough). I still feel the power is somewhat lacking at 65Wx5 and would really prefer not to have the volume just a few clicks from max for most of my listening. I also noticed that in bypass mode the test tones drop from about 72dB to the mid 60's and this is also evident when playing CDs - the volume drops noticeably when switching from 2-channel stereo mode to bypass. I really like the sound from the bypass mode but am now without a CD player for a few days to run any more listening tests so I haven't been able to check if power/volume is an issue.

I'm really hoping to get the replacement CD player quickly and will be testing as many DVDs as I can until then to help me decide if the power output is a show-stopper. If it's close (meaning my wife keeps telling me to turn it down) I don't mind dealing with it for a while and putting an amp on my wish list for next year... but that wasn't my goal when intially deciding on this unit.