I had comtemplated the same thing before buying the 970. For me a it was a huge difference in qaulity as opposed to using a reciever. The reciever was fine for low to moderate volumes, however, even when I started using the 7075 it much cleaner. I eventually went to a separate amp for my mains and again a noticeable improvement especially for peaks. It was not how loud it would play but rather the quality of playback for movies and music. It does n't hurt that it plays very loud (if I want it to) in a room that is 36' long with very few partitions. I think you plan is a good one. Get the amp now and wait for the next generation of processor. Besides they have a really good sale on right now. So good, I bought one myself. As with many others, my system is always progressing assuming I can sell the old stuff.