It's official, my 950 had given up the ghost too. Don't have the scratch to pick up a new anything at the moment and my wife wants me to get the 950 fixed. I told her it'll cost more to fix than it's worth and would rather save the repair money for a new unit. Given all the difficulties with the SN 972 I'm pretty sure my next unit will not be the 997 whenever...or if...it ever comes out. I'll definitely be looking at the Onkyo/Integra offerings and possibly a Denon receiver to use as a preamp.