Just wondering....let's say the 978 sells for between $1500-$2000. It's feature set looks really good, but do the "higher end" pre/pros like Classe, Bryston, Lexicon etc. offer much better performance & sound quality, or is it really just a case of fancy metal work and the fact they are sold through dealers instead of direct? I know this is hard to answer as the 978 isn't even out yet. I guess what I'm saying is I don't want to sacrifice sound quality, but I don't want to (grossly) overpay, either.