Thanks for response. Intuition suggested that should be the case, but after many decades of being a high end audio enthusiast, intuition failed me often. Also, I will post my current AV system soon. As a precursor, the 976/5000 replaced an Onkyo TX-818 AV receiver which died completely after 4 years of use. That was a 1st, since no audio component I've ever owned departed so completely. However, it was time to move on to much better performing components, after I dismantled my outrageously expensive home theater 4+ years ago. Now, if the 7140 was in stock... So many balanced cables; so little use.