Dave: I am in the same boat but looking at the 3700 as it will allow one to shut off all internal amps and use as a dedicated preamp. It's a tough call but the Denon has many features I will never use such as Atmos and multizone capability, plus there's a lot going on in these boxes with a limited power supply. For these reasons I am leaning toward the 976, I just think it's going to sound better in the end.