OK, it's almost 11:30 PM on the first full day of living with the 950/770 combo, and I still haven't yet gotten a movie into the DVD player to give it a try. I'm on vacation this week (just hanging out at home) and so I have plenty of time to see what these puppies can do. This afternoon I had just put in the DVD "The Concert for George" when some family members stop by and they weren't really into it, so I stopped it after a song or two and went back to music from DirecTV. Since then I've been listening to CDs and still being amazed with the clarity. I promise to eventually try a movie to see how it sounds, but I'm having difficulty stopping the music.

Lasher, I was going to hold off until the "970" is released before taking the plunge, since I was thinking that the 950 was not really offering much of a difference in the way of features than my Yamaha offers. Since I really did have the upgrade bug anyway, I was thinking of purchasing a 7-channel amp to augment the Yamaha and then be able to use it with the 970 when it is released. But when I did the math on the b-stock 950/new 770 combo with free shipping compared to the price of a new 770 with ground shipping, it turns out that the difference is only $424. So I rationalized that I was getting an excellent 7-channel amp that should do all that I need for many years to come for list price, and then picking up a decent pre/pro to go with it for about the price of a mediocre receiver, which would hold me over until the 970 comes out. And if I would get the modest improvement in sound that I was expecting, it would be a good $424 investment. After spending the day listening to the sound being produced, I feel that I've gotten a value way beyond the amount spent on the 950.