I hope that the next 7.1 preamp has a lot more features than Balanced Outputs to justify the price above the 950. IMO balanced outputs are not necessary in most home applications. However, I do understand the marketing. When you have an amp with Balanced Inputs, it make sense to have a preamp that matches. It will be very interesting from a pricing stand point, to look at the 1070 for use as a preamp vs the new 7.1 preamp.