Gary

I used a 1050 for something like a year and a half, maybe a little longer. For half of that time it was paired up with a Model 750. I've had my 950 (with the 750 and an older Parasound for the surround back) since early April. The difference between the two (at least to my ears, with my equipment) for stereo use was startling. The 950 is very good at home theater, as has often been noted. Personally, I was probably most impressed with the sound of my CD's (in stereo mode -- I use PL2 for TV watching and Dolby Digital 2.0 DVD's, but I run my CD player in stereo mode). Shortly after I got my 950, I remarked at least once that I had a hard time making myself try the surround modes and other sources because I really just wanted to sit down and listen to some CD's in stereo mode. Your mileage may vary, of course -- a lot depends on personal preference and component interaction, and my opinions are only opinions.

As for the 1050, I have a question. Have you tried connecting your CD player to the 5.1 direct inputs on the 1050? Using an analog connection to the CD inputs will mena that you get an A/D conversion, processing (bass management and what-not), and a D/A conversion. Using the left and right channels of the 5.1 direct inputs will cut out all of that and just give you volume control. If your CD player has particularly good DAC's, I would expect a reaction similar to yours if you stuck some extra processing in the signal path. If you've already tried this, then you're one step ahead of me.

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