HT! Good to see you posting here again! Glad to hear you have found audio "emotional peace". I was hoping it would work out for you. There are some really nice pre/pro's on the market these days. I have listened to a lot of them and would probably be happy with most any of them in my system. Some have more features than the 950- some don't. You're right, you can spend thousands more- (Isn't North America wonderful?!) fact is- give me a Lexicon MC-12 and I'll go away and never complain again. Key word here is --give-- I just won't (or can't) spend that much of my dollars for a preamp/processor. I don't begrudge those who have (Yeah, I'm envious- and I admit it!). I am more than satisfied with my decision to purchase the 950. At $899.00, I think it really does break the rules. Just hard to believe what it does for so little, which is why I believe the law of diminishing returns makes its primary residence here in audio land. This pre/pro made it really hard for me to want to spend a lot more for the small sonic gain one would expect to hear for hundreds or thousands more. For HT it's great- hard to beat for any price. I listen to 2 channel (and multichannel SACD) in bypass mode, preferring my CD player's output. Upgrade-itis effects some more than others. Right now, I too, am more than content- with the performance and features the 950 gives. I'm glad I took a chance and ordered- it was one of my better decisions!
So-what projector are you looking at? Did you buy new speakers also?