"Far superior" is a bit vague. The Pioneer is apparently based on Motorola chipsets (as is the Anthem AVM-20), rather than Cirrus chipsets (the chipsets used by the 950, the Rotel 1066, the Fosgate pre/pro, and a few others) -- the Motorola chipsets are certainly good technology, but whether they are superior to the Cirrus is (in my opinion) open to debate. I don't doubt that the 49TX has a good, low noise floor. For an MSRP of $4000 and a street price of around or above $2500, it needs to. The 950's noise floor has been the subject of much debate, but with the "blue dot" revisions I have a hard time arguing that it now lacks a low noise floor. I'd probably put the 49TX at or near the top of the list of flagship receivers (the new AVR-507 looks pretty impressive, too, but it will probably cost a few hundred dollars more). The flagships tend to offer more features than comparably-priced pre/pro amp combinations, for what that's worth...

Here's an idea that might help resolve your decision-making process: look around the shops in your area and do some listening to the 49TX compared to some of the 950's contemporaries (Rotel 1066, or even better yet one of the clones, either the Atlantic Tech or Sherbourn). That way you can compare the information available online, the resources of your budget, and most importantly your own ear. You may decide that you are perfectly happy with a receiver. Or you may decide that as nice as the Pioneer is, you will feel better with the "security" of separates so you can sell the pre/pro and buy something newer in two or three years when the latest and greatest technology arrives.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

[This message has been edited by gonk (edited February 10, 2003).]