hey Mark, when you say the 1050 makes your speakers sound better, what exactly are you referring to, and also, how do you have your speakers setup through the 1050 ? I just purchased one last week and finally hooked it up last night. To tell you the truth after setting my Polk RT55i's to small and crossover setting at 80hz, I don't get as much as a punch off this thing as my old Sony 2x50 2 channel receiver that I purchased 10 years ago.