I've been wondering if there is any difference in PL II decoders by the various manufacturers. I have an Onkyo Integra DTR 8.3 and I really dislike playing anything in PL II. I find that too much information comes out of the center channel at the expense of the fronts. When I use the "direct" function for watching satellite, I seem to get a wider soundfield because only the L/R are working. I guess it is nice to hear some crowd noise from the surrounds when watching a sporting event, but other than that I haven't found PL II to be a very good decoding scheme.