[Kenwood] TS-950 and others help please

[Vince Shirley]

Hi everyone,
I'd be interested in the views of the list members on the following.
For a standby rig I have a maximum budget of about £1400 (about $2400).  >From digging around what is available in the UK I seem faced with the choice of the following models..
A used 950SDX for about £1390 (about $2370), a new TS870 for about £1250 (about $2125) or an used Icom 756 Pro 2 for about £1100 ($2000 or thereabouts)
I'm tending towards the 950 if its fully stocked with filters but having had a 940 some years ago which cost me an arm and a leg to keep on the air (mostly through the old problem of PLL unlocks) I'm just a little concerned that the 950 could be a little elderly and start having reliability problems.
Can anyone offer their views on the reliability of the 950SDX please? I'd be grateful too if anyone can tell me what serial number model I should be looking for for a later model.  
I'm a casual DX chaser and tend towards CW (but not exclusively) and I've found that little extra power may well give an slight edge in the pileups so the 150 watts is quite attractive.
Given the choice above - what would you do ?
Vince G0ORC

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