Personally, I think the most I would ever be willing to spend on a processor would be $2500, possibly 3k. Ideally 2k would be a nice comfortable zone with me.

Calling the Integra Research RDC 7.1 affordable is kind of odd as it costs around $5500.

I do agree that its modularity is an uber cool feature though.

I also agree with Jed M. $2000-2500 is about the most I'd want to spend on a pre-pro.

As far as HDMI switching and all that, I think you'll just have to wait a few years before you see it readily available in pre-pros as the spec is still very much a moving target at the moment.

And perhaps instead of modularity, they offer two versions a 990 V2 M that doesn't have any video switching for those who just want a music pre-pro and a 990 V2 HT that has everything plus the kitchen sink for those who want a home theater pre-pro.

As far as how it looks...that's a tertiary consideration if you ask me. Most important things are how it performs and what features it has. Besides no matter how it looks there will always be someone who thinks it looks to simple or too flashy. Much more important to keep the build quality and performance high than to worry about the faceplate.

Also agree that it would a "nice to have" to be able to set up the unit completely from the front LCD panel, but not completely necessary.

In fact a lot of what people are asking for are "nice to haves" while the biggest issue is how well it works.

And at $1100, the 990 already does more than pretty much any other pre-pro out there for the price, or receiver for that matter...

I'll just have to wait for mine to arrive before making final judge on how well it delivers performance/quality wise...

Of course in the back of my mind is an 8 year old kid saying "is it here yet? is it here yet? is it here yet?" ad infinitum.

Couldn't agree more, except that the first one is also a complete non-starter. I'd like to see:

• 0.5db level trim increments.
• Per-source level adjustments
• Per source default volume levels (When I switch to DVD, set volume to X)

I'm sure I missed some. But a farking radio isn't one of 'em. That's why god invented tuners.

Quote from BloggingITGuy....
IMO ... i find it very interesting the volume of "nice to haves". To me it sends an unspoken message that Outlaw is covering the basics - sound, customer service, quality, price - really well.

$2K-2.5K (pre/pro)would be tops for me too.
Dreamin': LCD front panel/display, Bass management suite, remove all but 1-2 RCA video inputs (keep the rest).

I would be willing to pay in the $2000 to $3500 depending on options selected.

If the 990 is $1100 today I would expect all the same input/output options as is currently available on the 990, would gladly pay a $500 premium for the flexability of a card based architecture.

I am assuming no additional cost for room correction/EQ as I believe it is neccesary to stay competitive.

For HDMI switching (4 in 1 out) with analog up/cross conversion and scaling (DVDO level scaling) i would pay around $700

I would be willing to pay $500 to upgrade the current output stage with a tube output stage (preferable switchable like is found on the Cary Audio 303 series CD player).

USB DAC board (multi channel) $150 to $200

i.link board $150 to $200

To do what you're asking would require a brand new hardware design, as it is nowhere near a minor design alteration, nor a simple matter to support ongoing hardware and firmware upgrades. Considering that the 990 is based upon a standardized hardware platform from Etronics, and that its price point is due to the development costs being spread amongst multiple brands using said platform, you couldn't expect Outlaw to deliver something to that spec for any less than Onkyo does.

The card-based design is a sweet idea, and the thought of customizing and constantly updating a pre/pro is tempting. However, I'm dubious that it will become an industry norm, since it would preclude users from buying new units down the road, and to offset that sales loss the upgrades would need to be expensive, even more so because customer support needs would increase dramatically. Hence the cost of the Onkyo.

I agree with sluggo that card-based will probably never be an industry norm or even relatively common - the handful that have reached market have consistently been very expensive. (I'd guess that an Outlaw unit of this type would probably have to cost $2000 to $3000 for just the core hardware if past card-based units are any indication with individual cards costing $400 to $600 each, although those numbers are just SWAGs on my part.) Plus the logistics of stocking and supporting modular units like that is not something that consumer electronics companies are used to. It's an attractive option from the standpoint of being able to only pay for the hardware you want, but a well-designed product aimed at the standard market demands will always be less expensive to develop and sell.

While a modular solution would be a lot more expensive than the present 990, one would expect that Outlaw could do one for significantly less than the likes of Onkyo/Integra/Integra Research and Meridian.

I wouldn't be surprised if they could offer the base unit for $1500-2000 and fully stocked unit for $3000.

Gonk is right though that as long as they keep the unit to about what it costs now, it's just cheaper to replace the whole thing than it would be to buy a modular system.

Plus the big problem with modular systems as I see it, is that it requires a lot of faith on the part of the consumer that the manufacturer will continue to support the chassis with new modules and won't stop support 5 or 6 years out.

Oh and a modular system introduces a large number of moving parts to a unit that now have to be tested separately and together.

Of course, in theory it is the way to go and what I'd like to have, but it isn't without its own pitfalls.

Personally, the only real change that I think could be made to the unit as it is right now is the separation of the balanced from the unbalanced outputs so that both can be used at once. That seems to be something that more than a few people out there could use. Oh, and yeah one or two more component ins would be nice.

HDMI though? Nah, too early to worry about including that. By the time Outlaw is ready to introduce a successor to the 990, I expect that the whole HDMI thing is figured out and would hope that there isn't some new connector type on the horizon.

For right now though, I'm happy lusting after the 990 that is on its way.

Unless the modular design becomes an industry standard, they won't offer it at all. It would cost too much money to design something so complex and proprietary to be able to deliver on their own. Onkyo can do it because they have deep pockets for R&D, and they can afford it if it doesn't sell well.

You said it. Since there is no agreed-upon compatibility standard here, if you buy it from Onkyo, Outlaw, etc., and they go out of business next year, you're SOL.

sluggo, gonk and BloggingITGuy,

Interesting points by all of you.

Would like to offer some additional options

If that is the case why could Outlaw not lean on Etronics again to build a standardized modular platform which Etronics can then license. It will give each company which choose to licensing the platform the ability to differentiate with various nuances.

I guess that at $1100 the 990 could be considered disposable after a few years and as Outlaw offers updated products. It will be hard to say how much of their revenue has the potential to be canablized by a card based architecture. It will be dependant on several factors. I take a slightly altered view in that I believe a card based architecture can have two effects. Ultimately, the consumer will spend the same ammount of money in equal or less time (upgrade cycle) using the card based architecture. It is the continual up sell cycle. So in short, I think you will have some customer which will shell out $3000 to $3500 for a fully decked out unit today (dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow) and will not upgrade for another 5 years. But even with those customer you will still have the opportunity for follow on sells before that 5 year is up based on the possibility of significant technology shifts. So that customer over a 5 year period could be worth $4000 to $5000 instead of the initial $3000 to $3500. If customer can only afford $1100 now for a unit and and the unit does not afford me the flexibility to upgrade as I can afford to, I will likely live with that unit for 1.5 to 3 years. Where if i purchase a $1500 that offers me the flexability to upgrade when I can afford it, I will likely spend more in a shorter time period, because I really wanted the $3500 unit originally.

The above thoughts are what I hope to be educated speculation and really could only be validated by a study of demographics related to the current customer base.

Outlaws ditribution model is different than the normal consumer electroncs companies in the category of home audio/video. The primary distribution channel for audio/video components has historically been successful only through established retails dealers. Honestly, I think Onkyo will fail with its card based architecture not because of its design but because of its distribution model.

Outlaw on the other hand being a direct to consumer oriented busines/distribution model could benefit greatly from a card based architecture and logisitics would be relatively easy.

I would like to draw Outlaws current state with that of Dell computers in its early days (If you are interested check out a copy of Dell direct). The card based architecture also affords them the luxury to react to the market much more quickly instead of having to rebuild a unit from the ground up.

I go back to my orignal point in this thread. I believe Outlaw continues to leverage Etronics for designing the base platform which can then be lisenced to multiple brands. In short Etronics builds a bus based architecture like a PCI mother board is the PC and then the individual brands can lisence and build on top of that.

Just offering some friendly banter about the posiblities (This is wish list stuff).