I plan on doing a 990 v Emotiva UL showdown when it comes out. Sure, the 990 is almost double the price but I have faith in both of these companies so I will need to hear each of them for myself.

That will be an interesting showdown - I'll be curious to hear how it turns out once both are available. Of course, to flip the scales, I'd also be curious to see a 990 v Emotiva DMC-1 comparison.

Me too, I just don't want to plunk down that much money to do a comparison, but I sure hope somebody does.

The 950 was a definite step up from the 701 and if PLIIx did not exist the 950 would be the winner hands down. The 950 had a more fluid soundstage for movies and was much better musically although I found it to be a tad bright in my system whereas the Onkyo was not. I just toned down the treble a step.

i, too, would think that the outlaw would be superior to the onkyo in re: to sound quality, though I do not know this for sure... as far as features, the onkyo probably has the advantage over the 950.

onkyo used to be quite a bit better than they are now a days...

no,onkyo used to be A LOT better than now a days

In the world of home theater, there isn't likely to be any properly functioning preamp/processor that is "10 times" better than another. Dolby Labs tests everything that bears their trademark to insure that it operates within specifications, and only a few decoding chip sets are available anyway. The results will be more similar than different in most instances. The 950 has gone up against some rather expensive competition in my home theater, and the differences fall into the category of insignificant with Dolby and DTS material. For Redbook CD there have been greater differences, but the 950 has more than held the line against some far more expensive components. It sounds quite clean and smooth. The 990 has big shoes to fill, and I certainly hope it does.