I am on the waiting list for the new 990, and looking forward to getting it so I can finally go to AC-3 (Dolby Digital, DTS, whatever, I'll just call it AC-3 here). My current pre/pro is an Adcom GTP 600 owner\'s manual .pdf I bought new in '95. It only does Dobly Prologic. It's been great at what it does, but I've been dying to hear what AC-3 will sound like.

My amp is a Adcom GSA 6000 owners manual .pdf which has been a very good 5 ch amp. However, it's only rated at 3x100W and 2x60W. But it is rated to deliver that to all 5 ch simulaneously.

I'm wondering if AC-3/Dobly Digital/DTS sends more info to the surrounds, i.e. more volume and demanding effects overall, and thus, my GFA 6000 wouldn't be up to the snuff? It drives my speakers fine as it is in Pro Logic. I'd hate to have to replace it, because I really love the "musicality" and warmth of it. Friends are usually amazed at how good a CD sounds over my two mains. I attribute this in large part to my Adcom GDA 600 (a seperate R-2R w/Bur-Brown PCM 63 DAC). GDA 600 owner\'s manual pdf

My speakers are all Polk:

Front: LS90 (10 years old, bought them at same time I bought the pre/pro, amp and all the other Adcom stuff)
LS90 review page

Center: CSi30
Polk\'s page on CSi30

Surround: FXi30
Polk\'s page on FXi30

Sub: PSW505
Polk\'s page on the PSW 505

BTW, I must have ruptured something in the sub, as it makes an unagreeable noise when turned up much at all. Only two years old, so I'm gonna see about getting warranty replacement (I've had very good experience in the past with Polk on warranty anyway). Otherwise, I'll get an SVS sub.

So, sorry for the long post, but besides the fact I won't be able to go 7.1 with my Adcom 5 ch amp, will it be solid enough to do the 990 justice?

Also, do you think the DAC in the 990 will do a better job then the one in my GDA 600 (for CD's anyway)?

BTW, big selling pint for me on the 990 is the DVI switcher. I ordered one from RAM before I found out about the 990 and they cost $250 ($224 for AVS forum memebers). Will be returning that as soon as I get it.

Thanks for your opinions/advice

other "stuff":
Line conditioner: Adcom ACE-515
Adcom\'s ACE-515 owner\'s manual
CD transport: Adcom GCD-600
Adcom owner\'s manual on GCD -600
Samsung SIR-360 HD DirecTV receiver
Oppo Digital upscaling DVD player web page
Toshiba 57" HD RPTV
XContainer

If your amp is satisfying your needs now, I would see no reason why it would not work with the 990 as well. I'd give it a shot at least. The 60W may be a bit low (Dolby Digital and DTS - or perhaps just competition between manufacturers - have caused most manufacturers to provide the same output at each channel. For what it's worth, some Polk owners on this forum have found that they were able to get more performance out of their speakers with more power.

I have an Adcom GSA 6000 in my rack along side an Outlaw 770 and 950. I think they are both excellent amps and I would bet you will have no problem using the Adcom all around. If you ever venture into 7.1 then step up the front to something like the M200's. The Adcom amp has a nice feature of variable input gain adjustment on every channel.

By the way, assid, how do you like the Oppo Digital player?

I know you weren't asking me, but the Oppo dvd player looks spectacular on my DLP tv. I was using a Liteon dvd recordable so it was an enormous difference in picture quality. I was seriously thinking about upgrading my projector to one with a dvi/hdmi input just so I can buy another Oppo for my theater. I will put it this way, for $200 I doubt you will find a better picture anywhere. The thing that stands out to me the most is the blacks, which are definitely blacker than black. Because of that, the colors just pop, almost to a three dimensional level. One thing to remember, this player does not do 480p over component. Weird, I know.

Thanks for the advice, I do appreciate it.
gonk, I haven't been home yet to hook up the Oppo DVD player. I'm Active Duty military (AF fighter pilot) and don't get home til next week. I just ordered the Oppo a couple days ago. I was waiting for the Vinc Bravo V2, but then I read up on the Oppo and came to the conclusion it was overall better.
On another note, the balanced outputs that the 990 offers has me contemplating whether I should, if I buy a new amp, get one with balanced inputs. However, I don't seem able to find any 5 or 7 channel ones that are priced reasonably. The ATI AT2000 series peaks my interest, but that's a little more than I want to spend. I'm still trying to read up on the merits of using balanced outputs...if anyone has actual experience using/listening to a system that uses them, I'd appreciate any thoughts as to whether it's worth the extra cost in getting an amp that has those jacks.
Does anyone know if the amp coming out by the AV123 folks, the Emotiva Ultra Lite LPA-1 will have balanced inputs?

Since none of the posts in the AV123 forum have ever mentioned balanced inputs on the LPA-1 and considering the price point that the LPA-1 is aiming at I would seriously doubt that it uses a balanced topography, which would make balanced inputs (even if they were included) pretty useless. I would probably recommend staying with either your existing amp or a new amp with standard unbalanced inputs - I don't think you'll lose anything.

Gonk,
I'm finally back home after being on a 4 month TDY. It's good to be home.
So, I hooked up my new Oppo DVD player today, along with my Geffen DVI switch. For the DVD player, I was getting the slow screen roll in 1080i with my Tosh RPTV, but Oppo has a hot fix firmware update for it on their website. Burned it to CD and followed the procdures they specified and it now works in 1080i without the vertical hold problem (it worked in 720p all along, but that's not native to my tv like 1080i is). Not sure if I can tell much of an improvement (other than now it doesn't roll DVD output set to 1080i anymore). But, I must say, the picture is absolutely outstanding. I've only looked at Gladiator so far, but it looks everybit as good as a true HD program from DirecTV. I can't tell the difference anyway. I am quite pleased with the Oppo so far. I don't see how the picture could get any better, and I've watched quite a bit of HD programing from DirecTV.
Also, I talked to their customer suport: only one voice tree item then right to a human being. VERY friendly and helpful. When I had a problem making an image of their file onto my CD, they sent me an email with a link to a downloadable program that would do it for me (turns out I just needed to update my copy of Nero). They even called me back to make sure I was able to do it, and offered to send me for free, a CD containing the file needed to flash the unit. I would without any reservation recommend this player.
As for the Geffen DVI switcher, it works as advertised. Very slick unit. (I bought it before I knew about Outlaw and the 990). Fortunately, I think a bud of mine will buy it from me when I get my 990. But, if anyone needs to be able to switch DVI sources, the Geffen unit (at least the 2v1 model) works great.
As for my original questin on my amp, I ordered a B stock Adcom 7607 from Audio Advisor. It shows up tomorrow. Now, I need another set of speakers for 7.1 Of course, I won't be able to enjoy all 7 at once as I don't have my 990 yet. But I'll at least hook speakers up to all outputs from my amp to make sure all channels operate.
I decided on the Adcom cause my current Adcom made it through 6 moves to 5 different countries, ran fine via voltage transformers and dealt with 50hz without any gripes, and if you sell me a good product, I'll show you loyalty. I've never bought a B stock before, but it's supposed to have a factory warranty. Has anyone had problems with a B stock item before? Of course, you could have problems with a new item....

I've exchanged somee-mail with the Oppo tech support group, and they have been very good to work with - reminscent of Outlaw in their openness and interest in helping. I may try to pick one of these up and see how it works - your success is one more bit of positive feedback that would help justify it. Thanks.

assid:

Hope you don't mind my asking, but are you Navy or AF? If the former, is it really true that you use nicknames as your call signs, as forever burned into every early home theater enthusiast's brain with endless demos of Top Gun? If so, could you share your call with us? Maybe we'll convince you to change it to "Outlaw"?

Good luck with your gear and enjoy your time home. Thanks for keeping us safe...and you fly safe!

I can't comment on whether or not you will like how the 990 sounds, but I can say that going from Pro Logic to DD or DTS will be a HUGE jump for the better, especially with the dedicated LFE channel.

this has nothing to do with stereos.....

Podboy

Yes, I'm in the USAF. Assid is my nickname, but we don't use our nicknames as our flight callsign. They are two different things. Once you become a flight lead, then you'll get a callsign (usually bought during an every-so-often callsign auction your squadron will have). Each squadron gets assigned a list of callsigns for its use. Some of them are cool, some of them are really lame. If you aren't prepared to pay a decent amount of money during an auction, you'll probably get stuck with a lame one. As a flight lead, if you're leading the flight, then the flight plan will be filed under your callsign, and that's the callsign everyone in your flight will use when talking to outside agencies (ATC, etc) and each other. You're nickname usually sticks with you forever, and is usually earned do to some personality trait, screw up, or other clever play on words. But, when you get assigned to a different squadron, you'll have to use one of the flight callsigns that that squadron "owns". My flying callsigns have been Strut, Buick, Mojo and Rocky. But, I've been known as Assid since my first tour in Korea (yes, I've done two tours in Korea...ugh) back in '91.
Hope that makes sense.

Gonk, when speaking with the Oppo techs, have they mentioned anything about the upcoming OPDW9916 / Divx DVI DVD Recorder? I am very interested in this unit. Oppo is a very impressive company. You will find that Dennon DVD players, and a few others are pretty much Oppo products.

assid:

Thanks for the background. It actually does make sense and one presumes one way or another helps to create a unified spirit in a unit.

John, I didn't ask about the DVD recorder, and they didn't mention it. I'll bet if you drop them a line, though, they'll at least respond (don't know if the recorder is far enough along for them to be able to give you much about it).

I called Surf Audio Video (an authorized reseller of Oppo) and asked what they knew about upcoming DVD units. They said they thought there was a new unit planned for fall 05 release, but weren't sure about the date or features. I'd love to know if anyone can find out additional info.

I did talk with customer service a few weeks ago, and I got the impression that the Oppo OPDW9916 / Divx DVI DVD Recorder would be released soon, but there is no definite date yet. It has gone through beta testing.
You can view the specs @ www.oppodigital.com By chance, I was hoping that maybe the techs had given Gonk some information about the release date. Oh well, I'll just have to wait it out.

I commented on another forum about the Oppo unit, and an installer (not familiar with the Oppo) said I should try to determine if it had TrueLife adjustments with the Faroudja chip:
"TrueLife in on your (Infocus) SP5700 menu - it is the Faroudja tweaking - chroma detail, etc. That has been the biggest complaint of the Faroudja based upconverting players - is the Faroudja implementation is fixed and suboptimal."

Anyone here know if that option is available on the Oppo?