At last the user manual is posted, and we can get answers to our long-awaited questions, although some questions had been answered before this.

THE GOOD
1. All the available surround processing technology is there, every last mother's son of Dolby point-whatever.
2. Trust me, you won't tell any difference between the Outlaw 990 and a Lexicon, Meridian, Rotel, Bryston, etc. operating in the same mode with the same settings.
3. DVI is here! Although HDMI may take over in the industry, an adaptor will get you up to speed video-wise.
4. The 990 is a great value for movie watching.
5. It allows for expansion to 7.1 SACD when that day arrives, and it probably soon will.
6. Unlike the 950, speaker setup allows for separate parameters for surrounds and rears.
7. The 990 is a clear step up from the 950.

THE BAD
1. All the bad press here on DSP, I’m sorry to say, led Outlaw to cut corners on this vital aspect just as it did on the 950. No, I'm not talking about simulated "hall" modes, but I want the ability to adjust delay and high frequency contouring on the surrounds and back channels to get the best from two-channel, acoustically recorded sources. Surrounds in this case must NOT be full range, and adjusting delay and high frequency rolloff simulates hall size by utilizing the recording’s out-of-phase information. T’aint possible with the 990 any more than it was with the 950, blast it! Dolby IIx is great as far as it goes but fails on this aspect, too.
2. Related to 1 above, the 990’s tone controls appear to be the old-fashioned kind, not digital. A tone control bypass button on a digital processor is like putting a starter crank on a BMW.
3. It's big. In my case, that's no problem, but it might be for others.
4. The USB port is on the @#$(&^*@! back of the unit!
5. Distance parameters for speakers are still in 1 db increments. Precise channel balance is very important, and 1 db won’t quite cut it.
6. Room EQ is noticeable by its absence. Outlaw should, and probably will, rectify that omission.
7. Only two DVI inputs is a little sparse, adequate this year but probably not next.
8. Didn’t the 950’s remote have macro capability, or am I thinking of another product? I didn’t see it in the 990’s user manual.

THE WORTHLESS
1. Balanced outputs is a surprising inclusion at this price level, especially because they rarely, if ever, offer any audible improvement in a home environment. Unnecessary increase in the cost.
2. AM-FM tuner. In this age of satellite radio (and digital broadcasts as soon as music producers get over their paranoia), why bother? FM barely qualifies as a high-fidelity medium thanks to the broadcasting restraints forced upon it. Unnecessary increase in the cost.
3. Phono input. The ever-decreasing number of record lovers likely already have a separate phono preamp, and the 990 can't handle moving coil cartridges anyway. It's like putting a rumble seat in a Jaguar, i.e., another unnecessary increase in cost.
4. I can't tell from the user manual (and couldn't with the 950 either until I played with it), but that level trim control looks suspiciously unchanged. The circuit was pointless on the 950 because it did not add or detract from any channel's level but permanently changed original settings. Looks like more of the same, but, as Bill O’Reilly says, “I could be wrong.”

Well for me, these two are not anywhere near worthless. Certainly FM as high fidelity is suspect, but there are times when I'll be working (my workshop is near my HT and will be in a seperate zone) and I want to listen to a ballgame (go Nats!) or listen to an NPR show. Having the tuner is perfect for this. A tuner in my setup (going back to the 1970's) never replaced vinyl or CDs, but was an alternative for non-critical listening means.

As for the phono input - I have a high end phono pre-amp on my 2 channel system - love it. Having access to my vinyl w/out another device in my HT is a bonus - it certainly adds worth in my case.

Of course YMMV

The Good I am looking forward to trying out Dolby Headphones on my Senn HD-600's. Doesn't this somewhat contradict this statement? In any case, I believe it will be a step up. So I agree with 7, but disagree with 2.

The Bad This is my number one concern but I ordered and hopefully I can make it work. I agree, this is strange. Kind of like when you go through a gated area and the guard house is on the passenger side.

The Worthless I don't think a phono input is worthless. Maybe you won't use it, but I would imagine there is a good percentage that will. Also, unlike balanced inputs, I don't think a phono input added much to the cost.

And he usually is.

Bill "Can't tell a loofa from a falafel" O'Reilly may be "right" but he is usually wrong!

But that aside, a Phono Input is now almost more important than before, since one of the "Iggletts" discovered all those "big round black things in the back closet with cool music on them".

A tuner? There are some great programs from NPR and APR that are worth listenging to on a quality system. Put politics aside and listen to "This American Life" and totally immerse yourself in the story thanks to great music in the background.

As to all the stuff in your #1, and the other product at this price that has those features is? Isn't the proper balance of sonic performance and features what it's all about here? I'll give those fine tuning adjustments up for a more affordable price.

USB jack on the back? Two words come to mind: EXETENSION CABLE. Get over it. Besides, you are complaining about a tuner yet think that the USB jack will get use?

At the end of the day, I think that you have mis-cast "Things I (you) don't like and/or need" as "Bad". They ain't bad, they are just stuff that on the one hand you say "take out and save money because I don't use it" then on the other hand say "gee, even though putting something in that I (you) want but others don't need or even understand at all is OK, even if it raises the price for everyone else so that I have what I (you) want".

Hmmm. THe trurth will come when enough people get their hands (ears) on these things and tell us how they SOUND. THAT is the true measure of good or bad, as opposed to "glad it has this" and "too bad it doesn't have this".

Great to hear - young ones need to appreciate the black gold from a different era.

It will be interesting to get a take on what the "young 'uns" think of what WE thought was great music in --- uhhh --- well, let's just say "some number of years ago". Now I have to find a decent turntable without digging too far into the budget for kibble.

I would suggest that having the USB on the back seems like a very logical choice. It seems to me that it will really only ever get used in two instances:

1. To upgrade in the future. How often is this likely to be done? My money is on "not very" so once in a great while getting to the back of the unit shouldn't be a big deal for a cleaner front.

2. As an audio slave device to a PC. If you're using it in this fashion, most likely you'll have a permanent connection hooked up to that USB port. Do you really want a USB cable forever hanging off the front of your unit? I wouldn't.

If there is some other application I'm overlooking that would require you frequently plug in and remove a cable which would demand front panel access, please share. I can't think of any but would be curious to learn about something new. But as Iggy points out, USB extension cables are cheap and easy to come by. Run one around the side of your unit and now you have front access.

I'm hesitant to recommend another online retailer in this forum (is there a rule against this?) but you can find a bunch of worthwhile turntables in the 300-1000 dollar range (they also have some that are far more expensive, great big rube goldberg-esque looking contraptions) at www.amusicdirect.com - kind of a high-end tweak-happy site but some pretty good deals overall - they also carry just about every available dvd-a, sacd, hdcd, heavyweight vinyl, etc. that you can think of...

Lou:

Thanks, we'll take a walk over there, though I think I've seen their catalogs around the dog house somewhere. Ah, if they only didn't put that old Thorens in the last garage sale! Such is a dog's life!