I just read a review on the Home Theater Forum written by their administrator, Steve Simon. He had just received his 990 and he compared it favorably to his Lexicon MC1. A contributer to the thread then noticed that Mr. Simon's Lexicon was for sale. High praise indeed. For years the pre/pros fom Lexicon and Merridan were considered to be the best available but they were out of the price range of most mortals.

Anyone considering the purchase of the 990 or any other pre/pro may be interested in the thread. I received my 990 yesterday and I am very impressed. I think that the Outlaws will sell as many of these as they can make. I cannot imagine why anyone in the market for a pre/pro would buy anything else.

Well -- to play devil's advocate -- there are some features that the 990 doesn't have that some people might desire.

But it appears that the 990 is a superlative audio performer that may even establish a higher value-per-dollar than the original 950 preamp.

I was the person who noticed that Steven had put his Lexicon up for sale.

I'm still trying hard to resist the urge to move to the 990 from my beloved 950. Fiscal responsibility, you know.

On the other hand, today IS my birthday. If someone would like to give me a 990 for my birthday, I wouldn't refuse it. heh, heh.

Happy Birthday, Bob!

That's about all you'll get from me.

I gotta be fiscally responsible, too!

this is a bold statement .. but very impressive..save folks $$$$$$ thats a big price diff..

Thanks Owl's. It's especially appropriate getting birthday greetings from you because I was born in Grants Pass!! At Josephine General Hospital.

I looks like it is a small world when two longtime Outlaws (bobblinds and Owls_Warder)have such a close tie.

I am intrigued by the comparison between the 990 and the MC-1. I have not seen much comparison between Logic 7 and PLIIx. The Outlaw certainly has features with which the venerable MC-1 can't compete. Am I missing something, or is the comparison between the Outlaw and the 990, the difference between PLIIx and Logic 7. Or does Outlaw bring something more to the table?

Well, comparing the 990 to the MC-1 is comparing the latest in "budget" surround processors to the top of the line from an older generation. The MC-1 lacks any sort of component video switching and has no multichannel analog audio input, whereas the 990 has three component video inputs, crossconversion of s-video and composite video to component, and of course DVI switching. The MC-1 also has what is considered pretty rudimentary bass management by today's standards (a fixed 80Hz crossover for any speakers set to small), whereas the 990 offers four separate adjustable crossovers for mains, center, surrounds, and surround back. I would presume that the version of Logic 7 included in the final iteration of MC-1 software differs somewhat from the most recent form found in the MC-12, MC-8, and MC-4, so it probably shouldn't be a complete surprise that Steve Simon found PLIIx to compare favorably to (and perhaps even perform better than) the MC-1's Logic 7. I think the real bottom line in comparing the two units is that the 990 sounded good enough to justify replacing the MC-1, because for whatever current bells and whistles the MC-1 may lack, it is still a Lexicon design and represents a very well engineered product.

Minor correction: crossovers could be set at 40, 80 or 120 Hz; with separate settings for fronts, sides, rears, centre and sub. (Yes, the subwoofer's crossover had to be set independently.) Keep in mind that it came out six years ago, so it's a little long in the tooth at this point.

Thanks, Sanjay - I hadn't realized that the MC-1 offered that.