On the ratings scale:

"Excellent: Excellent Chance of Product Satisfaction

Elevated: Elevated Chance of Product Satisfaction

Solid: Solid Chance of Product Satisfaction

Guarded: ...

Fat: ..."

You get the idea.

They have four solid, two guared, and six excellent reviews, if I counted correctly. So, they're a little generous with their "excellent" rating.

They rate on the basis of "product satisfaction" rather than objective performance measurements, so price is a big part of "satisfaction". The review of the 990 does compare it favorably to pre/pros costing around $2500 (the price of a basic Krell A/V preamp discounted most places), and I would not expect a $2500 pre/pro to sound shoddy.

I am a little concerned about the bright characteristics of the preamp, but this is, indeed, with upsampling. Personally, I'd likely leave well enough alone, though upsampling 16 bit 44.1 Ks/s sampled CDs to 16 bit, 176.4 Ks/s (4x) should have no effect other than to remove the need for a harsh brick-wall filter. If they upsample to 192 Ks/s, i.e. by a non-integral amount of 44.1 Ks/s but an integral amount of 48 Ks/s (typical of MPEG audio), this may well have a deliterious effect on 16 bit CD audio.

Of course, as part of my slow, upgrade path away from a vintage B&O audio only system to an audiophile audio and theatre system, I may well consider an Odyssey Audio outboard DAC1 and Tempest preamp with HT bypass for digital audio sources. Realize, though, that that's around $3,000, and at that price point, I'd expect something significantly better than the 990, regardless of how good it actually may be.

If the folks at Outlaw have done their homework, non-upsampled D to A of 44.1 Ks/s 16 bit digital audio should be fairly clean, and likely better than anything a DAC internal to a DVD/CD player is likely to provide.

I guess I'll have to see for myself.