Wow. I have a very different opinion of the 990 than Pythagore but listening enjoyment is very subjective. What one person considers to be tight well defined bass, another considers to be a lack of bass. I have also heard people describe the treble response of a particular speaker as extended and clear while others describe those same speakers as harsh. Possibly some of us just have hearing that is more sensitive to certain frequencies than others or we may have a decided bias toward a certain type of sound.

I have also found that while spending some time listening to a new component my opinion has sometimes changed. People disagree as to the cause of this and I don't have the ultimate answer but I do know that we have a tendency to get used to a certain type of sound and then compare it to anything different. If Pythagore liked the sound of his HK receiver and doesn't like the sound of the 990, it may just indicate that the 990 sounds different than the sound that he was used to and enjoyed from his HK. I thought that my 990 sounded different than my Denon receiver but I liked the difference, therefore I was very pleased with the 990.