Sorry to hear that you have been disappointed. As a rule, I always recommend waiting a little while before condemning a new piece of gear with a solid reputation such as the 990. There have been many cases in the past of people setting up new components (especially receivers or processors) and initially being disappointed, only to discover that they overlooked something that completely changes the overall sound. I had a co-worker who brought home a Rotel 1068 a year or so ago and was ready to box it back up after a day or so because it sounded so bad, only to discover that the speaker setup was steering everything below 80Hz to a nonexistent subwoofer. It's an extreme example, of course, but it still points out the potential for simple setting changes to radically change the overall sound.

If both units are calibrated to the same level with the volume set to 0dB, this should not be happening. It sounds like either the HK was calibrated significantly hotter than the 990, or the 990 calibration needs to be re-visited. I like the 990's auto-setup, but I'm a bit old-fashioned - I still recommend keeping a Radio Shack SPL meter handy.

Again, there's either something awry with the calibration, or the HK has some sort of bass boost going on. The 990's design does not under normal circumstances "lose" low frequency information.

I haven't heard the HK, but I can speak to how the 990 sounds in my system, and I would certainly not classify the sound as "flat." Does that mean it is not flat in your system and to your ear? No, it doesn't. But the fact that it sounds flat to you at the moment does not mean that the unit sounds flat in every system and to every ear. Or are all of the Model 990 and Sherwood P-965 owners idiots for liking how their systems sound? Based on some comments in your post, that seems to be your assertion, and I simply can't agree with that.

Oh, yeah, it's definitely big. There's some interesting lineage going on in the design here: The P-965 that the 990 is based on has a receiver cousin called the R-965, which is identical to the P-965 except for the addition of seven channels of amplification on the left and right sides of the cabinet (binding posts located where the 990 has balanced outputs and DVI switching). The P-965 has large expanses of blank space on the sides of the rear panel. That's the reason that the 990 and P-965 ended up tucked into such a large cabinet. As to the weight, the fact that the 990 is only a third of the weight suggests that the pre/pro section has a lot more of something packed in, because the HK has a bunch of heavy amp channels, power supply, and heat sinks weighing it down. When compared to other processors , the 990 is actually on the heavy side.

That's a rather bold statement. Personally, I don't have the first-hand experience to speak to how it compares to Anthem or Lexicon. I will say that if your HK sounds that much better, then either you have a strong personal preference for the sonic characteristics of the HK (which can't be ruled out and is an entirely possible scenario) or there may be something wrong with the setup of the 990. As an aside, I'd be sincerely curious to hear a comparison of your HK as pre/pro to an Anthem or Lexicon if you've been able to make such a comparison.