It depends on the new gadget and on the wife (and I'll preface this by saying that my wife is quite understanding about my system), but in some cases there have been features of a new product that went a long way to selling my wife on the new toy. The DVD recorder didn't hold much interest for her when it arrived (my reason for getting it was to archive dad's VHS tapes of the family), but once we started time-shifting some favorite shows on its hard drive (especially back when I had time to cut out ads before we watched them) she was hooked. She looked a bit dubious about the MX-500 remote at first, but once I had it set up to be as intuitive as possible for her to use she declared it to be the best upgrade the system has had. And on the 990, the ability to rename video inputs was a big deal for her - it eliminated the headache of remembering if VIDEO2 was cable or the DVD-R.

Of course some upgrades aren't such smash hits. The universal DVD player's DVD-A and SACD support didn't generate much interest and the original sub - an SVS cylinder - took a bit of getting used to (in fact, the looks of the SVS helped get it replaced by the more traditional looking and shorter LFM-1 when we moved last year). In those cases, she's kind enough to humor me.

I can't thank you guys enough! That was great advice. My mind has definitely been made up. The 990 will be my next addition.

Like you, Gonk, I have a very understanding wife. My HT system has seen some considerable upgrades (the speakers are about 6 months old) and she rolled with the punches well. I can't even begin to describe the blank look on her face when I explained what exactly my new Monster AVS 2000 voltage stabilizer did...

At any rate, I'm looking forward to the arrival of my 990/7125 stack. Thanks to all of you for your honesty and wisdom.

Houghers

Yeah, that would be a hard sell.

Well, my wife is more into movies than I am, though she'd be happy with two channel playback through the TV's speakers. I want a high-quality stereo system for music. But, when it comes to other things, I want high quality too, so I won't settle for "two channel playback through the TV's speakers".

That does cause a bit of a dilema because, while my wife likes the idea of a theatre, she doesn't see the need for better speakers, a subwoofer, a decent pre/pro... until she hears the difference. Purely technical improvements, like my Odyssey Stratos amp, therefore, are a hard sell.

I'm pretty much settled on BG Radia R32i inwall speakers for surrounds, but at $1k a pop, and $1800 for a centre channel speaker, along with a stereo and three mono Stratos amps, that totals $10k, $6.8k if I do 5.1 first and then 7.1, which I probably will. Last will be "a real" projector and screen. I am tempted to add three more R32i speakers for front L/C/R inwall, or two R75i/R8i and one R32i -- only to have a complete built in theatre -- that would make sense if I got a ceiling mounted projector.

Of course, that's a lot of $$$, and isn't going to happen any time soon But, one can plan (and dream).

Welcome to the forum, Houghers!

Better yet, congratulations on the 990/7125 stack!

I've been using Outlaw products since my 1050, my first stack was a 950/770 combo and I am now using the 990/770. I couldn't be happier.

Well, I am in corporate housing and I'm NOT using my gear, so I guess I could be happier; though they did supply us with a slick RCA 5 disc stereo :p

Anyway, enjoy the gear, it's a great investment.