Hi DOJ,

Wow - I think this is my first post here. Let us know how you like the 990 with the MPS-1. If I were going to buy new electronics today, that's what I'd do. I think getting a top notch amp is important, and I havent heard a discouraging word about the MPS-1. I want the pre/pro to sound good as a minimum, which the Emo UL does, but for another few hundred the 990 has a great feature set. With that, I dont think I'd need to spend the extra cash on the big dog pre/pro.

I use a Cinenova Grande 5 Amp with my 990
Nice Amp not many people have heard of them.


CineNova Grande Five (5)

Number of channels:
Five discrete monaural blocks.

Power rating per channel:
(8-ohm load), all channels driven: 300 watts.
(4-ohm load), all channels driven: 600 watts.
(2-ohm load), all channels driven: 1000 watts.
Freq. Response (@1 W w/ ±0.1dB: 20 Hz to 20 kHz.

Channel separation: greater than 95 dB.

Max. input voltage: 1.9 volts.

Input impedance: 27,000 ohms.

Total harmonic distortion -THD:
1 kHz, 8-ohm load: 0.001%.
20 kHz, 8-ohm load: 0.003%.
20 kHz, 4-ohm load: 0.006%.
1 kHz, 2-ohm load: 0.005%.
20 kHz, 2-ohm load: 0.006%.

Signal to noise ratio:
@ 1 kHz, 112 dB.
@ 5 kHz, 111 dB.
@ 10 kHz, 110 dB.

High-pass / low pass variable filter,
range 20 Hz to 5 kHz (one/ channel).

High-pass/Full range/Low pass
operation via 3-way switches (one switch per channel).

Dimensions: 9.25" x 18" x 21" (H x W x D).

Gross Weight : 141 lbs.


Scott

I have an Adcom GFA-770 (200w X7) paired with the 990 and I'm very happy with it. It does require a 20 amp circuit, which wasn't no problem for me, just replaced the wall outlet as I was already wired for 20 Amps.

One thing I'm sure you've been keeping in mind is how the sensitivity of your speakers, ohm and power rating of your amp. More power is a good thing as long as it's clean.

Good Luck

My 990 is paired with a NAD T973 (7X140W) driving a system of mostly Axiom speakers (6.1 setup with two center channels). I am very happy with the sound/setup. In my case the balanced connection to the subwoofer was probably worth the price of the 990 in itself for the noise and hum it eliminated.
The T973 seems to be a little out of favor because it has three fans that are fairly loud, but that is good for me because the noise is behind a wall and inaudible (all of my equipment that doesn't need to be exposed is behind a wall).

My gear:

Associated Audio / Video gear feeding the 990, with the 990's outputs feeding (via its balanced sends for all):

(3) DB Systems DB-6M (monaural) for front, center, and right channels (modified by DB Systems to include differential XLR input, additional power supply capacitance etc). Great amps...had some of these since 1980, others more recently obtained via eBay. The folks at DB Systems remind me of the Outlaws in terms of their customer service - they'll modify new, modify old...great folks to deal with.

(1) DB Systems DB-6 (two-channel) for surrounds (modified by DB Systems to include two differential XLR inputs).

(1) Velodyne F1200 servo sub (has balanced to single-ended (RCA) conversion box (Audio Control BLR-10) attached to subwoofer back). Balanced send provided by the 990's balanced subwoofer output.

Speakers are B&W Matrix 805's (not Nautilus) all around (4) with HTM centre channel (1).

All in all, I'm pretty pleased.

Mark