Home Theatre Sound carried a head to head subjective review of the Anthem versus the Outlaw 990 and concluded that even at 3X price difference you could barely tell the difference (maybe).

http://www.hometheatersound.com/equipment/outlaw_990.htm

It sounded like the reviewer would not have been able to tell any difference in a blinded test -- no objective data can describe the sound of an HT system so you have to take the reviewers word on it. Other reviewers have compared the Outlaw favorably with high price Lexicons. The real performance differences, if any, will be so tiny that the price difference would not be justified unless you want the pride of having spent a lot more money than you friends and neighbors. One cannot set aside the possibility that the highly trained ear of a demanding audiophile or sound engineer could spot some subtle difference--I can't. I opted for the 990 without hearing it over the AVM 30 and Statement D1. The difference wasn't worth it to me at this time. I doubt that I could hear it, but not having done an A-B in the same room I can only say I love my 990 and I have owned Lexicons that weren't as good (or as recent to be fair--apples and oranges). A few years from now, that may change.

I say a few years because the Anthem upgrade will not allow HDMI audio to be passed from HD DVDs or Blue Rays at full lossless resolution over 7.1 channels. That will require a new HDMI chipset to implement the as of now not finalized HDMI 1.3 standard. HDMI can carry 5.1 at high bitrates, however. That's maybe enough. Moreover, it may be that copy protection issues will inhibit full resolution digital transfer for quite some time. Content providers want to stop piracy so we may be using analog cables until they have a air tight copy management system. HDMI buys you nothing right now which is why Outlaw went with DVI. A wise choice. BTW, the Outlaw analog pass-through is transparent and clear as a bell.

If we had a crystal ball we could answer your best question. Who knows if one or both of the two formats will make it? I suspect it will take them a long time because of the format war and the large user base that is happy with DVD quality. It will be a limited distribution item for the first few years but eventually one format or the other will take over from DVD--since the computer industry may drive this choice is an age of convergence, Blue Ray may have the long term edge but even that's not clear. What is clear is that it's going to take 3-4 years at least for the formats to sort out and become popular (if at all) and about the same length of time for player-processor connections to be 8-channel hi-res (by HDMI 1.3 or its sucessor). My own opinion is that they will be accesories for 3 years at least.

I faced the same choice you do and after months of study (and waiting for Anthem to annouce an upgrade), I bought the 990 as a 2-3 year solution. I am now not so sure I won't keep it longer. I love it for music and HDTV. Couldn't be happier.

I have also come to the conclusion that format and hardware changes will continue to accelerate. I used to think all these competing formats and techologies would finally sort out and the need for change would slow down. But that's not going to happen. As soon as you buy a system something that is supposedly better will be announced. Will it really be better and will it enhance the listening experience? Usually not. Technology is changing rapdily and marketing wants to sell product so your new set will be obsolete in 6 months if you want to look at it that way. On the other hand, Outlaw is catering to an audience that wants a good experience at an incredibly low cost. I repeat my mantra often. I am satisfied with my system for now. I will be strong. I will resist the urge to change components ever month. I will sit and listen and enjoy for a while.