Hi guys,thanks for your suggestions.Im glad you are having good experiences with your 990 and I assure you I am not disappointed in the product. Expecting state of the art 2 channel at this price point was wishful thinking on my part.I am very picky about my music listening and even small nuances are noticed .To answer some of your concerns; my room is fully treated ,corners are trapped,ceiling treated ,diffusers at the rear,first reflections absorbed and eliminated. My two channel amp is the aragon 8008 a very powerful(tested at 230 watts per Ch at 8om,458 at 4om,and over 700 at 2om).It easily controls my speakers or any others for that matter. A great amp.To bad Mondial went under.I have spent many hrs playing with my SMS-1.My FR is +or- 3db with the exception of a 5db dip at 113hz.I am very happy with my systems bass response. I have spent countless hrs working on speaker placement. Toe-in Toe-out ,wall distance ect.I have moved every piece of furniture out of the room and replaced them one at a time while conducting listening tests after each move(my wife thinks I am crazy).I have replaced speaker wires and interconnects 3 times(currently wireworld)looking for a little more perfection. John the first thing I did was compare the dac performance of the denon vs the 990.The Denon is just more musical in my system.Notes are fuller ,rounder and more appropriately sustained. The decay on piano is more like the real thing.One of the great audiophile discs of the last 10 yrs is Jeniffer Warnes “The Hunter”.On tract 2 of this disc a triangle is tapped 20 times in succession .The 990 resolves this delicate sound as well as the Denon EAD combo but the sound is harsh and disappointing. The denon is uncolored when combined with the EAD.With the 990 music is simply not as pleasurable an experience. If I were not aware of how this music should sound I might be satisfied with the 990 as a 2 channel processor ,but I am not.That is why an integrated tube amp will be here Wed. And why I am looking for new speakers.The search goes on.