I'd agree about paying for a sticker as being a waste of money, but that's not what the THX program is about.

It's an end to end quality standard. Every piece that is THX certified has to meet the requirements of the program and as far as I know, it has to meet the manufacturer's published specs as well.

That's not to say that you can't meet or exceed the same quality standard without being in the program, but it sure keeps manufacturers honest.

Having said that, I do acknowledge that submitting pieces for certification is pretty much out of the question for smaller manufacturers like Outlaw, particularly when they are trying to keep costs down.

The standard, however, has made a difference in the home theater industry as companies now have a well designed set of goals to shoot for that aren't based on marketing crap.

At any rate, thanks for the feedback. Most likely I will give the 990 a try for a month and see how it performs.