So here's the good news. The preamp is a significant leap in terms of sound quality versus my Sony TE9000 ES preamp.

Forget all the extra switching, the sound is just plain more detailed, natural and the music has more of a timbre that I've not heard on a 5.1 set up at my flat before.

This change is isolated to my 990 because the Sony was previously working with the 7700. There is no doubt that the two are a magnificent combination. I was lucky enough to get the benefit of the January newsletter deal which made it even more of a bargain.

What makes me even more excited about this news is that i have not done any calibration at all. This is just a case of putting the 990 on the rack, wiring it and pressing go. It will only get better :-)

Rob