I just received my 990 and even though I haven't connected it yet (waiting for the 7700 to deliver), I just noticed something while going through the manual.

Why is "THX" shown on the display to the the left of "Dolby"? There no mention of this in the Owner's Manual, in fact the only illustration of the panel does not reflect the 'THX" light.

I know that Outlaw equipment is not THX certified, so what does this indicator mean? I thought THX cerfication applied only to equipment specs and not to signal.

The 990 is not THX certified. The Sherwood P-965 design on which it is based is also not THX certified, but apparently when Etronics (Sherwood's parent company and the manufacturing entity that builds both the P-965 and the 990) developed the 965 they wanted to leave themselves the option of pursuing THX certification. Had they gone through that process, then they would have been able (required, actually) to include THX processing modes, hence the THX indicator.

So this is left over from the original Sherwood design? Interesting that Outlaw kept it in.

Based on what I've heard and read, the THX branding is more of a marketing ploy. Consumers Digest's Best Buy pogram sounds similar. If a product that CD reviewed earns a "Best Buy" cerification, the manufacturer is offered a package to display its logo as well as the rights to the article in the mfr's advertising. It cost about $1,000 a year to maintain. There was a coalation between the winners and how much they advertised in CD. (I used to work there.Shhhh).

Thanks for the background

THX is like getting the Banana with the sticker on it . Is that banana better than the rest of the bunch without the sticker ?

So , How do you like the 990 ?

The display panel is the exact same component used in the Sherwood - it would have been a needless expense to develop and manufacture a separate display.

There are some pretty extensive threads here in the saloon about THX, and there's a good article at Secrets about the various levels of THX certification. There is some real value to THX, but much of the non-certified gear now available from folks like Rotel, Outlaw, Sherwood, and others provides many of the same benefits (particularly in build quality and performance, but also a number of software items) that it's hard to justify paying a premium for THX.