>>[6 channels vs 5 channels

You know what? That obvious, huge factor didn't even register until you mentioned it! Duh! Thanks for pointing that out. Score one for the Outlaws...

>>Naturally, the wait is killing me.

Right now, my problem is almost totally an emotional one; it's boiling down to loyalty to a product (NAD) that has far exceeded my expectations in every way for 2 decades. Not many consumer products have done so to that degree over the years....Just this past Fri, some buddies came over and we had a bushel of ice cold oysters, brewskis, and put on "Waiting for Columbus" by Little Feat (imho, the finest live album ever made)... cranked it at you-are-there, rock-concert spl's; and my buds were blown away...even more so when I told them the little NAD was 20 watts and 20 years old...