Thanks Gonk,
I have been doing some more research and this is what I've found:

I pictured the RC9800 working in a similar fashion as the Sonos units where, if my understanding is correct, the Sonos Controller (remote) streams music from the PC to a Sonos Zone Player which hooks up to the audio system. In my mind, I was looking for something similar to the Zone Player, which would hook up to the 990.

I, however, was mistaken. It appears that the 9800 can do 2 things when it comes to transferring audio from a PC. First, it can play the music on the unit itself (there are speaker(s) on the actual remote). I'm sure the quality isn't very good, though. The other way it transfers audio is while it is in the charging dock and the dock is hardwired to the preamp/receiver.

The following excerpt is from http://www.homecontrol.philips.com/index.cfm?id=844 :
Simply by connecting an audio extension cable from the remote’s cradle to your audio system's amplifier. The RC9800i with its WiFi and UPnP technology allows you to first listen on the remote itself. When docked in the charging cradle, the audio will be outputted by connecting the audio extension cable from the cradle to the audio set.

So I was wrong in thinking the remote would stream music to some third device that would hook up to the 990 - the 9800 would have to be sitting in its charging cradle which would be hardwired to the 990.

So I guess I answered my own question. I know the audio quality wont be top notch coming from the remote's dock, but I think it will still be good for background entertainment.

If anyone is interested in buying the remote, buy.com and costco.com have them for $325 and $350, respectively. I've read a fair number of reviews and have decided that this is probably the way I will go.

Cheers.