First off, I tried to search this topic and could not get the search function working, so if this is addressed, please provide me a link.

Who is familair with both units? Seems the AVP7 has a few less features, most of which I'm familiar, but how does it SOUND compared with the 990? 350 less...No DVI, No balanced, but that's about it?? One year Warranty vs. 5???

Suggestions??

The BA unit is based on the same chassis as the 990 - both are derived from Sherwood's P-965 and manufactured by Etronics. The two should sound similar (same basic design, after all), but as you've noticed the BA is going to suffer from minimal support (don't expect any firmware updates ever), lacks the features added by Outlaw when they developed the 990 (balanced outputs, DVI switching, quad crossover), and has a shorter warranty.

I've been reading others have succesfully upload new sherwood firmware onto the unit.....So, the support issue is moot. What exactly is the "quad" crossover issue?? Or, what is a quad crossover?

Interesting - I wonder if Sherwood will leave future firmware updates available for unrestricted download...

The quad crossover refers to the fact that there are four separate crossovers (front, center, side surround, and rear surround) that can be separately adjusted to best suite the speakers in each position rather than a single crossover point applied to all small speakers.

I see the BA unit is now on clearance, so it looks like it will be replaced soon.

But for me, it just did not even compare to the 990.

The BA units have been on clearance for a couple months now - and they will not be replaced. Boston Acoustics was bought by D&M Holdings (the parent corporation that also owns Denon and Marantz), and they are not likely to want to have an electronics line under the Boston name that competes with the electronics offered by Denon and Marantz. That's presumably why they discontinued all of Boston's electronics (the processor, two receivers, and an amp) back around the first of the year even though it was all released back around last May.

Darth, please explain.....

And, why does it matter if it going to be replaced.
If it can be updated via firmware, it is essentially then a Sherwood Unit....Unrestricted downloads for software??? Sure...Perhaps by showing good faith they may have a future customer...And even if they were restricted, it would be simple to obtain them from others.

So, has anyone listened to this unit and compared it with the 990????

gordorad - assuming you're still having search issues, see here and here for posts..

Guess I should have explained more. When I said the BA 'did not compare' I meant feature-wise. The BA does not have quad crossovers, balanced outputs, DVI switching, and the bass management is not as good as the 990.

And since it's not being replaced it doesn't really matter anyway. I just wanted point out that it's been discontinued, at the time I assumed there was a newer model coming for the same price (which is why you should be aware if it's being replaced...why pay a premium for an old piece of equipment?). But BA electronics are gone all together now, so it's a moot point.

Gotcha.....Check my first post Darth........Besides the quad crossovers, I guess that is the only thging missing from the 990 that I value......I'm assuming tthe LCR and Surrounds must all have the same set point...... And I'm assuming the bass management is not as good due to not having quad cross?? Or it doesn't have as many frequencies from which to select?

I think we are all in agreement on what it does/doesn't have....So, for $749.00......has anyone heard it...Or should we assume it should sound very similiar to the 990?? Hey, $350 is $350. And an extendend (a good one) warranty is 4 years for $59. So, $290 less than the 990......

The single crossover of the AVP7 offers the same settings as the 990 as far as the frequency specified for the crossover point, but the same crossover is applied to all small speakers (mains, center, surrounds). With the 990, you can "dial in" your bass management so your mains are crossed over at one point, center at a different point, side surrounds at a different point, and rear surrounds at yet another different point. How valuable this can be depends on your speakers.

Doug917 (who posted in the two threads linked in sluggo's post) has heard both. He preferred the 990 in two-channel, but felt that the AVP7 might have a slight edge in movie playback.

There is certainly an opportunity to keep some money in your pocket by going with the AVP7, and I suspect the sound would be very close to the 990's. It makes sense that the Sherwood software could provide an avenue for firmware updates, although I'd check with the warranty provider to see if loading the Sherwood firmware will void the extended warranty (it shouldn't hurt anything, but it might be an excuse to turn down unrelated repairs). My suspicion (based on experience with Outlaw over the years) is that there's more customer service muscle and future resale value tied to the 990. Whether that's worth $290 is a decision I can't make for you, but you'll want to make that decision fairly soon - from what I've seen online, the AVP7 won't be around much longer. I'll also say that I've got no buyer's remorse about my 990, for what that's worth.

Gordo,

The AVP7 has about 105% of the 990's movie performance and about 95% of the 990's 2-channel performance. The AVP7 is also much easier to get the bass dialed in correctly, but this may be a moot point after the firmware update coming soon.

Other thoughts:

The 990's display is easier to read (I can not read the BA from my 8' seating distance) and the 990's remote is easier to use (at least initially anyhow).

The AVP7 has 2 memorized settings for channel levels and another that can be adjusted "on the fly" (something I always thought the 990 was missing)

The AVP7 has a sleeker appearance.

Both units have excellent build quality.

The AVP7 has more options for bass levels (so sub channel for DD, DTS, and MPEG can be set at different levels).

Outlaw will probably end up with better support as the BA's have been discontinued.


It is truely a coin toss. You said you listen to movies/SACD 50/50. I have not got into SACD...so I can't comment on the performance from either unit. I will probably end up keeping the BA over the 990 unless some great things happen in the upcomming firmware update for what it's worth.

Good luck!