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!