The delay I get with DirecTV and DVD doesn’t bother me at all. The only time I do notice it is when I play a CD and use the digital connection between the player and the 990. Even then I don’t notice it on some CDs. I think some CDs start to send an audio signal a fraction of a second before the first note is played. In that case I don’t miss a thing. With some I miss the first couple notes. Right now I am using the analog connection from the CD player to eliminate this and it sounds great.