Well, sst, some of us actually use our preamps most of the time for other things than home theater. Most of the time my 990 is on one of our classical music or NPR FM stations. I also play CDs, and even vinyl records sometimes. In fact the presence of a phono preamp, plus a lower price than the Sherwood Newcastle P965, was what decided me on the 990 in the first place. That the phono preamp is as good as it is was frosting on the cake.

It would be interesting to know what percent of owners do use their 990's mostly for home theater, or more broadly, what proportion of on time is devoted to each source. Absent such figures I am skeptical of any "majority" claims.