The 990 and 970 are completely different platforms, actually. The 990 is based on the Sherwood (Etronics) P-965 with software and hardware revisions to add several features. The 970 is a processor version of the 1070, which was developed from the ground up by Outlaw.

Sdurani makes some good points. Room correction and equalization can be a very difficult thing to do properly and an easy thing to mess up, but Meridian and Lexicon (which I'll include since Sanjay happens to use a Lex) have both done some pretty unusual amount of research and development on things like this. Even moreso than the hardware involved, the engineering, programming, and research involved in doing what the latest versions of Meridian and Lexicon processors do is very costly, and you simply can't get it without moving to the five-figure price bracket. Outlaw can't do it, and neither can Rotel, Adcom, Anthem, Emotiva, or the other usual suspects.

On the other hand, mktheater makes some interesting points about how the 990 compares to his older version Meridian 861 when it comes to a few of the core design features. Any surround processor should strive to do standard surround decoding (Dolby Digital, DTS, Pro Logic IIx), D/A conversion, and analog output well. If the 990 can get close to the Meridian in these regards, then kudos to the 990.