I know this thread is dead, but I have to say that was the most ridiculous over the top comparison I have ever read.

This is to mktheater, I personally have heard the Meridian 861 and the Outlaw audio 990, and there is no way in heck you can possibly compare the meridian to either of these two. You sound like you work for Outlaw audio and are part of the marketing team because I blind tested this thing with 12 other people in the room and the 990 didn't even compare. The meridian was several cuts above. You're comparing a $20k preamp to a sub $2k preamp. I know this is all subjective, but one can definitely tell when a preamp sounds monumentally better than another. Its like saying a stock Subaru WRX STi blew away a bugatti Veron in a drag race with 2 competent drivers.Even at its basic settings it blew away the 990. We tested it on different types of apeakers, using Magenpan, Paradigm, and Mirage OMD. Then after 4-5 hours of setting it up with a professional which is what its made for, because there a MANY MANY different options for customizing the sound it further smoked the 990. I would say the 990 is the best $7.5k value wise. But to compare it to a meridian is just downright ridiculous.