WOW....this is weird. I too have DirectTV, it was a clear day here in Dallas (no rain) and we had problems with audio (optical) dropping out only during commercials...it was quite annoying. We had a huge party with the game showing on 4 TV's (all DIRECTTV connected). The only one experiencing the dropouts was in the theater where the 990 is.
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Dedicated HT 15Wx24Dx12H
Outlaw 7700/990
Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi
Panasonic AE900U
ML Aeon i
ML Cinema i
ML Descent
Monitor Audio Bronze
Panamax 5400-EX
Da-Lite 120" Fixed Screen
...and allot of goodies in between

EJ\'s Home Theater