OK, I'm interested.
I have a Rotel RB-1080 set up to drive my Klipsch RF-7 mains in an HT system along side a Yamaha RX-V2600 for center/surround/processor. The 1080 works superbly with the RF-7. So, next, I go all separate...seen a good buy on the 5 channel RMB-1095 (200wpc). Ditch the Yammi, trade in the 2 channel 1080....Buy a processor which brings me to this board: the Outlaw 990. The questions for any users who have been down this road:
1) Outlaw 990 with the Rotel amps vs. Rotels own RSP-1068. Features on Outlaw look like a winner but how about sound? I love the two channel by-pass for straight stereo but need to stay in an HT system.
..So will I be rewarded by the Outlaw 990 instead of the Rotel processor?
2) incidental question: how much weight do you guys give to 7 channel HT? I've been inclined to stay with 5. My question is to sell the 2 channel amp I already have or keep it alongside a new 5 channel amp to go up to 7. I'm really on the fence here...there doesn't really seem to be enough "content" to justify this...why own hi-fi equipement to hear the equivalent of bus and car crashes?

Bottom line: I'm music oriented and the next purchase has to be the best music deal I can get:
Outlaw 990 or Rotel 1068 processor.

Thanks for your opinion...(I know it's been discussed before but previous threads are a little "dated" now.

Roger

Well, for item number one I can comment in an indirect way: I felt that the 1068 and Outlaw Model 950 were pretty reasonably comparable sonically, although the 1068 had a few extra features (transcoding video to component, editable input names). In fact, my wife and I preferred out Outlaw 950 system (with Paradigm Reference speakers) to a co-worker's Rotel 1068 system (with B&W speakers). Considering the sonic improvements I found in the upgrade from 950 to 990, I would suspect that the 990 would win out over the 1068 sonically.

I only tend to recommend considering a 7.1 setup if the room accommodates it well. You want to have at least a few feet between your sitting position and the rear wall to make the extra speakers really worthwhile. If your sitting position is up against a wall, it's going to be difficult to get 7.1 to work well for you.

Gonk,
thanks for the response and I recognize you from other posts...I've been reading the old threads. You sound like an industry "insider". So, one more question: should we be holding back until HDMI 1.3 is out in processors? Not so much for video..but how good are the new DD+, True HD, DTS-HD products and will it affect the music side of the industry much?
Will current pre/pros be obsolete if they can't get access to these signals or do you think there are work-arounds...I know about using analog inputs but then...where do the old DVD-A and SACD cables go?
UGGH!! What a stupid situation. I'd like to just be able to get a good pre-pro now and not lose sleep on the outcome. Comments?
Roger

PS...original question: musicality of 990 vs the Rotel RSP-1068...any one with comments? Thanks, Roger

More of an industry "perimeter-sider" - but I tend to try to keep up to speed on a lot of this stuff.

Check out my HDMI FAQ for some details on the different HDMI versions. Realistically, we could get along just fine with HD-DVD and Blu-ray using HDMI v1.1 by letting the players decode the new formats. I've read something recently that suggests that getting enough processing horsepower in the players to allow them to decode DTS-HD Master Audio has been a problem, but DD+ and TrueHD can already be decoded in the player in many cases. There may also be issues with making use of HDMI v1.3's automatic lip sync adjustment: namely, it's going to require the entire signal chain to be HDMI v1.3 compliant (the TV as well as the source and the receiver or processor), which makes me suspect that it'll be years before most of us (and possibly a year or more before anybody at all) can get away from manually adjusting lip sync delay. Likewise, the extra video capabilities of v1.3 aren't really anything we can use until displays and sources both develop to a point where they can benefit from it. The problem is that consumers have decided that HDMI on processors (and to a lesser degree receivers) needs to be v1.3 (folks have been asking for it at AVS since before v1.3 was even published by HDMI), so manufacturers have steered clear of pursuing HDMI in processors until they could do v1.3 (except for a couple cases, like Anthem's AVM40/50 and D2 or Lexicon's MC-12HD). Current pre-pros will not be obsolete, although some effective solution for switching multichannel analog would certainly be nice (Zektor has something that'll switch 7.1 now, but it's pricey). I also hope to see companies like Denon or OPPO Digital come to market with all-purpose players that would offer one or both HD formats alongside DVD-A and SACD so the single multichannel analog input that we're all faced with can cover all the bases, but it'll probably be mid-2008 before Denon could pull something like that off and even longer for OPPO (their business model is to take stable technology and do really cool things with it, not hover on the bleeding edge).

"1) Outlaw 990 with the Rotel amps vs. Rotels own RSP-1068. Features on Outlaw look like a winner but how about sound? I love the two channel by-pass for straight stereo but need to stay in an HT system.
..So will I be rewarded by the Outlaw 990 instead of the Rotel processor?"

Since you specifically mentioned 2-ch bypass, I guess I should mention that I find that it's not working properly at this time. See my other thread here:

http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?/ubb/get_topic/f/34/t/001287.html

Indeed, the Outlaws are working on it, and customer support is top-notch. But it worries me that something as obvious as this is missed during the test phase. What else is going on that I don't know about? It's really been getting to me.

As to 7.1 -- I've never done it, but I agree with gonk that it's more up to your room. There isn't much content (isn't it only actually 6.1 anyway), but the processors will *create* it from the 5.1 content. Something like that. From what I've read (and what you've probably read as well), it's not *that* much of a bump. I have extra speakers and amps; perhaps I should give it a go sometime, even if the wires are all just strung about the floor.

As to HDMI 1.3 -- I would wait. I'm also considering a new processor, but just can't pull the trigger until 1.3 is ironed out. You're right, you could use external decoding and 5.1/7.1 analog ins to the 990, but then you have no other means to get analog in. Perhaps that external procesor could do a bypass thing as well, such that it could accommodate your other devices; maybe not... I'd like to see it all in one good processor myself.

You know, I guess I could have read long and hard enough to find this out, but you sure saved me a bunch of time, Gonk, thanks a bunch.
BTW, already checked your HDMI FAQ...quite succinct (and good). I was inclined to buy a pre/pro and just wait it out...(after running out of the room)...per one of your options.
thanks again.
Roger

I have heard the Rotel and previously had NAD. I chose the 990, and have not looked back. Music is my love and movies 2nd, this system is a definite upgrade sonically from the older NAD pre.
Simply put, I consider NAD and Rotel equal competition, and the 990 to me was the winner.