The 990 has been on my short list for some time, but I was holding off until our new house (and dedicated theater room) was built. Darn it all if Outlaw didn't tempt some money out of my wallet sooner than planned. $799 for a 990? I could resist no longer.

Thanks a lot Outlaw! You've completely ruined my well-planned HT equipment buying order!!

It was supposed to be speakes first, then preamp, then amplifiers. This is just all our out of order, now...

You can make it up to me by coming out with a mini-7900... as in a mono-block 300 watt amp of the same quality.

Those darn Outlaws... Always messing things up...

I hooked up the 990 and my first impressions are very positive. I haven't used it for movies yet, but did some semi-serious stereo listening last night.

While my existing speakers are not high end by any stretch, I could still hear differences between the 990 and the Pioneer Elite receiver, using the same amplifiers (I have two Rotel mono-block amps for the mains, using the pre-amp outputs on the reciever, previously). Two things that stuck out right away was sound floor and clarity, probably because these two things go hand in hand. Lower sound floor generally means improved clarity, or at least the preception of it. I thought I was imagining it at first, but my wife came in and said the exact same thing before I gave my opinion.

After more listening, I discovered new details on very familiar CDs. I'm guessing that the DACs in the Outlaw are superior to those in the receiver. Same DVD player, same cable, same speakers... more detail.

I'm actually a bit surprised by what I've noticed so far, as I'd assumed that any differences in quality of reproduciton would be heavily handicapped by my speakers (thus my previous comments - mostly in jest - about buying out of order, previously... without a good set a speakers, it's difficult to judge the rest of the system).

Even more surprising (as well as embarassing to admit), is that after listening for a while, thinking that "something" (soundstage, and dynamics) is missing, I realized that the cable going to the right speaker was loose. I was listening for about an hour to ONE speaker. Needless to say, with both speakers working, the sound improved even more, and the soundstage filled out rather nicely, and dynamics improved.

I still need new speakers in a bad way, but at least the wait will be easier. Heck, I thought it sounded decent with one speaker. [Just so I don't come across as a complete audio moron, current speaker location in my existing room is FAR from optimal, as we had to rearrange things in order to better present our house for potential buyers. I've become accustomed to a lack of soundstage and imaging, unfortunatley. Until yesterday, I didn't realize just how much I've gotten used to it.]

I have a feeling that I'm really going to like the 990. I'm testing movies with it tonight.