First of all, I'd like to say I feel like a big fish in a little pond. But everyone seems nice and extremely helpful. So here I go.

After several days of reviewing all discussions on the 990/7125, and as much on the Emo as I could find. I feel I must ask for input regarding these 2 amps. (please forgive if this has been covered prior) I have found several discussions and some owners of the Emo MMC-1, but not much on the Emo amps.

I would like to take a step from my 'receiver days' and introduce myself to the world of separates. Not sure I'm going to step in as far as some of you "Big Dogs", but it sounds like I'll never go back to a receiver once I try an amp/pre amp.

I've absolutely decided the 990 is the way to go, and the DVI is more welcome than HDMI (ie, v1, v1.1, v1.2, etc) I'm undecided on the amp. Price is very comparable, the Emo does offer 150wpc.
1. My biggest question, 7125 OR IPS-1?
2. Has anyone paired the IPS-1 with the 990?
3. Would the xtra 25wpc make a difference?

BTW- Speaker upgrade is also on the Wish List, but has slipped a few notches due to baby fund. I regretfully admit I am currently using a Boston Acoustic sub/sat set. -Please no heckling...
thanks in advance for any input..

There should be no problem with the IPS-1 being paired with the 990, but an extra 25W isn't likely to be audible, much less significant.

The Emotiva amps are built overseas, and as such will cost less per watt than the US-made Outlaw amps. The Emo amps have been generally well received. Their processors get more publicity, as you've noticed, which may be for bettter or for worse (the LMC-1's history is scattered across several forums and includes a fair bit of my involvement, and there have been some issues that have made me pretty uncomfortable).

My suspicion is that the two routes would be very comparable. That doesn't help much, I know.

Made in the USA. There's not often much choice on this nowaday's, but with all else being close to equal, it's a strong tie-breaker for me.

I went through the same decision process six months ago. I too decided the 990 was the processor. Amp wise, it was between the 7075 or the LPA-1.

I ended up getting two used Adcom amps from eBay. I got a 6000 that does my surrounds (100x3, 60x2) and a 5400 that does my front stage (125x2). I paid less for both than either the 7075 or LPA-1 new. Adcom amps are made really well, huge toroidal transformers, heavy, nice clean soundstage. Using multiple amplifiers creates redundancy and many would argue sounds better because of the added electronics (multple transformers, power supplies, etc.)

Point is, with separates you can add any manufacturer's amp or amps. The 'watts rating' is not as important as how well its made or how it sounds (or how much current it has). The Outlaw 7075 or an Adcom 535 with only 60 or 70 rated watts would be stronger than most 110 watt receivers.

Gonk, I know the Outlaw amplifiers are built in the US, but are the parts for the Outlaw amplifiers also made here in the US or are they imported from overseas somewhere???

I'd be willing to bet that enough parts come from outside the US (greater than 2%) that the amps cannot bear the made in the USA symbol.

So many of the parts used in electronics these days are not made in the US anymore that it's just about impossible to truly be sold as made in the US.

I have no idea where all of the components are made - never thought to ask. I'm sure some components are imported, of course. As BloggingITGuy points out, it's mighty hard to avoid. Components like transistors are very likely manufactured overseas (some info on the old ATI 1505 and Outlaw 750 indicated that both used Toshiba transistors, for example, and I doubt that Toshiba has much US manufacturing capacity). Based on what I've heard about ATI, though, a lot of it is of domestic manufacture. Details on their manufacturing process are fairly scarce from a consumer perspective, but I did find one quote here that matches what I've believed to be the case for ATI's operation:

If they're winding the transformers and manufacturing the circuit boards on-site in addition to doing the actual assembly, there's not a lot other big stuff left. Are the aluminum heat sinks and faceplates machined domestically? No idea - certainly possible, but not guaranteed.