THe problem for me with the LMC-1 isn't what it has, but what it doesn't have, and it's more than no bass management (though if you don't have speakers that match, that's a potential problem all by itself.

In addition to the lack of bass management, I am in the same boat as probably many others in needed some way to delay to audio for sync to picture. Between digital cable, TiVo and delay caused internally in my HD set by scaling, I get quite a bit delay. Unfortunately, it varies from source to source. That is where the need for lip-sync delay comes in handy. Outlaw has it in the 990 and 1070; the LMC-1 doesn't.

I also am troubled by the lack of ability to upgrade the software. The 950 didn't have that and it was a pain to replace the chips. I guess the Outlaws saw the light and added an RS-232 port to both the 990 and 1070. The LMC-1 doesn't have that either.

At the end of the day it's a toss-up, as I suspect they will both sound good, but the extra features of the Outlaw stuff tip the scales for me. I wonder if there is a 970, and what it will have.