I purchased a 970 several weeks ago. I had been running a basic stereo system, acurus a150 and rl11 preamp to vandersteen 2ce's, sourced by analog out from an htpc with Asus nforce2 soundstorm motherboard. I had wanted to move to a surround theater system but my emphasis is still two channel music. I anticipated improved stereo performance using digital out of my htpc vice the analog, but I'm not hearing any improvement over my old sound. I understand the 970 d/a's are not as good as the 990's, but are they really no better than my onboard sound chip? If I return the 970 for the 990 can I expect a discernable improvement for my extra $400? I am pleased with the extra features and digital capability of the 970 but I'm really disappointed with it's stereo performance.

If you really want to hear a difference in 2 channel music, I'd suggest you
look on eBay for a California Audio Labs Sigma or Alpha tube d/a converter.
I've had a Sigma II for 10 years and will never part with it, unless it falls apart.
I have an Adcom CD player sending digital coax RCA to the Sigma II D/A, which output Analog L/R to the Outlaw 950 CD input using Bypass mode.
This produces a very high quality and natural "non-digital" sound.
If I disconnect the Sigma II and connect the CD player directly to the 950 and let it to the D/A, I can defiantly tell the difference.
Since I don't have a 970 or 990, I can't speak on how much better the D/A's are in those, but I everything I've
read in here states that the 990 D/A are better quality than the 970.
Still, If you are overall happy with your 970, I'd say just keep it can get a tube D/A.

Here's a link to one
Sigma D/A

My impression of the 990's two-channel music performance has been excellent, and I consider that to be one of its strong points. The verdict from Doug917's shootout indicated that the move from 970 to 990 would yield a slight improvement with movies and a significant improvement with two-channel music - it may be what you are looking for.

I appreciate the input, but let me expand on my original post...As you can see from my component list, I'm on a limited budget. I don't want to spend an extra $400 + shipping for a negligible gain in performance, and an external d/a is not an option unless it's pretty inexpensive. I'm hoping to hear from someone who's owned both soundstorm and outlaw or 970 and 990 and can speak from experience as to how much better sound I can expect from an upgrade. Am I being limited by my other components? Or maybe I just have a tin ear:)I wasn't unhappy with my sound before, just surprised it didn't sound better moving the d/a off the motherboard and into the outlaw. Maybe the soundstorm and 970 are comparable quality. Again, thanks.

Shimrod,

The 970 was good with music, but the 990 is definately better. The $400 difference in price may seem like a lot, but the 2-channel performance of the 990 is well worth it. It is also built like a tank; I thought the build of the 970 was much less rigid (connectors felt loose when pushing cables on them, etc.).

I would also say that if you are listening to radio stations, you probably won't hear a huge difference between the two units. If you are listening to CDs however, there is a large difference in favor of the 990. The "Upsample" mode is truely incredible.

I don't make a lot of dough myself, but would definately recommend the 990 over the 970 to anyone. You will also get a longer warranty, lots more flexibility, and better performance on movies out of the deal. The 990 truly is the best deal out there right now IMO. I will be receiving the Emotiva LMC-1 soon and will perform another shootout between it and the 990.

As I was glancing for equipment I noticed how similar the Atlantic technology pre-pro to yours.Is there a connection or am I seeing things.

The Atlantic Tech P-2000 is based on the platform developed by Outlaw and Eastech for the Model 950 (it's one of several processors that were "clones" of the 950 design). The Model 1070 receiver was designed from the ground up by Outlaw and Eastech, and the 970 is just a 1070 with the amps removed. The 1070/970 design drew heavily from the 950 as far as features and concept (menu structure, bass management schemes, and such), but I don't think any hardware was retained from the 950.

I have a California Audio Labs Alpha Tube DAC and the 990. WHile the CAL tube DAC is very nice. It's a bit outdated. It's got an 18bit chip in it. While the 990 has a 24 bit chip. You can hear the difference right away. The 24 bit chip is much more revealing in 2 ch music.

If I were you.. i'd upgrade to the 990. I am very impressed with it's 2ch abilities.

Interesting. I know that a few years back, when Cal Audio was still around, they were offering an "upgrade chip" for Sigma and Alpha DACs so they would have a higher sample rate.
It was like $300, so I never did it.

Still, with my 950 and Sigma-II, to me the best quality sound is using the Sigma-II and use the 950 is Bypass Mode.
Maybe once I get the 990 it would sound better than the Sigma-II.

Doesn't your Alpha use 2 tubes (1 for each channel)? The Sigma uses only one tube.
Last year I bought a new Electro Harmonix 12AX7EH tube (which replaced a Sovtek 12AX7WXT+).
The newer tube made the music sound much better and gave it more detail.

I got my Alpha tube DAC two years ago. After CAL was no more. I never was able to find them or anyone to do the 24/96 chip upgrade for me either. I'd love to have it. It would breath new life into the DAC for sure.

Yes, the Alpha uses two tubes. I'm running Mullards in them right now. I have been very happy with them. I would be curious to try some different tubes in there.

From what i'm reading here and hearing from other people in other forums.. the 990 sounds really good for 2 ch music listening.

I had all but given up on my home theater when it came to 2 ch music listening.. till i hooked up the 990 pre. I'm very happy with it's performance in 2 ch and home theater too.