Over the last few months I have upgraded my HT system. I purchased a 1070 that was going to be set up in my living room initially but I decided to move it to the bedroom so it leaves me with a purchase decision. I have decided to go with separates for my living room for movies/music. I was initially going to get the special 970/7075 but I wondered if there would be any sonic benefits for the 990/7125 or even 970/7125. I currently have orb speakers..Orb Mod 2 for the front 3 channels and mod1 for the other 2. In my current space I would never be in the position to get tower speakers or anything that would take up a lot of room. At this point I still take more pride in my living space than I do cluttering it up with huge speaker(my girlfriend would not approve either). So considering I will not be driving anything but the Orbs is it worth it? I also want to thank everyone in the hideout especially Gonk for helping me with the 1070 purchase. I have spent hours at a time just reading your comments that convinced me the 1070 was the right choice. Having a great product is one thing but great customer service and a support forum like the hideout will make me an Outlaw for life. Thanks

With the Orbs in the equation, I suspect that the 7075 would be a great fit for your system (and the 970/7075 deal they've got going this month is pretty tempting). The 990's a definite upgrade according to the folks who've heard both, so either a 990/7075 or 990/7125 package would be an upgrade from the 970/7075 - of course the price tag's correspondingly higher (especially in light of the 970/7075 special).

Have you got the 1070 running in the bedroom setup yet?

I do have the 1070 set up in the bedroom. I actually bought 6 more orbs 2 on the center channel and 4 mod 1's for the rest. Oddly enough I find that I put the volume almost as loud -10 to -15 if not louder in the bedroom as I did when I had the 1070 set up in the living room which is larger. It sounds great I have no complaints. I read some decent reviews on the Denon AVR 3805 as well as the yamaha rx v2600. They would be a little less expensive than the Outlaw 970 special..alot less if I decide to get the 7125. I'll ask the question even though I already know the answer...The above receivers I mentioned or the 970/7125 combo. Thanks

Well, if you calibrate it the same way, it ought to work out that the same volume levels give the same results (although the 1070 may not have to work quite as hard in the smaller room to achieve the same sound levels). Glad to hear it's working well for you!

The Denon 3805 and Yamaha 2600 will offer similar features to the 970, although the 970 actually has more robust bass management than the 3805 and I don't think the 3805 has any DVI/HDMI switching (not sure about the 2600). The 970/7075 has the benefit of separate amplification - and I suspect that the 7075 will perform better than either receiver's internal amps.

Gonk, thanks for the feedback. I'm just looking for the best sound quality w/o overspending. My main listening/movie watching room is 15X17 with cathedral ceilings so it is not that large. I think I am going with the 990 but don't know if I will hear a big differnce in sound quality to warrant the upgrade to the 7125 from the 7075 amp. I look at it like buying a porsche to only drive it in the city..it's a waste of the power. Also, I think I noticed that the 990 has no ventilation on the sides of the unit..Is this correct because I would have no room on either sie of the unit....In fact when I had the 1070 in there the top of the unit bowed up a little because it was so tight. Does the 970 have ventilation on the sides? If so it looks like I would have to break out the reciprocating saw to make the room. Again Gonk thanks for your help.

The side panels of the 990 (and I believe the 970 and 7075 as well) don't have ventilation slots since so many cabinets are closed on the sides, so you should be able to leave the recip saw in the toolbox. The 990's a great-sounding processor, and with your room size and speakers I think the 7075 ought to be a very satisfying performer.