as with most peple i have been experiencing the no audio problem. while it is a pain in the butt its workable with the prospect of a fix around the corner. but recently i have experienced two different and troubling problems. the first was a nasty static out of my right front speaker when i fired up the unit in aux mode (for my ipod) this was fixed by powering on and off and hasnt returned for two days. more recently i was changing channels from an hd source to an analog source on my cable box and got a very high pitched piercing feedback / distortion from my left front speaker. i quickly changed channels on the cable box and changed back and it was fine. but i am definitely concerned. this sound felt like it could be damaging if it continued. i too like the price point, functionality and size of the 970 but i am still within my trial and wonder if its worth it to move up to the 990. obviously price and space are considerations and its definitely overkill for my set-up but it doesnt seem to suffer from as many problems as the 970. any thoughts out there