Hey all,

Thanks again for the very helpful replies. I sent an email to Outlaw about the 7700 and XLR (balanced connections) vs. the 7200 with RCA. Scott basically said that the 7700 XLR is the most efficient way to go as it produces the lowest noise floor and a better signal loss ratio. Also, it produces better dynamics vs the 7200 connected by RCA.

I sent a seperate request to them inquiring about the firmware upgrade and if it will already be installed on the newer 990's sold in the next few months. Once I hear back I'll let you know.

I am going to go with the 990/7700 combo and will be using the XLR connections. I will post a review of them once I have the gear later this year. Hopefully this will help someone out the same way you guys in the forum have helped me!!

Yoda

I got the response from Scott on the Firmware. He said if I purchase the 990 in November it will more than likely have the update in it.

I also asked about the new Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD for the two new DVD formats. He said in order to get the full high resolution audio from these sources you will need to connect the 7.1 direct inputs so the signal will be decoded by the player itself and then passed to your speakers by the 990.

Hope this helps.

Yeah, the DD+ and DTS-HD formats (and Dolby TrueHD) are a bit of a mess. Scott's exactly right about them - and if you want to dig deeper into it all, you might want to check out the HDMI FAQ in my sig. The 7.1 analog approach is going to be most people's solution for a while to come.