Rubbersoul:

I can tell you one critical area in which the Outlaw 997 will FAR outperform anything from Onkyo or Integra:

Customer support.

Onkyo and Integra have appalling customer support; so, while their feature sets are intriguing, I wouldn't touch them with a fork because I watched a friend try to deal with their CS to get a receiver repaired. It was nightmarish.

From their inception, the Outlaws have had the best CS in the business. Oh yeah, they also have an established reputation for quality components, too.

Those two factors should be enough motivation to maintain your Outlaw Loyalty, even if we have to cool our boot heels for awhile until they get the 997 into the corral.