Oh Gonk, you have outdone me sir, just sign me up for a 997 and and the new "Outlaw Outboard Phono Stage" - I give up! If there is anyone out there seriously looking to "up-res" their non-SVHS VCR to "hi-def" resolution (they must own some pretty pristine vhs cassettes, I would imagine) then I say, set aside a corner of the 997 rear, label it "weirder than turntable owners section" and let them have at it!

Gonk as always I respect your opinion.I just thought that at least a proto-type would be out first.

Sure, there will be a prototype and there will be beta samples, but none of those should go out to reviewers - they aren't representative of the final product. The differences may amount to minor details, but they could also be huge (particularly as far as software goes). Professional reviews will always lag product launches by multiple months.

Except for perhaps speakers...I think Outlaw had a review of either the LCRs or the bookshelves from one of the online mags at launch.

That's a good point - I think it was the LCR's, and it was pretty unusual. Another exception to the rule is Kris Deering's review of the 983H, but that was a review of beta hardware and beta firmware.

If the physical size of a pre/pro or receiver will allow, as in the 990 that has internal real estate to spare, a manufacturer could leave a bay or two for special modules to be added to the otherwise completed system. That way, when someone wants a less-than-very-common input or other feature, the buyer can purchase an optional module to slide into the waiting bay. Other buyers are not saddled with the cost for all units to carry the feature. Of course, something that may have cost all buyers $50 or $100 will likely cost the occasional buyer four times as much.

So, we’re back to outboard add-ons where the buyer has a wider choice and, depending on the manufacturer, the benefit of a larger market for the special item and likely a lower cost than a special module suited only for a particular brand.

This might be a very unusual request, but if I had one feature I haven't seen on any pre/pro, that would be a TV tuner for OTA/Cable/Satellite. I know you can use a box, but I don't have any boxes. You can also use a TV, that's fine for those without it, but our projector doesn't have a tuner.

If you're already connecting all sources to the pre/pro then this would be one more connection without the need for yet another box and remote or going to the TV then back to the pre/pro. Especially with REON scalers built in. Granted if you're using a PVR, but I have a splitter anyway and the PVR records separately from what I'm watching.

Right now I had to buy the PHD-205 as a tuner to use with the projector. That's $160 bones and it's not very good.

Yeah, as an owner of the completely modular Integra Research RDC-7.1, I can tell you that modular sounds good on paper, but in reality nets you nothing but additional cost.

Since Outlaw does not control the chassis, it would stand to reason that they would have to pay significant costs to the OEM to get it modified in such a way to allow modules. And of course once the OEM moved away from the chassis in favor of another, Outlaw would most likely not be able to get further modules built without adding significant cost.

There's just no cost benefit of going modular to either the consumer or the retailer, although the OEM would be only too happy to put it in place for you.

I have some home movies on VHS that I would still like to watch, so I guess I'm a "weirder than turntable owner" except that I also have a turntable. My turntable will be connected to a separate stereo analog preamp (with HT bypass)via an outboard phono preamp.
So the 997 appears to meet my needs to upgrade from my 950 as it will have HDMI.

While it might be a cable or my dvd-r machine, I did notice that trying to use the component out of my DVD recorder (Toshiba) gave a yucky greenish cast to the picture (didn't matter if it went through my receiver or direct to the TV), while the svideo output was perfect. The component out of my cable box is also perfect through the same cables and inputs. Good thing I had the Svideo connections.