Quote:
Originally posted by XenonMan:
It not a matter of room for me. I will keep both in separate homes. I agree with those out there that are tired of paying to make systems backwards compatible with analog equipment. There are plenty of owners of LPs who can easily equip their 997 with a phono pre-amp vice forcing the rest to pay for inputs we will never use. At the intro price the 997 is easily affordable for anyone who wants a quality HT platform WITH all the bells and whistles.

I would imagine that the Outlaws looked at the size of the cabinet and decided if they were going to put 4 HDMI in and one out they would have to cut out something or make the cabinet even larger. It only makes sense to get the 997 up to state of the art. After all, how many of us have heard the complaints about the lack of HDMI vs DVI. And now we are going to hear how it lacks a phono input.
Most of my components use either digital coax or optical connections, yet I have no objection to "paying for" the analog connections that go unused on the back of my 990. I also rarely use the headphone jack, but have no problem "paying for" its presence. Really, does anyone use everything that our pre-pros provide? Maybe some do, but I'd wager not most. The "I don't want to pay for what I'm not going to use" argument is specious, at best. And by the way, as a recent "returner" to the joys of vinyl (lots of which also come with a free download so getting the music on your iPod or in your car is no big deal), I truly believe that LPs are a growth industry once again. My local indpendent record store just doubled the size of its vinyl section, and has plans for further expansion. The lack of a phono output is not only disappointing and potentially a deal killer (for me)- it is also subscribing to a school of thought that is at least a few years old and is becoming more invalid every day.
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Integra DRX 3.1, Outlaw 5000
Fronts - Golden Ear Triton 2, Center - Martin Logan Motion 8, Surround L/R - Energy Audissey A5+2,
Sony XBR65X850E
Oppo BDP-83, Sony UBP-X800
Roku Streaming Stick +
Music Hall mm5.1 table, Ortofon 2M Blue Cartridge, Cambridge Audio 640P Phono Preamp, Pro-Ject Speed Box
Belkin Pure AV Power Conditioner
Audioquest Type 8 speaker cable, Monoprice speaker Cable
Mostly Monoprice interconnects