Another jumper here. Sorry Outlaw. I took the plunge to a "D" receiver last Oct. which I use as a pre/pro only to feed my 7700. When I realized the 997 was based on the SN R-972 and that unit was first announced at CES in Jan. 2007 but still hadn't seen the light of day almost 2 years latter I gave up hope and bought a proven product that had been out over a year.