I spent most of the evening reading through various AVS forums on the DHC 9.9 . After also reading through the outlaw forums over the last week or so, one conclusion I can make is that Outlaw is far superior in giving tech support and warranty work than is Onkyo.

One more important item to add to the decision making task. I think if the 997 was available now, my decision would be cut and dried.
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Main system:
Integra dhc 9.9
Threshold SA/4e pure class A
Emotiva XPA-1 (2), XPA-5
(2) Threshold S200's
Thiel 3.6 main speakers
(2)Velodyne F1500r subs
Polk RTI28 surrounds
B&W HTM center
OPPO BDP-83 universal player
Samsung HLT6187 led DLP