Hopefully this is an ok question to ask in here. What are the advantages to either? I realize they have different calibration techniques but not sure about anything else.

Thanks!

I see no problem with asking this. Since we don't yet have first-hand experience with the 997, though, it is a hard question to answer.

Both are using the Reon video processing chip, so they have that in common. The 886 is THX certified with the associated processing that goes with that (although personally I've quit using the THX modes on my 885 and gone back to simply using PLIIx). I expect the 886 to have somewhat "fancier" looking menus, based on what I've seen of the 885, but that comes at a price - the 885 is a complex beast, and the 886 will only be more so. They crammed lots of handy bells and whistles in there, but I question how much care they put into making it easy to use.

The big difference that everyone wants to know about is room correction. The 886 has Audyssey MultEQ. Audyssey is probably the best room correction available aside from possibly some of the proprietary stuff from Lexicon or Anthem (both of which require owning processors that cost $6000 or more), but Trinnov has the potential to dethrone Audyssey. What I found interesting while testing the BDP-83 with an Onkyo 885 was that we often used the analog outputs (with no Audyssey applied) and found the results equal to or even superior to the digital output (with Audyssey applied). My room is relatively well-behaved, so it's not a good test of Audyssey's full potential, but in my space Audyssey was not a significant factor. Will Trinnov's remapping offer something really significant that Audyssey couldn't? We don't know yet - but I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to find out.

So far with my 886 I have preferred to leave the Audyssey MultEQ XT disengaged. The down side is that this means that I cannot engage Dynamic EQ - which I really like. (Dynamic Volume I've found no need for.) Since I was not happy with the level settings that Audyssey chose after calibration, I do not trust its judgement regarding EQ. Now if the designers had allowed me to display a before and after curve AND make tweaks to the after, that might be a whole different ballgame. But right now you i) can't display before or after curves of any kind, ii) can't even see the EQ setting changes that it has made, and iii) if you want to manually EQ you must start from scratch (ie. no tweaking!). That's my single biggest disappointment - and if Outlaw is listening I hope that their implementation of Trinnov does not have these limitations and does have these missing features.

In any case the differences between Audyssey MultEQ on and off are fairly small (to the ear) in my room. Vocals are more forward with it on, there's a brighter high end, but no noticeable difference in the bass. (But as I have posted before, I'm starting with perfectly flat bass from 15-100Hz anyhow, so I would not expect to hear any difference there.)

Dynamic EQ works incredibly well. Shame I can't use it alone.

All of the other functions and features on the 886 are perfect. Flat frequency response, no distortion. No noise. (All as I would have expected - again as I have posted previously). There are so many features, and so much flexibility, that this has raised my one other problem with the 886: the owner's manual skimps out far too much on necessary detail. No problems with Chenglish. The problem is that there are simply no explanations for many things. For example there are sub outputs in any addition to the stereo RCA outputs for Zones 2 and 3. But nowhere does it say anything about that sub output. Does it have a crossover, filters, level control, etc? You'd never know from the manual. All it says is "Zone 2 sub output." Hope you're still taking notes Outlaws!

My bottom line is that I aim extremely happy with the 886 - even with what I have mentioned above. It cost me no more than what I would likely have paid for a delivered 997. It easily accommodates my numerous component connections. And best of all: it's NOT made in China! Hope you noted that one too Outlaws!

Right now a refurbished Onkyo (pro) 886 can be had for $999. Plus, get 10% off directly from Onkyo until August 15th.

This is very, very tempting. I wish we were receiving more updates on the 997. Amazon is selling Sherwoods 972.

Will we be told when the 60 day countdown (delay between the two releases) starts, or will we only find out that the 997 is "now available"?

"Amazon is selling Sherwoods 972."

Tthat doesn't mean they're available.

Last word from Jeff was that they would be late this month.

I stand corrected. I thought I read some posts on avsforum that they were actually in peoples hands....

They are in a very select few people's hands, just no major quantity release as yet.

Amazon has no listing for the 972. Only the older equipment is listed.

I am in the same place. The 886 is pretty tempting at the sales price. I love my 990 and have been trying to patiently wait for the 997. But I am getting tired of waiting and would like to get a pre-pro that handles hdmi and the new audio formats. I don't mind waiting a couple more months but since there has been little news from outlaw I am not sure if the 997 will be out in a couple months. I totally understand the need to release a quality product but at some point you need to release a product. The promise of a product does not produce much enjoyment for me. I guess I will wait to Friday then decide if I will pull the trigger on the 886.

I just hope that Outlaw takes whatever time it needs between the commercial availability of the 972 and the release of its own 997 to get it right. By all accounts this is a very complex piece of gear and I'd hate for them to not take the time to learn from (and fix) the numerous problems that the 972 is likely to have.

It's better this way for Outlaw - and for consumers.

Patience people, patience!