It may seem super minor, but Dolby Volume. Those damn commercials. That would make a definite impact on my TV watching experience. It's also the biggest complaint I get from the other half. When commercials go on, they are loud and it's annoying.

I wonder if it could be added to the 997 via software?

Dolby Volume. Does any "reasonably" priced pre-pro apart from the Emotiva have it (or I should say plan to have it)?

Who in their right mind is even looking forward to 9.2?

And commercials? That's what DVRs are for.

Seriously, other than more HDMI inputs/outputs, there's nothing that the upcoming Onkyo preamp has to offer over the 997 and the 997 has Trinnov plus much better support.

Buy an Onkyo and you'll be wishing that you had a 5 year warranty.

Wifi sounds interesting. I can't see going to a 9.1 or 9.2 system though. I think i'll stick at 7.2.

Has anyone out there heard a 9.1 or 9.2. Was it really more immersive than a properly calibrated 7.2 system?

"Has anyone out there heard a 9.1 or 9.2. Was it really more immersive than a properly calibrated 7.2 system?"

Apparently so.

There's a thread in the AVS Receiver forum called "dolby IIz vs Audussey DSX" or something like that, which also has a link to a recent article.

Of course it was. More importantly, the greater immersion/envelopment was stable.

With 3 speakers across the front, I routinely get phantom imaging outside the soundstage and ocassionally get phantom imaging above the soundstage. However, it's not stable. If I move out of the sweet spot, the phantom images move with me (or collapse to the nearest front speaker).

With 5 or 7 speakers up front (heights and/or wides), imaging outside and above the soundstage always appears to come from those locations no matter where I'm sitting. No magic involved, just speakers at those locations (making it hard for those sounds to come from anywhere else).

We don't all watch are sports games via DVR.

You seem to enjoy knocking everyone's wishes down unless it's something you want. I think the question was what additional feature sets would anyone be looking for outside of trinnov.

That stability argument makes sense. Hadn't thought about it that way. I'll still stick with outlaw vs the competition but it lessens the excitement of the purchase knowing the next big thing is already out. of course, with that being said, the audio/visual world seems to be changing faster than ever so what ever you buy is bound to be out dated with in a year.

No, I enjoy knocking features that make no sense in an already overly complex market that is seeing sales plummet like turds from an elephant's rump. More complexity is the last thing this market needs.

9.2 makes even less sense when you consider that movies are not recorded, mixed or mastered in such a format and nor are movie theaters equipped with this format either. If the goal is to get your home to replicate the director's and sound mixer's intentions as accurately as possible (it is HOME THEATER after all), 9.2 makes absolutely no sense.

It just needlessly complicates an already convoluted market and will further push away acceptance by the general populace.

My comment a few posts up was aimed at buyer impressions more than actual usefulness. If buyers of all consumer goods acted only out of a wealth of information in proper context following well-reasoned thought, what people buy, from housing and vehicles all the way down to toilet paper, would be markedly different.

I’m not one to chase the latest feature set. Only the sellers of ‘the latest’ gear promote that concept. Even the larger overall changes, such as consumer HD, IMHO weren’t/aren’t worth paying for until the content was/is readily available.

So in that sense, the 997 will incorporate many important advances and have a few positive things others don’t, likely making it a very reasoned value for those in the market for a pre/pro even if some may whine about the lack of whatever the latest hoopla is that comes along.