The 978 will have Audyssey MultiXT32, not Trinnov. The 998, if Outlaw decides to go ahead with it, will have Trinnov.

What I meant to say is that since I had never experienced other room EQ solutions besides the Trinnov in R972 I will still like to get the 978 to check out the Outlaw implementation of Audyssey when it's available. Of course that is not the only reason to get the 978. My other system is also due for an upgrade so the 978 will be put into the second system.

I'm gathering, by the lack of announcements or news, the 978 will not be around for the holidays. I hope I'm wrong, but it's the middle of November and we've heard very little.

Black Friday announcement coming??

I am optimistic that the folks at Outlaw Audio are trying as hard as they can in order not to miss the holiday seasons.

I've noticed the number of posts on the 978 has dropped off recently. Perhaps fellow outlaws have given up hopes on the 978. Or perhaps there is nothing to talk about. Or could it be that some of us are beta-testing the 978 and not allowed to comment due to confidentiality agreement?

I might try this if we get to early Dec and we haven't heard anything, but someone could always try and email/PM Scott or Peter.

I just sent a PM to Peter (nice guy - I met him at CES last January), suggesting he post an update before Black Friday when folks will be spending their available funds. We'll see...

I would seriously consider buying the 978. I am beginning to think it is just a figment of our imagination.

Thanks for the info hifihunter. How did you get the "tremendous deal?"

I heard the Sherwood Newcastle with Trinnov. It was part of a system with speakers very unlike my own. The other system I heard was a Krell pre-pro with professional EQ. Similar speakers to system #1. Much better amps in use than those of the Sherwood receiver. I have not heard any of the Audyssey systems.

The Sherwood was reasonably good in a theater sense. Pretty convincing sound field. Good dialogue intelligibility (something I have trouble with in inferior systems). A little congested at times. Good height. The sound field was a little narrow, a little shallow.

The Krell (an old model with NO HDMI), as it should have been, was better. More of that you-are-there feeling. No congestion. Cleaner, almost sparkling in the higher frequencies. Huge, wide soundstage for theater and music. So much more depth to the audio image.

The biggest difference was on the musical side. Absolutely blows the Sherwood out of the water. How much was due to the amps? Hard to say. The Sherwood sounds pretty grimy in comparison.

Of course, a brand new current Krell is 10 to $12,000. (Unless you get the $30,000 model.) I was looking at an old model with a special deal of about $4,000 including professional set-up. But what a pain in the neck to go with no HDMI inputs. I could live with the video side, but many newer A/V devices do not have analog 5.1 out. For example, the Roku has stereo analog out, and 5.1 HDMI out.