The failure of modular hardware is one of the reasons I think there's hope in using a higher end DSP and pushing as much functionality as possible into software. I like this approach on Emotiva's new processor. It's going to be running linux. That same DSP is available from TI as part of a developer's kit and already running android with a working touch screen. One would think that if you get sufficiently fast DSPs and over-engineer, you'd be able to keep your customers on the cutting edge a bit longer without a forced migration to new hardware. That would be sooper groovy if it could be done while preserving quality audio/video paths.

Best,

It's a sound idea, as long as you can justify the development costs while recognizing that it still represents a risk. The main danger there is in the potential for industry changes to hit you in the signal path (such as HDMI v1.2/v1.3/v1.4). If the latest features that owners want include things like CEC, ARC, 3D video, and 4k video, no amount of over-engineering of the DSP chip and memory resources will help when you also need to re-design around a new HDMI transceiver chip or a video signal path with much more bandwidth.

When I bought my 990 I thought its feature set was generally equivalent to the Anthem AVM-30. When the 978 was announced I thought its feature set was very similar to that of the AVM-50. The 978 would have great sound, cutting edge room correction, all the decoding options which were all Anthem selling points and at a price about $3500 less than the AVM-50. And now those features are available in the top of the line Anthem receiver built in China.

I would agree with some of the previous posts about Anthem being a boutique manufacturer if they had stayed with just pre/pros and amps. However, when they brought out a line of receivers they stepped into a new and much larger arena. Fool me once, shame on you (990/AVM-30), fool me twice, shame on me (978/AVM-50 & MRX700). Anthem had double the motivation to see the 978 shelved.

Anthem doesn't have an SSP in the same price range as the 978. I had considered an AVR quite a few times previously to use as an SSP, but I never did. And I still wouldn't. I even had a 4311 here for a while, but I shipped it back. Never even opened the box. I don't want an AVR as an SSP. I want an SSP. And for those 2 reasons, I don't think it was Anthem.

We may never know who scuttled the 978 but had it gone into production many folks would have given it a serious look. I think this is particularly true for those folks looking at the Anthem AVM-50v given the similarities between their core feature sets. I recall the 978 was supposed to be around the $1500 and even adding a Outlaw 7900 amp would bring the total to about $5000 which is under the price of the AVM-50v alone.

As far as Anthem's top AVR, it retails for $2000. The 978 with an Outlaw 7125 would be about $2500 and could have influenced some to make the move to separates versus buying Anthem's top AVR. If Anthem isn't the culprit I doubt they are shedding any tears that the 978 is history.

Lastly, I couldn't agree with you more; I have no desire to use an AVR as my sound processor. Made that decision long ago and haven't regretted it.

I could be wrong but I didn't think it could be Anthem since they don't have Audyssey or Sabre DACs. Are they even bringing a new model to the market in the next few months? What about Parasound?

One thought that adds to my belief that it wasn't Anthem is this: ARC is completely different than Audyssey. So, could pre/pros (or AVRs) that support one or the other actually be manufactured on the same assembly line?

If it's the same platform, I doubt it. Kind of like (in the old days), you trying to load Windows onto a PowerMac. Can't do it. The hardware is so different, the only way was to emulate the foreign OS. Can't run it directly. So I believe that it's not even possible for the same platform to run ARC and Audyssey.

If it's the same manufacturing line, but completely different parts, then obviously it's possible. But that's not the gist I got from Outlaw's email.

So I think NAD is the most likely candidate by far.

I suppose we'll know who it might be by whoever introduces an XT32 SSP in the next 3 to 6 months !!

NAD certainly seems plausible. However, I hardly think anyone with the coin to purchase NAD products would be cross shopping in the Outlaw corral. So if it does turn out to be them, I think it takes paranoia to the extreme(on NAD/Lenbrook's part). Perhaps there's more going on here than has been mentioned in the final update on the 978. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. The 978 is dead and it will be supplanted by a "budget" product. I guess when that product actually ships, we'll see how it compares with other widely available AVR's (with pre-outs) in the same price segment.

Best,

I think too many of you are focusing too narrowly.

Let me draw an analogy from one of my friends that leases commercial space, like in shopping centers and such.

If a tenant, Jane, writes a lease with a landlord that gives the tenant the exclusive right to be the ONLY resturant that serves breakfast and the tenant gets wind of a rumor that the landlord is about to sign a lease with a say a McDonalds , Subway or Dunkin Donuts you can be sure that the tenant is within their rights to inform the landlord of violation of the lease agreement. Now maybe the landlord really does not care that Jane's House of Pancakes is going to court and the judge will award Jane damages becuase the landlord is going to make so much money from the new tenant that it just won't matter, or maybe the landlord will be a "good guy" and use some of the loot from the new tenant's lease to pay Jane to go away. Of course China ain't like a local mall in heartland of America but Jane is sorta like "Outlaw" and "Bad Guy NA based bricks and mortar competitor" is a whole lot like some rich franchise run place in terms of the view of the "landlord" or Chinese contract manufacturer AND let's not forget that Jane does not have to serve a fried egg on an English muffin with Canadian Bacon and American Cheese to "compete" with the Big Bad fast food giant -- Jane's delicious flap jacks are close enough that the fast food giant really is happier with Jane pulling up stakes and if that means she is out of business for 6 months or forever either way it is a good thing as far as the franchise selling more breakfast items...

Maybe it is D+M, protecting the "flank" of either some Denon or Marantz seperate, or even McIntosh. Maybe it is Gibson doing something similar with Onkyo / Integra. Maybe it is NAD. Maybe it is Anthem. Maybe it Harmon or somebody with even a more esoteric mix of offerings. Does it really matter??? We ain't getting any flapjacks for a while and that is bad news!

That's two posts in a row of yours that I agree with.

The only reason, that I would like to know, is that I would like to avoid throwing any business to the B&M Company in the future, if I need to buy a non-Outlaw product.