I think gonk is 100% correct in associating the failure of B&K with its inability to dedicate RESOURCES to a modern pre-pro as any kind of financial difficulties.

I can fully envision that this was a huge part of the decision of Outlaw to find a "manufactuting partner" that was willing to bankroll the potential "money pit" of development in exchange for signing away any rights to the fruits of that effort. Sadly that decision was made when the competitive landscape was different.

It is my belief that the maturity that HDMI now has achieved makes such a trade off less likely to be a necessity for future designs. Think how many iterations of HDMI have been seen in the marketplace since Outlaw embarked on the 978 project -- it was once rare to encounter source components / displays / AV receivers - prepros with such connections and now it is essentially ubiquitous. Surely there are individuals that could be hired / contracted that could architect a design to be implemented on a relatively firm timetable.

Think too of the price premium that HDMI commanded just a few years ago. If we extrapolate both the scarcity of those with skills in implementing HDMI as well as the very different labor market that existed a few years back it is not a stretch to say that the premium for a US designed and assembled prepro may have been more than 2x than a similar product built in cooperation with an Asian manufacturing partner. I certainly could not have swung $3500 for a prepro.

The real question may be can a prepro be assembled NOW stateside with subassemblies built in in either in the US or overseas, with designs OWNED by Outlaw in a reasonable timeframe at a "competitive" price? Well if the Outlaws don't want to end up like B&K I suspect THAT is exactly what they are deciding upon...