I still think D&M Holdings makes the most sense as the bully. Rationally, D&M has nothing to gain if Outlaw comes out with a 978 and much to lose:
- Outlaw sales of Marantz AVx units
- New competition at a lower price point (for their other retailers)
- An competitor to the online business D&M is considering entering

Nor do they risk much, if Outlaw were to pull its OEM speaker business because D&M has already closed their speaker business.

On the Outlaw side, there certainly is an incentive for Outlaw to keep quiet as they are probably dependent upon Marantz for a signficant portion of their revenue stream.
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Living Room 24x18 open 1/2 flight up to a raised dining room/hall 24x12
Outlaw 976 pre-pro running 5.1 system
Outlaw 750 for Artison Masterpiece LCR and 2 NHT SuperZeros rears
Velodyne Servo FX-1200
LG OLED65C8PUA via HDMI2 to/from 976 HDMI ARC
Roku Ultra
Samsung BD-D5500 BluRay
Amazon FireStick 4K to 976 Aux HDMI input for Amazon Music Ultra