Would anyone trade in their 990 for the new 975 and what are the ups and downs to doing this. I'm kind of partial to my 990 but would really like it to have HDMI input/output. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Happy Holidaze btw.

Mr_Freedom

As I have already posted, I plan to make the switch. I love my 990, but the 975 fits now my needs better (I now need the HDMI connectivity) The audible performance of the 975 is also superb, so there is nothing that will be missing.

Scott, however, is giving me a hard time about grabbing one of the first units from the air shipment. "Hey Peter, these are for our "paying" customers. You'll have to wait"

Peter

I think this decision is 100% based on how you currently use your 990 and plan to in the future. My 990 provides features that I'm very happy with and some that the 975 doesn't offer. I use two sources for video. One is Bluray the other is HDcable. I currently have high end component video cables running 50ft from the source to my plasma. Meaning I have no need for HDMI cables. Audio is fed by 7.1 out of my Bluray player, and the coax digital audio cable for my HD cable box. The zone 2 features of the 990 serve my home perfectly as I have this output feeding a four channel amp for ceiling speakers in my kitchen and dinning room. The USB input on the 990 is perfect for running a USB from my laptop for iTunes, Pandora, or whatever other digital audio I want to feed it. Playing lossless audio files into the USB input sounds near perfect in my mind. Unless my 990 dies I have no plans to eliminate it as the center piece of my system. Its way too good in too many ways.

I'm on the same page with my 990......

I just run all my HDMI cables (DIRECTV DVR, Oppo BDP-103,Seagate Home Theatre+)right from source to my Samsung Plasma...works perfect. I love the audio (Rotel CD, Analog/Bypass thru a Yaqin Tube Buffer)of the 990;
I still would like to get into a processor with HDMI; but I do not want to give up the versatility of the 990.
I also use the USB with a laptop via a Musiland Monitor 01.
I am still waiting for more reviews/user reports on the 975 before I do anything....

Your setup is similar to what I would like to go to with the OPPO and the 990. I am hoping, you can answer the following questions.
1) Have you run your DVR and Seagate Home Theater into the Oppo BDP-103 to take advantage of its video and audio processing? If so, is it an improvement?
2) Do you connect the BDP-103 via the 7.1 analog outputs or have you compared it with the digital feed?

From a WAF perspective the 103 is a lot more feasible then the 105. Especially when she sees blu-rays for $69.

No, didn't even think of doing that-may try it though. At the moment, I run the DVR HDMI right to the Samsung Plasma; HDMI from Seagate also to the Plasma, I use optical connections to 990 (had to play around with lip synch delay for the DVR)...Since I got the Oppo, I don't even use the Seagate, because the Oppo has Netflix access....


Yes, I am using both 7.1 direct AND optical from the Oppo to 990 (so I can compare).....7.1 sounds better for DVD/BluRay. But my Rotel still sounds better than the Oppo on audio CD's....

The Oppo is a really sweet unit; solid build, easy setup (Speaker configuration was a little involved-but it seems to be properly set up)

If you do test feeding the DVR into OPPO, I would appreciate it if you posted your views on whether it provided a worthwhile improvement.

Theoretically, you could pass native format via the HDMI feed to the Oppo and take advantage of what should be its superior scaling to the DVR and other video processing. In addition, you would get the OPPO's audio processing and have fewer inputs to switch through on the 990.

This isn't about the 975 but rather my 990 (SN 9900 10051910) which up to now has given flawless service for going on seven years. But now there is sound only in the left channel in all modes except BYPASS (no digital), where there is normal sound in both stereo channels. The problem happened quite suddenly a few days ago and suggests to me that the failure is in the digital processing.
At six years nine months old my unit is out of warranty, but if the problem could be cured by replacement of one circuit board I might be able to do it, since I have assembled home kits (Heath and Dyna)back in previous generations.

Sorry to hear about the ailing 990. Outlaw is pretty reasonable about repairs. Call Scott and he will help troubleshoot and set up a repair plan if needed.