I live in Chicago and my kids are between "winter hockey" and "spring hockey" so dad's wallet is not as decimated as it is when money is being burned on "ice time".

The air temp this morning was 19° and the wind speed was over 20 mph so this is still perfect "home theater weather".

Who thinks Peter & Co have made progress on getting an advanced pre-pro closer to fruition?

There are too many "me too" products that are too expensive for the Outlaws not to be cooking up something...

I tend to agree. The 975 probably gives them some breathing space to work on another big project, hopefully the 998 type of gear. With the experience of integrating HDMI the Outlaws should be poised to relatively easily develop the next generation of processor as their top of the line. The experience gained from the discontinued projects is also pretty valuable as well as how the 975 and its builder are working out. Many of us were intrigued by Trinnov but Audyssey XT32 would also be cool. Something like the 975 but with 2-3 more HDMI inputs and another output with room correction, XLR stereo inputs and 7 outputs and a phono stage. Don't need Airplay or streaming or DSP modes. With the Emotiva stuff coming out and Sherbourne going internet direct, Outlaw is going to need something or just get out of the pre-pro market altogether. Everyone needs amps and subs but they don't generate upgrade fever the way receivers and processors do.

Amen!

The thing too is that I really have tried to like the "me too" product offerings like the Denon 4520ci/ Marantz 8801 or the Onkyo 5509 / Integra 80.3. Been to the showrooms enough times that salesguy don't even ask me if I need help anymore...

Don't get me wrong, those products are quite nice, have really every feature under the sun, even seem to be nicely built. They are far better values that stuff like the NAD M15 or McIntosh MX121. (does not escape me that three of those manufacturers are "North American"...) I just really really really want to have top of the line room correction at a fair price.

I agree, I like my 975 but I must say it is taking much more tweaking than my Marantz because of the room correction software. My basement room is set up to be purpose built media room and I am having to adjust much more than I had to in my living room system where the room is not as sonically friendly.