renov8r, re-read my post. In no way did I imply that Theta's program was "cost effective". I referred to Theta as "high end".

The NAD upgrade is indeed cost effective, but it's a video module and of no interest to me. I run my OPPO BDP105 directly to my display device, TV/projector. I suggesting plug-in design for audio upgrades/additions.

Sorry, Hank, I know that you recognize Theta as part of the weirdly esoterically pricey kind of gear that most of us value oriented Outlaw-types scratch our heads over. Even though I do know a few folks with dedicated theater rooms in their custom built homes I cannot say that I have seen the Theta gear outside of showroom / AV convention.

My gut tells me that the "design pre-work" that NAD did include to allow for card swappable video is considerably less involved than the kind of integration points needed to swap-out the cards needed for multiple new channels of object-oriented / immersive sound.

From what I've seen even stand alone equalization devices, from firms like Wisdom, DEQX, or Lyngdorf, have exceedingly small market bases and thus need to cover very high development costs. It still strikes me that as far as the actual "hardware" of these boxes they do not seem be something that would be horribly costly to build well -- typically they do rely on XLR jacks, and of course need to be designed for very "clean" operation, but with the core dsp processors falling in price it seems hard to believe that no one enters the market...

"Plug-in" cards for things like expanding audio channels or functions would involve a completely new decoder chip. These things are more less SOC devices now days, meaning you replace the entire audio board to expand channels or functions. Even DACs need to be changed in that scenario. Basically - the entire machine.

Guys, I was more or less wishing out loud. A plug-in audio upgrade card infrastructure would be a new from scratch design, but I still think it could be done for much less than the esoteric brands. rdtrimes, you're probably correct and it may be plug-n upgrade cards aren't doable. I don't know - the Marantz AV7702 mkII unit looks good and the Emotiva unit is now on sale, so I'm really wondering what Outlaw is going to come out with. It appears they will miss the holiday season market :-(

Maybe they'll have it ready for tax refund season! I picked up my 975 at the tail end of the intro period with my tax return so there's a precedent for that time frame.

A bit of deja vu?

There was a monster long thread at AVS discussing compatibility issues with some of the NAD modules. Is this still an issue?

Having lived with the 975 for a while I would like to see more flexibility on the audio side of things.

The crossover point is adjustable but not the crossover slope. Is this something difficult?

I would also like to have the ability to have different settings for the stereo mode. What sounds nice with everything running for TV and movies is not necessarily optimal when listening to the radio. The crossover point for 5.1 is not necessarily the same for the stereo mode. I would like to have a separate adjustment for crossover point and slope. I have no idea how difficult any of this might be.

You set your crossover point based on the capabilities of each speaker. If you don't change out the speakers, the crossover point should stay the same whatever mode you are listening to. I am not sure what advantage you would gain in adjusting the slope if you are not swapping speakers, since the slope is just a rate of change for the transition from one side of the crossover to the other. I don't know about most folks but when I adjust the crossover for my setup, in a given room, I don't mess with it much after that. It sounds as if you would like to use it more as a sort of treble/bass control. There are a lot of equalizers out there that may serve your purpose but I am pretty sure Outlaw is done with firmware updates for the 975 and probably have gone way past the point where they could change it for the new processor.

As the system is more for TV/Movies than music the crossover point is set at 80hz as per the THX recommendation. I use vintage Polk Audio Monitor 7's for the front R/L capable of playing much lower. The -3db is 35hz. I have tried them at all of the crossover point options including running my fronts as large and prefer the result crossing at 80. Tone controls set to flat

For TV and Movies it works great. The bass cabinet disappears into the room just like it should and the night mode works without sounding like I threw a wet blanket over the speakers. It is working well and we are happy with the results.

Until I switch it over to the stereo mode. In the stereo mode the 975 defaults to front R/L + SW crossing at 80hz because that is where I set it during set-up (after some tinkering because I did try all of the available settings before settling on 80). When listing to music the transition between the Polks and bass cabinet can be heard clearly as it is not a smooth transition. It would be nice if the settings for the stereo mode could be adjusted independently of the settings for TV/Movies. If audio settings were independently adjustable then the icing on the cake would be to let me have control over the slope as well. If I could slope the crossover point down at 6db per octave instead of 12db the musical transition between the fronts and the SW would be smoother and closer to transparent.

For TV/Movies a 6db slope of the crossover would most likely have a negative effect.

EQ is different discussion but one worth having. Instead of something along the lines of Audyssey include parametric eq. (no idea how many bands would be needed but would be easy enough to determine) Set-up then could consist of plugging in a mic to the unit and setting distances and levels and I have no personal objection to this being done manually. Others will not want to do anything in a manual mode. Once the levels and distances are set have the new pre/pro display a RTA graph of the room in the set-up OSD. With parametric one can set the iso center and width of the filter to adjust as needed. This process could also be automated but I would still want the option of adjustment.

Simple

I am not sure why your system seems to act differently for music vice other audio sources but the equipment should sound the same based on system and equipment response. It could be that the response of the sub is better suited for movies than Music. Or it could be that the room is affecting the sub right around the crossover point such that you hear it more with music. Velodyne used to make the SMS-1 digital subwoofer management. Outlaw sold them for a awhile, but they are no longer. It would give you precise control of the crossover from 15 to 199 hz in 1 hz steps. It also allows you to adjust the slope in 6db increments from 6-48 db. It also analyzes your setup and displays a curve to allow you to make your choices easier.

http://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_12_4/velodyne-sms1-digital-drive-sub-manager-12-2005-part-5.html