Fellow Outlaws:

We know that you are anxious to get your hands on the forthcoming Model 976, and we are just as anxious to get it to you.

That said, given the date, it is obvious that it will ship a bit later than we had hoped. There is a continual battle to find the balance between pre-announcing new products, as we did for the Model 976 versus waiting to announce them until the are ready to ship, as we did with the RR 2160 and Ultra X13. Regardless, whenever we announce a new product it is very important to us that any new product ships only when it is ready, not before. We're not quite at that point yet for the Model 976

It's been said that it's "The first 99% is easy. It's the last 1% that is the hardest." That is a good summary of where we are. We have units under test that are completely functional and which deliver outstanding audio and video performance. We've completed work with Room EQ Wizard that is optimized for the Model 976. We have the parts staged and ready for production start. That's the "99%".

Unfortunately, there is that remaining 1%. There are a few remaining issues that have cropped up that we are simply not comfortable having in a production product. None, by themselves, are fatal. However, collectively they would prevent the Model 976 from meeting our expectations. Yes, it will take until after our goal of "before the end of spring" to work all of this out. Since some of these things are interdependent it is to say how long it will take, but it shouldn't be that long.

Again, thanks for your support, patience and understanding as we work to bring you the product you expect and deserve.