That makes lots of sense. Fact is there are some very nice up-firing Atmos speakers as well as add-ons (including a pair from Atlantic Technology...) that are absolutely perfect for many apartment dwellers. Folks should not have any reluctance about using up-firing Atmos speakers in situations where they are appropriate -- that generally covers homes and apartments with normal ceiling height & construction where the up-firing speakers can be placed atop floor standers / bookshelf units on stands...

I suspect that much of the tech for the 976 is similar to the design for the "object pre-pro" but the Outlaws have enough experience to hold their cards close to the vest when it comes to specific manufacturing details, as prior efforts have steps on too many toes...

Thanks for a thoughtful post, TCat! It's nice to finally see where your frustrations are coming from. I can certainly understand, given your situation, why you're dismayed by the lack of communication from the Outlaws.

As I (and others) have mentioned before, there was a time when they were much more open about what was happening and what they anticipated for release schedules. However, after one particularly nasty bout of problems caused a previous processor to be delayed a few times and then scrapped, the ensuing backlash caused them to change to a much more closed off approach. If you look at their product announcements and releases since that time, they have been pretty much right on. They announce, provide a date within a couple months, and then start shipping on time. The fact that the 976 hasn't met this pattern suggests to me that there is a completely unforeseen issue that has cropped up.

Now to take your position, yes, I agree it'd be awesome if they'd fill us in on what that delay is, or at least when it will be resolved. They seem to still be a bit gun shy, though and having been around for that fallout, I can't really say I blame them. Personally, I think they swung too far back on the pendulum from transparent all the way to brick wall. It'd be nice if they can find a middle ground that we can all live with, maybe a nice wooden fence with some missing knotholes we can peek through to see inside the corral.

All of that said, I understand where they're coming from and know that this is the way they operate. I accept the situation and my expectations are tempered accordingly. I freely acknowledge that's easy for me to do since I'm watching from an interested position vs. a need position, though.

+1 Yes, the Outlaws are gun-shy after the bashing received from missing out on the 978 (?). They were bullied out of their China outsource mfgr by a much larger company that also was developing pre/pros. After missing Estimated ship dates (which fans self-interpreted as Promised ship dates)and then having to cancel the product, the backlash Owl's_Warder alludes to was stinging. And, as has been pointed out repeatedly, The Outlaws care about customer loyalty, trust and service, so they "...swung too far back on the pendulum..."

Outlaws: time for beta testing?

I don't have a lot of confidence about this processor ever coming to the market after reading the 4 or 5 posts.

I'm of the impression that beta testing was already done? When they announced a spring ship, I figured they were just implementing the fixes on things that showed up in beta and maybe ironing out any last minute licensing issues. Given that the product was much closer to market than the scrapped pre/pro, I'm confident the 976 is going to come out, J.H. I'm hopeful for the holiday season but only the Outlaws know for sure.

tick - tock -- tick -- tock -- tick tock -- and the faithful wait -- yes we wait

Thanks for your input on this subject. I am really excited about getting Atmos to work for me but not getting my hopes up too much. I have a rather small living room(13.5 x 14ft) with a standard 8ft flat ceiling. It would really be cool if the Outlaw object based prepro had a room correction system included. It will be hard to give up Audyssey in my Marantz but at least the Outlaw will have a PEQ with it.

I was trying to find a post about the pre-pro being 99% done some time ago, with just that pesky 1% left to hurdle, but I'm having trouble locating it. and please don't tell me its an earlier post in this thread.:)
Anyway I'm still hopefully waiting. My 975 is still going well, but I need to set up my system for full 4k. Don't think I'll be doing immersive, but I won't say never.

Yup, earlier in this thread. Should have looked here first.

Would you want pork or chicken before (160-165 internal temp) it was ready? The finishing touches on a sub or RR2260 pale next to getting ALL of an AVR's or prepro's DSP bug-free.

Hang in there, the "Destroyer"