So after cruising these forums and seeing some very favorable reviews of the 770 and the new 990 on various other sites and review forums, I took the plunge and ordered both! I just recieved my 770 and as a way of determining the difference each component makes in my system, decided to use my Denon Avr-3800 (just Dolby Digital 5.1, NO DTS, it's that old) which has been the center of my Home Theater, as just a processor feeding the 770. I was wondering if I would be able to tell the difference by in essence just changing the Amp part of the equation. Well the answer would be YES!!! I have a NHT setup with VT2.4's in the front and matched center and surrounds. They are pretty inefficient, and even though I had Bi-Amped my fronts (seperate mid and highs and built in 10" subs with Bi-amp/wire capabilities) with the Denon, I hadn't expected such a huge improvement. Previously, I had thought that the VT2.4's were just not all that great - kind of woolly Bass, way our of control and boomy, in other words barely adequate. With the 770, BINGO! all of a sudden, everything is WAY tighter, Bass sounds defined, I can even hear individual, distinct notes (who would have thought!) Now the VT2.4's sound great. I am going to complete an orgy of 2 channel and 7 channel listening this weekend, then add my 990 on Monday when it arrives and see what it sounds like with the Denon removed. I hope the results are incrementaly as good as they were with the 770. I will post my findings/opinion after adding the 990.