NuForce AVP-16 vs Outlaw 990

Hi,
Has anybody (esp.gonk) done this comparison between NuForce AVP 16 and Outlaw 990. Overall how
does this company stack up against outlaw ?

http://www.nuforce.com/partner/Brochure/Nuforce-8-page-brochure.pdf

Thanks ......

I haven't seen or heard the NuForce, so I don't know how it compares to the 990. Info on their site is a bit scarce. The remote's stylish looking, but I wonder about its practicality (unlike high-end two channel gear, home theater gear has to be designed under the assumption that you'll use it in the dark - that's why backlit universal remotes are so prevalent).

I had to hunt around a bit to find a manual in hopes of having it shed some light on things like bass management, video switching, and such). The manual is a whopping 16 pages long (compared to the 990's 52 pages). From what I can tell, the bass management consists of a single adjustable crossover applied to all small speakers, the video switching lacks any transcoding (composite inputs appear at composite output only, s-video inputs at s-video output only, and component inputs at component output only), and the digital audio inputs are not addressable (so even though there are seven digital inputs on the back, you can really only use four of them at once).

Functionally, the NuForce is clearly more of a "purist" processor: fewer input options, a really pretty remote that would be difficult to use in a dark theater, and a feature set that would have been very respectable five years ago but looks a bit sparse today. Sonically, I'd expect it to be a very good performer, but I have no first-hand evidence of it - mostly, I'm assuming that something designed with this mindset would have to be geared strongly toward pure good DAC's and clean analog design simply to justify its existence.

Someone pointed out an interesting similarity yesterday on another forum between the NuForce AVP 16 and the Emotiva LMC-1. When looking at the rear panels of both units, there are a number of similarities (multichannel and stereo analog inputs, component video inputs/outputs, composite and s-video inputs/outputs, digital audio inputs, and general topography) that strongly suggest the two are based on the same basic platform. That suggests some interesting things. First, the LMC-1 uses a Cirrus 49300 DSP chip (the same chip used in Outlaw's Model 950, released back in 2002), which explains why the feature set all around looks much more like the ol' 950 than the current 990 and 970. The 49300 chip cannot offer some of the newer capabilities included in Outlaw's current products (AV sync being one of the obvious examples). Second, the LMC-1 uses a DAC chip that is almost identical to the 970's DAC (the version used in the 970 actually has about 4dB of extra headroom over the version used in the LMC-1) - since the 990's DAC is widely considered better than the 970's (just ask Outlaw, it's one reason that the 990 is more expensive), that may tell us a bit about the AVP 16 as well. The LMC-1's analog section has gotten positive reviews, which would bode well for the AVP 16 if it shares that analog design, but the DSP side of the fence has been a bit of a slippery slope for the LMC-1. Perhaps sticking with a single global crossover instead of the LMC-1's triple crossover allowed NuForce to avoid some of those DSP mode headaches. In the end, though, the AVP 16's feature set really compares best with the Model 950 - the only thing the AVP 16 offers that the 950 lacks of Pro Logic IIx (assuming that it is implemented properly), and the 950 actually offers a few things missing from the AVP 16 (composite/s-video transcoding, triple crossover, analog bass management in 5.1 input, a second zone, and a universal remote).

A google search revealed that the AVP 16 lists for $1000. You could get a used Model 950 for half of that (or less) on Audiogon with some patience, a brand new Model 970 for $300 less, or a new Model 990 for just $100 more. Some online reviews indicate that it could hang with any of the processors I've mentioned sonically, but the feature set (with the exception of Pro Logic IIx) is nearly five years old.