Well, I've been lurking around here for awhile and have gotten a lot of really good information. I've been trying to hold out for the 990 successor before picking up a 7500 but not sure that I can wait any longer. (Yeah...I've just got that darn itch to buy a new toy.)

Just wanted to thank all the regular posters here (and Scott at Outlaw) for all of the help. The two together really helped me decide that Outlaw was the way to go over Parasound, NAD, and B&K.

One quick question. I know that several people here have gotten Outlaw's balanced interconnects (gonk). Any follow up reviews on how they perform?

They have better connectors than the cheap balanced cables that I used prior to adding the PCB's. They locked in easier and unlocked cleanly, no hanging or need to "wiggle" the connector to get it to disengage. Were their audible differences? Honestly, I never heard any.

One quick question. Since I am will be waiting for the successor to the 990 before I get a new pre/pro I won't be able to go with balanced cables. My Onkyo TX-NR800 doesn't have balanced outputs. As such, I don't want to spend a lot on some temporary cables but I also don't want to compromise SQ. Any suggestions?

Once I pick up the separate pre/pro I intend to go with the Outlaw balanced cables.

I'd suggest looking at either Blue Jeans Cables or MonoPrice.

I had to do some research on XLR cables recently as I'm going the balance route too.

I second Gonk's recommendation of Blue Jeans and monoprice. I used both and they are great.

The best bang for the buck I found for XLR cables is from markertek. I purchased their "premium canare XLR" line. They have the same specs as the Blue Jean Canare L-4E6S Star Quad, but at a lower price.

No affiliations, just a happy customer from all three sites.

DMX