Not sure if this has been discussed or not but will the 997 look like the current Outlaw prepros? Would there be color choices such as gray and black? I ask as I was surprised to see that the S/N R-972 is offered in silver and black. Not a big deal just curious . I currently have the 886 but the 997 looks very interesting and the Trinnov might be what my room needs . Do you have to sign up for a preorder to get the $1399.00 price?

Bill

I believe the consensus opinion is that it will only be available in Outlaw Gray to match the amps. The cost of multiple face plates might be prohibitive. But it is all just speculation.

I'm guessing their NDA with Sherwood Newcastle is preventing them from posting a picture of the 997 on-line. After all, they've already told us that they are beta testing actual units. I can't imagine any other reason why they aren't posting a picture of it. It can't be that hard to line up a photographer. But what do I know?

This is a simple answer. The new 997 will look extremely similar to the present 990. So for those of you who replace their 990's with a 997, If you are six feet away the units will look nearly identical.

The sound however, with Trinnov 3D spatial processing will be something you have never experienced before.

Peter

Can we expect the 997 to contain superior parts & design relative to the Sherwood Newcastle R-972, for example, in the analog audio sections?

We cannot get into all of this, nor would we. Both units will sound great.

OK,OK. I'll reveal something: The Outlaw Logo due to its unique shape and material---(unobtainium) "sounds better" than the Newcastle Logo.

unobtainium...that's hilarious.
Can't wait to hear the difference between that and my marantziconium.

Now I know why the Outlaw products sound so darned good! I always wondered!

I would say you are correct on this. I forgot about Outlaw more than likely wanting to match up the 997 with their amps .

Bill

Peter,

Thanks for your response . I understand having to remain tight lipped on the 997. Will you be able to release more information in the near future or is there a specific time frame that you have to go by? Will the $1399.00 price be MSRP or just for the initial release?

Bill

We are still in Beta and we cannot commit to any hard release date. We are working through the typical bugs and each one requires a complete re-test of the unit. Our intent is to attempt a release with nothing flawed. This sounds obvious but it is very hard to achieve in reality. We are making good progress, however.

As for the $1499 that is the introductory price and we intend to honor it for those who have committed. In the future, we don't know yet.

Peter

Has the price changed from the estimated $1399 you list on the product page...or is that a pre-holiday anxiety typo?

Typo......My Bad

Peter,

"We are still in Beta and we cannot commit to any hard release date. We are working through the typical bugs and each one requires a complete re-test of the unit."

That would seem to mean that the firmware is different.

Can you say if it's just housekeeping or remote control compatibility type issues, or will the 997 have more/different functionality than the 972?

It doesn't suggest how different, though, as last I heard Sherwood was also doing beta testing still...

When will you be able to post pictures, preliminary user manual, and more detailed spec's? I'm itching to compare the 997 with the 990 and current offerings from "O","D", and "Y", (And vaporware from "E").

The R-972 has been released although in very small numbers. Several owners have posted on AVS their impressions on the R-972. Here is a link to a post on AVS from Jeff at S/N.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16764595#post16764595

So it appears that the R-972 will be more available the middle to the end of this month. So I would guess that means the release of the 997 should not be too far off .

Bill

Most of the reports I've seen have been from what I thought Jeff said were pre-release units, but I could be wrong. We know part of the agreement was a 60 day delay, so if Sherwood has it "launched" by the end of this month that would put the 997 arriving in late September.

"Several owners have posted on AVS their impressions on the R-972."

Well there's Jeff from Sherwood and Chuck; not sure of his affiliation.

So I don't think it's in the hands of any "civilians" yet.

Last I read he posted that they have distributed about 1 per state and that a much larger shipment would arrive by mid July. So for purposes of any agreement it looks like the 60 day clock should be ticking as of mid July unless there's some caveat in the contract requiring X units sold or something.

Just to help manage expectations, I think it is worth noting that 60 days is the minimum. It could be longer. (Not saying it will be, just pointing out the potential influence of Murphy's Law...)

I'm a firm believer in O'Tool's theorem which states;
Murphy was an optimist!