I would of been one of the first in line but I am buying a used Integra DTC-9.8 on Thursday and if all goes well with that, my 990 heads into its box. So I guess it all depends on how I like the 9.8 but I certainly wouldn't be afraid of being an early owner of the 978 based on my past experiences with Outlaw.

Thanks for clearing things up. I did not realize that coaxial RCA cables were as good or better than optical. My Oppo 93 is connected by HDMI straight to my Mitsubishi 6800 for video and I have use of both Optical and analog multichannel. I have a 40' run to my projector using blue jeans cable.

I am not afraid to get a 978. I have two Outlaw amp, a 990, an OWA3 and an LFM1-EX. I just don't think it will be that much of a sonic improvement over what I have. I love my 990 for music as it is. I will run it until death comes to one of us. Outlaw is definitely not in Emotiva space. I don't think Emo likes to be criticized for the past practices. But... if they want people to stop they need to get their Sh*t in one sock with their newest device.

I've yet to purchase anything from Emotiva...mostly because of my aversion to spending money on higher end electronics that are assembled in China. That said, Emotiva DID recently purchase Bryston, a company that's very well respected in the industry. One would hope that Bryston's stellar reputation for quality and their very long warranties will be a good influence on Emotiva.

I was also a pretty big fan of my 990. I eventually stopped using it because of the lack of HDMI and more modern codec support. Outlaw's failure to follow-up the 990 with a successor in a timely manner has undoubtedly cost them a lot of business. I don't think I would buy a processor from them again after seeing the repeated flubs after the 990, but maybe some other folks are a bit more forgiving than I am...though I would caution those folks to avoid being the early adopter guinea pigs. Such is life. I would still recommend their ATI-sourced amps, even though they are a bit pricey compared to similar offerings from Emo.

Best,

It was Sherbourn that Emotiva bought. I'm sure they didn't purchase Bryston and a google search backs that up. Bryston is a high end manufacturer which designs and builds their amps in Canada, very very far from Emotiva's country of choice, China.

Holy brain fart, batman. You're right, it was Sherbourn...another well respected name in the industry.

Best,

Ritz thank you.Honestly I never gave it a thought about the use of HDMI being capable of audio streaming.
I was so in-doctrinated into the use of optical.

Thank you for the insight.

Yeah, it really cuts down on the cable clutter too.

Best,

As Outlaw #58 (or 85 - don't remember), and an early buyer of my 950, I wouldn't be scared to be an early buyer of the 978. Only last year did my 950 start having problems: loud buzz (probably a loosened torroid xformer mount) and front panel volume control that doesn't change the volume when turned half the time (probably dirty contacts).

I wouldn't be afraid to jump in early either .. I'm still using my 950... it's had to go back in a few years ago, but for now, my TV has enough hdmi inputs and everything has optical out or 7.1 out (bd player)... so I'm OK for now... BUT I want to re-arrange the room and mount the TV and put my equipment in a closet.. when I do that I'm going to go with only one hdmi cable to the TV... so... for now I wait while the mount for the TV sits in that closet

Wow.. I also just realized I've had my 950 for almost 10 years