As Ritz2 notes, they appear similar and I also have not heard either one. I asked about the Onkyo because it has EQXT32, which seems to be a BIG DEAL around here.

Folks, please post reasons for me to rationalize waiting for the 978. Why should I?
thanks

I faced the same choice last May, and chose the Onkyo's big brother, the Integra DHC-80.2.

I'm not in a position to wax rhapsodic on the superior quality of XT32 over XT, because I never had a unit with XT in my listening room. But I've got an odd-shaped room, with uneven and tricky corners and a slanting ceiling, and I can confirm the XT32 does a remarkable job of accounting for it all. Running an Outlaw 7700 through the 80.2 gives me a huge soundstage, and truly allows for eyes-closed where-are-the-band-members-standing listening.

My sound quality is excellent, regardless of source component.

And as for another recent hot topic -- the lack of network streaming on the 978 -- I can report this: The 80.2 allows me to hook the unit via Ethernet connection directly into my home network. That allows easy access to the high-res digital sound files that reside on my computer in the next room without needing a Squeezebox or an AppleTV. The 80.2's DACs are Burr-Brown, if memory serves, and while they're not ESS Sabre, they do quite nicely.

Prettty nice summary of the 80.2 strenghts.


I still have a couple of crazy "high end" shops around the Chicago area that I occaisionally get a chance to stop into. You know, the kind of place where most of even the two channel speakers cost more than a used car and some approach the price of a house. These places are getting pretty big on the high resolution sound files band wagon. They are also increasingly embracing some of the "boutique" sound processing, things like TACT would fit in, as would DEQX, Trinnov and Lyngdorf. Personally I have never met anyone other than a dealer that has such a sum sunk into their system, and believe me I know way more people that earn a ton more money than me, so I really wonder who does spend their dough on this stuff (I do know more than few folks with cars deep into the six figures, so the money is out there...) and I doubt that a tiny value oriented firm like Outlaw OR a huge mass market firm like Onkyo /Integra or Denon/Marantz will ever be able to work effectively with firms that have processors in the mega buck realm.

I do suspect that more and more content type devices (live BluRay player manufacturer / marketers) will continue to expand their offering in the high resolution streaming solution offerings arena. That will happen VERY fast...

WWP3: thank you for your input.
Keep it coming, guys.

I firmly believe in

1. Less is more
2. The K.I.S.S method

I have no doubt that I am in the minority but an awesome all analog preamp from Outlaw would be just about the best thing ever for me. For me music comes first then DVD and BluRay. I listen to a lot of SACD and DVD-A surround recordings as well as 2 channel. The OPPO does an excellent job decoding everything I have. This past weekend I pulled my old Onkyo out of the mix and went straight from the OPPO to my amp and was completely blown away by the improvement even though I always used the "direct" mode on the Onkyo.
The only drawbacks are no way to use the fine OPPO stereo DACs and the 5.1 analog out, minimalist volume control, and no phono in.
I've looked at offerings like the Parasound P7 and Audio Research MP-1 which seem would like the ticket except for price and a few minor features.

Clearly a "one-box-does-all", like the 978 is difficult to achieve and then offers redundancy and features that I would never need or use.

Remember we all did fine before HDMI, room correction, streaming, network, etc. Man, I miss the simple times.

Outlaws, maybe there is room for such a product in your lineup.

Amen! I look at the AVS Forum Oppo 95 thread about DLNA/streaming and it is a huge number of pages long - such wailing and gnashing of teeth and frustration! People trying dozens of software implementations with quirks and failures and successes and jargon like I've rarely seen. I don't understand most of it and it seems like when/if you get the perfect software and then spend countless hours ripping your CD's and movies, then you arrive at the nervanic state of ultimate "convenience". I can't knock it - convenience/laziness has made a fortune for Apple. I get off my can, walk to my CD rack, choose one, put it in the tray and push play. Not what I'd call a lot of effort or wasted time.
Rant off/flame suit on. To each his own. PS: how did civilization make it this far without cell phones?

I love my SB for music, real convenient to switch tracks/albums which I tend to do frequently and mid song. Also keeps me from having a bunch of CD's cases on my cabinet. Now I don’t quite understand the ripping of movies to disk as being convenient. How many movies can you watch in one night?

Bob

I guess I'm in the minority. I don't listen to a lot of music. I'm in the car all day listening to music, so by the time I get home.....

I want my new home theater for primarily movies, tv, and video games. All that music stuff just doesn't appeal to me. And I like having a physical disk to put in the player. Until streaming quality can match blu-ray. Even then, unless studios are charging less, I would prefer a physical medium. I must be showing my age as inevitably this will change.

I wlll alway prefer a physical medium over streaming. Maybe it's my age as well, maybe I like to collect, hold in my hand, read liner notes (apply bi-focals first). I actually like the look of rows of CD cases on a shelf. I think there will always be a niche market for discs if only for the audiophile crowd. At least I hope so. Afterall, vinyl has a strong fillowing.

And I listen to music at work and in the car too, but that can't come close to the SQ of listening at home.

And I listen to music at work and in the car too, but that can't come close to the SQ of listening at home.

Your right about the sound quality. I have 4 kids and have to choose how I spend my time. I generally only get to sit down on weekend nights so movies and games win out. When my kids are older and I have some more free time, not likely, I may get back into music again. Until then, I want the best in-house movie experience I can afford.

I see you have some axioms. Do you like them? Mine are still sitting in boxes until next weekend.