My suggestion to be included in the new replacement for the model 990 preamp/processor and the model 1070 receiver is a "black out" option that can be activated for the LCD front display.

When this button on the pre/pro or receiver (or on their remote controls) is hit it turns off the front LCD display completely, as if the equipment had been turned off with the power switch, but leaves the machine on and functioning normally (no volume reduction of any kind). If you use the remote to change the volume (or the volume dial on the machine itself), or any other button, then the display will light back up for 5 seconds so you can see what volume adjustments you are making, then it would go right back to turning the LCD off. It would automatically stay in this completely dark mode for as long as you want (no annoying timers to have to set, please), until you hit the black out button again or until the machine was turned off, which would reset the LCD display to light up again next time you turn the machine on.

This is so that when you are watching movies you don't have the irritating visual distraction of the LCD being lit, even if your machine has a "dim" option for it's LCD, it's still distracting.

I've only seen a few machines, usually higher end equipment, that have an option to turn off all the lights on the front of a pre/pro or receiver so you can have that great darkness when you're watching a movie. And yet, this is a feature that wouldn't cost a lot or be hard to implement, just add one button to the machine itself and to the remote and put a circuit inside the machine that will turn the power to the LCD lighting mechanism off/on when that button is hit. It would be great to have this really cool feature on the new Outlaw pre/pro and receiver!

On a related note, please make the main power switch light (that tells you the machine is turned on) as dim as you can, so it's not a needless distraction when watching a movie. It's only needs to be bright enough that it can be seen to be on when the room is darkened. Bright, gaudy power lights are really annoying. And no lights at all when the machine is turned off (no red "power off" lights), the machine should just go totally dark. Thanks for listening to these ideas!