David,

if Emotiva was much crisper, tighter and dynamic, even at low listening levels, why didn't you stick with it? Were those highs so bad to wash away all the other pluses? I'm only asking here, don't get me wrong.

I've tried a Yamaha over the weekend, the RX-V1800, which is loaded with features and sports 130W per channel.

It's HDMI 1.3a ready, works flawlessly, is loaded with features, including video upscaling. Has automatic setup which was "spot on".

But it didn't sound right to me and back to the store it went. It was initially $1600, recently $1080 and didn't stand up to my 65W per canannel 1070, which I got for $900, in sound quality.

The midrange was not right, the higs seemed to be "up in the air with nothing under them" and sounded in a way that made me think of white noise instead of cymbals. It was pulling attention to each speaker, the sound was not blending in. It was loud, allright, but I usually crank up my 1070 to -15 -10 dB while watching movies. Those 130W of power just didn't sound right and I, one, don't need them.

I know that my "review" seems terrible, but the unit is not that bad. Maybe, had I never heard the Outlaw sound, I would have found it pretty much OK, especially since I use my HT for just that, movies. Ignorance is bliss, but once I've tasted the Outkla sound, I become an "addict".

Damn, it's not at all easy to find a replacement for the 1070 to give you that sound for that money... Maybe not even possible!?