All right, so my 7700 comes in today and my current amp does not have pre-amp outputs. So, I would like to get something so that I can use the amp till the 997 arrives.

Adding to that, the $200 off of the 997 that you get by having the 990 or 970, and I have decided on one or the other.

I currently do not have a 7-channel set-up (5.1 only) and I won't have it before the 997 arrives.

I am debating a B-stock 970 at $399 and no shipping vs. a $699 990 w/ free shipping. The ONLY thing that is making me lean towards the 990 is the fact that the 997 will have balanced outputs, and I could get the cables for the 990 now and then use them w/ the 997 when that comes.

Other than that, I am leaning toward the 970. The other nice part about getting the 970 is that for $100 more than just the cost of the 990, I could get a SMS-1 at the same time...

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Ted