Isn’t it a pain waiting for something you are really interested in or want? I'm still using an older Sony receiver (preamp outs to external power amps) as a controller/processor for movie sound. It is functioning properly, so I do not feel a great urge to buy something really-really-soon. If the Sony broke (and I couldn't fix it), that would be a different story.

I'm AM interested in someday upgrading to a current controller/processor but my exquisite taste (wink-wink) is not matched by my budget. No Anthem gear for me. The price to performance ratio of Outlaw gear is great. I'm (semi) content to let Outlaw work the bugs out of the 997 before I buy one. As an EE, I know that something as complex as the 997 will take a lot of time to get to production status, and even then there may still be an issue or two (that hopefully a firmware update will fix).

Anyway, release the 997 when it is ready, not before.