5. Got a good price on a very full-featured alternative and couldn't resist it. Ironically, to help offset the expense a bit, I finally sold my Outlaw 950. To demo it for the prospective buyer, I reinstalled it in my system (I hadn't been using it for awhile) and was impressed all over again with what a clean, good-sounding piece of gear it is.

I'm still a loyal Outlaw, but I needed an upgrade. If Outlaw gets the firmware on the 997 done right (which S/N seems not to have done with the receiver), there's nothing stopping me from selling my new gear and coming back to the corral.