Originally Posted By: Wrong Hombre
There are five analog video inputs (three component + two composite)(not including the mandatory but arbitrary front panel composite+stereo RCA in), but only three analog stereo audio inputs. How exactly will I connect five analog AV devices, if such a need were to appear?

Six digital audio inputs, which can be paired with some or all of those analog video sources. I have a couple analog video sources without digital audio output, but most offer coaxial, optical, or both.

Originally Posted By: Wrong Hombre
I have an antenna connected to my TV as well as a U-verse box connected to my receiver (sorry, NFL games still look better OTA here); the TV analog stereo outs use one set of ins on my current receiver. If I were to use this setup with the 978, I'm down to two legacy devices (presuming the 7.1 analog ins cannot be mapped to regular stereo ins). After AirTunes and Wii, I'm fresh out of analog ins. What about my DreamCast? I know that such a setup may be a bit of a stretch, but why include legacy inputs at all in that case?

Consider optical out from your TV. What device do you use for AirTunes? If it's the Airport Express, it also has an optical output. In both cases, optical allows you to benefit from the 978's DAC without a cheap (literally pennies in parts cost, probably) analog section upstream of it. That means you just have the Wii and DreamCast that still need to use stereo analog inputs.

Originally Posted By: Wrong Hombre
Further, I have no devices that have 7.1 analog output that don't also have HDMI; I know some of you old fogeys have SACD or DVD-A players, but just sell them and get an OPPO already, I need more back panel space for additional HDMIs and more balanced outs!

My OPPO still uses 7.1 analog connections, although I also use HDMI for testing at times.

Originally Posted By: Wrong Hombre
While the back panel looks easy to navigate, I'd imagine that people buying Outlaw products have a pretty good sense of how to connect their devices; if you buy Outlaw, you're not also shopping WalMart or BestBuy for preamps or receivers. Outlaws buyers know the score and can likely handle a complex rear panel, no?

What happened with a lot of Model 950 and Model 990 owners was that those processors represented people's first move from stereo to multichannel. There were Outlaw customers who knew a good bit about the stereo days, but nothing about surround. There's also the KISS principle - build a product that works well, sounds good, and gets the primary job done, and it doesn't need to have a bunch of clutter just for the sake of clutter.
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