While I have NO illusions that the "top of the mountain" catchet of a "super car" is not what the 978 is targeting, I do think the sort of compromises (especially in regards to noise floor) that go along with utilizing any receiver as a pre-pro is probably similar to attempting to take any roadster out on even a SCCA course with "all season tires" -- you can do so but when you compromise on that piece other performance advantages are probably going to be quite masked...

These sorts of arguments get pretty silly, but on some level I guess it gets back to what one believes about how best to portion out one's home audio budget. Even if I had the dough to drop on the high dollar Denon pre-pro my personal bias is that all products from that nameplate are more about how the marketing can be done rather than how they perform sonically. I doubt I am alone in that judgement. My experience with other firms is that a different design philosophy infuses their firm and product offerings -- if something does not enhance listening / fidelity it is not offered...

Of course sometimes the differences between a high dollar offering and something more affordable can be quite signficant and other times not at all apparent, that is why respected reviewers are such an important part of the A/V scene. Sadly the majority of such reviews do not focus on nearly as objective a set of criteria as automotive reviews, maybe this is inevitable as the difficulty in boiling down performance in the audio realm is a far harder thing that reporting on "lap times"...

Suppose, just for kicks, that Outlaw paid folks like those that have primarily done work for ATI or Manley a fair hourly rate to create the specs, schematics, wire wrap prototypes, PCB layouts and other necessary "work product" to have the kind of device that would have "super car" levels of sonic fidelity. Would it be reasonable to accept some minor trade offs in the "laundry list" of features that more mainstream firms promote? Is it reasonable that perhaps some beta testers uncovered some quirks of usability that likely would result in confusion / dissatisfaction? Would I be engaging in Pollyanna-ish fantasy to think that Peter's recent trip was primarily to address those quirks that otherwise detract from a product that might "run circles" around other higher priced pre-pros? Gosh I hope not...