NAD certainly seems plausible. However, I hardly think anyone with the coin to purchase NAD products would be cross shopping in the Outlaw corral. So if it does turn out to be them, I think it takes paranoia to the extreme(on NAD/Lenbrook's part). Perhaps there's more going on here than has been mentioned in the final update on the 978. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. The 978 is dead and it will be supplanted by a "budget" product. I guess when that product actually ships, we'll see how it compares with other widely available AVR's (with pre-outs) in the same price segment.

Best,