I don't see the decision to reduce the price of the 7703 as anything other than normal "market dynamics" -- other online retailers are offering the same deals! Outlaw has to compete.

The decision to offer the 7704 is similarly "just business" -- Marantz certainly wants all its authorized retailers to promote its new models. The Marantz solutions are, frankly EXCELLENT.

Is it fun to "read the tea leaves"? Sure. I seem to recall that even when Outlaw was offering their own "flagship" level pre-pro with all the nice-to-have options like XLR outputs, state-of-the-art codecs, automated setup, etc they STILL were offering Marantz gear alongside for folks who wanted a "brand name" pre-pro in front of Outlaw amps... As I recall they even had a special "here is the insider's way to get the most out of the Marantz" setup guide / supplemental manual...

My gut says that the "Phoenix" is still in the "more than prototype but far from finalized" state. Things like the suitability of having automated room correction and how flexible the options are for re-assigning processing channels for object based processing in the "main theater" vs temporarily using them for additional whole house zones are probably the kinds of options being considered. If the "lessons learned" from the 976 delays and prior rounds of development are fully leveraged MAYBE the next Outlaw flagship will happen "sooner than later"...