I ran into a similar problem with my 990, that is, space in the rack. I have an older Bell'Oggetti rack that has two tubes running up along the 'spine' of the rack. In order to buy more wiggle room I have had to use some right-angle RCA cables (for the analog sources). Luckily, the balanced outputs (which I am using - and happily so) just clear one of the two tubes.

So far, I love this piece. I can honestly say that the thing I noticed most was the complete lack of background noise as compared to my old setup (2-channel system using an outboard Ashly XR1001 active crossover). Indeed, I can't hear any 60, 120, or 180 Hz noise that was there (even if barely audible with your ear at the speaker) in the old system.

My center channel amplifier returns from repair tomorrow, so I am way psyched to get that up and running.

So far, this has proven to be worth the wait and above all, a real value. I am sure that there are 'better' pre-pro's out there (by someone's estimation or measure), but I just can't see spending the scratch when I (you may be different) wouldn't likely hear the difference. Frankly, I'll put the balance of what I might have spent towards my daughter's college fund. This way everyone wins....

Mark