Quietdragon,

You are right on the money about how bass management should be applied. Other processors apply it in just this type of arrangement, they are notably more expensive though. That is why the 990 was so appealing to me...it is supposed to do it for a fraction of the price. Were it working as planned it would be acceptable for me as well as 95% of other HT/Music people out there.

There are very few "partial remedies" that do NOT produce problems for someone. Having full bass management control over the inputs, even in the analog domain, results in a fully customizable system that lets users tune their components to what suits THEM. Got small satellites or expensive tiny's to match your plasma?...go for it. Want your sub to play with analog sources in two channel mode?...not a problem. "Cheap" systems take that away by forcing users to conform to pre set ideas of crossovers etc.