Am upgrading my HT system and seriously considering the 990. I have spent many an hour on this site and it has been very educational. A couple of questions:

1) It only recently occurred to me that the 990 (and prehaps most other similar products) takes an analog signal and converts it to digital (i.e. from the phono, tape player etc) Is this a fact? I understand that bypass does not convert. Given that I would be playing records or reel to reels (high quality) do you think there is much of a change in the fidelity of the signal when it is converted. I think I understand the BM issues associated with the various formats/signals

2) If playing DVD-audio and I want to use Dolby IIx with 7 speakers, will the processor take the analog signal and convert to digital?

2) I noticed that the AD chip used is an akm 5380. Just for grins I went to AKM's website and noticed that they had put a notice up that though this chip was still available, it was not recommended for new designs/manufacturers products. I assume that AKM is moving to a "better" chip (maybe the AKM 5383) Does anyone consider this to be an issue. It might have an impact on the first question above.

3. I will be using Def Tech BPVX's for the rear surround and Def Tech BP2's for the "side" surround. Will I be able to set the BPVX's to large and the BP2's to small and/or have a different crossover for both speakers. It was not clear to me from the instruction manaual.

Thanks very much