I noticed that if I try to calibrate the speakers with the internal noise I need to set the center channel to +5dB relative to L/R, which are left at 0. When I use the Avia disk, the same center channel needs to be calibrated to -1dB (mains are still at 0). How come???

Anyway, I have 4 days left to return the 990. To say the truth I'm a little bit torn. I think it sounds quite harsh or bright or whatever with my Paradigms Studio 100 speakers. In fact I never heard the Studios be that bright before. I have Cambridge Azur 640 CD player with Wolfson DACs. The difference between Stereo and Bypass is drastic. Wolfson DACs are not harsh at all, in fact swithcing to Bypass may seem to be dull at first as all that brightness is gone. But after listening for few minutes it's becoming clear that the sound is just more smooth and refined. Swithing back to Stereo or Upsampled from Bypass sounds like cheap boombox with highs boosted from 10KHz up.

So - I'm not sure what to do. Most probably will return the 990 and keep the 7700. Will use my old H/K 635 as pre/pro. In fact I think it sounds better than 990 (definetely not as harsh), but it has damn hum from the surround channels which I still need to fix. Oh, well.