Well, the 990 has been ordered, it should take several weeks to get here (Holland) via-via.
The only real issue I could find was the omission of 5.1 "direct" bass management, so I feel my ICBM (great thing!) will come in handy after all...
I was especially heartened by a brief review I read by somebody preferring the sound greatly to his Marantz SR-8500, which I owned before I bought the SR-9600.
These are both quite powerful and the sound is fine- I loved the "fat" warmness at first but gradually I came to have problems appreciating the syrupy, slightly veiled characteristic.
So I can't wait to try the 990 !
Next step will be to find a suitable 200W p.c. final- would love to have the 1770 but I fear shipping over here by one of my US friends will be too expensive.
Barend