Superiority? I've considered the 990 to be a close competitor to the DMC-1 sonically and with just a couple extra features (more robust bass management), but I don't think that it's superior. The DMC-1 originally retailed for $3000 and is basically a rebadged Sunfire Theater Grand IV - it's a much more expensive piece of hardware that has moved down to the current price point only recently (probably due in some significant part to the age of the platform, as the Theater Grand V has been out for a year or so already). I have my worries about Emotiva's surround processing policies (which had been limited solely to the LMC-1 until this recent thread and its continuation at AV123 suggested that they might have done some weird things with the DMC-1's DTS modes), but the DMC-1 is based on a very good platform - certainly an equal to the 990. The MMC-1 is supposed to be a scaled-down DMC-1 (omitted the fancy wood side panels and balanced pre-amp outputs), but last I heard they hadn't gotten it shipping yet.