thank you for your replay mzpro5. I would love to wait for the 990 replacement, but I don't think I can. You see, I currently have my wife's blessing and I don't know how long this window of opportunity will last. If I don't buy something now, my HT system might turn into a new kitchen by the time the new 990 comes out

I'm leaning more to buying the 990 now to take advantage of the $200 credit for the upgrade later. I will likely sell the 990 when the new model comes out, so I'll be, as gonk said it in a previous post, "renting" the 990 for a short period of time. Assuming, of course, that someone will still want to buy the old 990 after the replacement comes out.

Perhaps "maximum sound and video pleasure" was a bit extreme. Will I still get HD quality video and will I still get surround sound? Aside from the ease of hook up, can you tell me what HDMI would add? Would picture quality and sound be better with HDMI?

Thanks again for your help.