I was looking at that, too, but it seems like the Onkyo still has more of the features that I'm looking for. If the Model 978 ends up handling both heights and wides at the same time, I may throw it back into consideration.
I've never tried any receiver or pre-pro's native handling of streaming, so I can't comment on that intelligently, but I like the idea of not having to waste an input simply for music listening. And the Model 978 having only five HDMI inputs makes me wish it was a feature all the more.
I doubt I'll ever use two HDMI outputs, but who knows. Is anyone here actually making use of it?
I currently have an Integra, so I'm curious about brands outside of the Onkyo family. I do appreciate Outlaw's no-frills approach, and they seem much more capable of delivering a solid product than, say, Emotiva. On the other hand, it's hard to resist the sheer amount of features Onkyo packs in.
In any case, I may be too itchy to wait until mid-year, but wish me luck. Ha ha.
