I had a demo 2(??) years back when it was released for ~60k.
I wondered if THX certification company had gone mad.
The sound was nothing to write home about and definetely not THX standard.
It sounded marginally better and louder than 35k (5.1) onkyo system but the clarity was better in the 35k system for 5.1!! High end was lacking terribly. Sterio sounded 'horrible', worse than a 10k sony.
One thing the 990 shined was when 7.1 content was played. It was amazing. But even the store had only two 7.1 material (blueman demo and one more). It might also be that THX certified for 7.1 sound only.
Aparently they were selling a 40k system for 60k by paying huge for THX certification and pushing down the cost to the customer. I returned home unimpressed.
The lesser THX model starting with 8 sounded buch better in comparison for 5.1 and 2.1. This is not around now.
IMO, 38k maybe a correct price for new system. This could be a 2+ years used system and is discontinued. Think twice or bargain more.
Also, I found it bulky with 7.1 speakers. Released and discontinued when there is no 7.1 materials around, these speaker systems falls in no mans land.