I went as far as putting a 60hz test tone from the 598 into the 861 and put a DVM on the speaker terminals.

With the old firware the voltage was pretty solid - not as solid as my BAT Preamp and CD player from a previous life. The 861 drifted about .2v.

New firmware the volt meter couldnt even keep up with the changes swinging what look like about 4 volts.

I'm about ready to go back to the Anthem D1 (whose support was awesom BTW). I've spent more time with this problem than I have with my wife over the last couple of weeks. I'll give Meridian a try first.

Thanks to you all for the help.