Here's my review on the Outlaw 950. I am not an audiophile so this is completely subjective and non technical. I received my first unit back in mid May. I did not have the hiss issue but I noticed that my unit lacked the low end bass in stereo mode. I even visited Will (discussion board member) to listen to his setup and it sounded better than mine. I started corresponding with Outlaw support and they indicated that they would ship a replacement unit once they started shipping. In the meantime, I hooked up my front preouts through my old preamp to get more lowend ooomph.
I recieved my red-dot unit second week on September. I noticed a slight improvement on stereo sound and a different type of bass. Bass was neither better or worse, just different. Overall, it sounded a little better but still not what I was used to. I have a carver ct-5 stereo preamp and music from this unit sounded much fuller. Another issue I noticed that this unit had a louder hiss compared to my old unit. I could hear the hiss from my sitting position, 8 ft away. I contacted Outlaw and they immediately made arrangements for another replacement unit.
I got my second red-dot unit less than a week after. I went through the same tests again (same CDs and DVDs). This second unit still sounded much better in stereo but still lacked the oomph that i was looking for. Even at maximum bass settings, I only hear thuds rather than thumps. The good thing was that there was no more hiss. Now I was at a dillema whether to tolerate the stereo sound, continue to pass my fronts through my old preamp or buy a different unit. I asked my buddy to bring his rotel over. We went through the same tests. Stereo was way better on the Rotel but we both agreed that HT sounded better on the 950. Since I watch more HT, I didnt see the need to spend an extra 3-400 dollars for the 1066.
I decided to keep the 950 and just continue to use my old preamp. Now another issue came up when I connected the red dot unit to my pre-amp. I hear a really loud hiss through my fronts. It was maybe caused by the new changes they did to this unit, it just became imcompatible with that setup. So guess what the end of this story is? I returned the new red dot unit and kept my first one. I dont hear any hiss in stand alone or using an extra preamp. The carver adds fullness to the stereo sound enough to satisfy my needs. As an added bonus, since the fronts sound fuller and bass is deeper now, HT sounds soooooooooo much more explosive and alive.
Another note. One of the major factors I stayed with Outlaw was the level of support I received from Scott and Mike. They were reponsive, polite and patient. They ship units right away to my surprise because thats just not the kind of support I'm used to in dealing with Internet only businesses. So kudos to those guys!
So sorry about the long post. I just wanted to share my experiences and opinions. Hope everyone has/had a great day!