Posted by: YodaMark
990 is still awesome - 04/21/11 01:08 PM
Wow, what a great AV pre/pro! I bought the 990 ‘B’ Stock along with a 7500 power amp in April, 2011 - what a fabulous combination – the dynamic duo! I had originally bought an Emotiva UMC-1 and XP-3 (plus XPA-2) based on price and specs, but could not tolerate all the bugs, noise, and poor sound quality – all went back to Emotiva after only 3 days. Anyway, the Outlaw 990 combined with the 7500 just rocks! I am 50/50 music/movies, so I needed a good performer for both applications. Much appreciate the great advice from Scott at Outlaw. I much prefer the stoic look of the 990/7500 combo – it just looks great in my custom built-in cabinets. This is my first entry into separates and better speakers and I could not be happier.
I have Klipsch RF-7ii, RC-64, and RF-62 speakers and a very large open-space finished basement. The 990 handles everything I throw at it with ease. I have everything wired with XLR cables and 12 gauge speaker wire. Inputs switch in less than a second, no matter if optical digital, analog digital, or analog. I do not use the DVI, since I run my BP and HD cable box direct to TV. I use optical and 5.1 output from BR direct, but can’t tell much of a difference, they sound slightly different, but both sound great (maybe the 990’s DACs have the edge here but the only way to get HD audio out of blu ray is with direct outs without HDMI). The sound stage is absolutely unbelievable for music, excellent separation of channels, no crosstalk, no noise, no pos, etc. – just pure sound. Bass is thick, so you can feel it in your chest every time the bass and snare drums hit.
I like a thick analog sound, much like I get with my Marshall all-tube guitar amps (I play through a Marshall 60 watt 2 x 12 combo), and the 7500 combined with the Klipsch speakers reminds me of a real “live” sound like you would get in a live band setting – exactly what I was after. Pop in Eagles’ Hell Freezes Over” or Clapton’s “Unplugged” DVD and you will know what I mean – the sound quality is just amazing. Every instrument can be pinpointed. Poor quality recordings also show their limits very quickly with the 990/7500 – some CDs sound phenomenal, being able to push the SPL very high with no distortion, while others struggle to get there, but that is no fault of the 990/7500. I can tolerate about 112 dB SPL (using my SPL meter) at 14’ from main speakers for serious rock/metal music, and the 990/7500 does not break a sweat at all at these high SPLs – in fact, the 7500 barely gets warm. As I’m writing this I’m listening to “Little Man” by Alan Jackson – it sounds AMAZING. I prefer using Bypass mode for stereo, using the CD’s DAC, but again, the optical input to the 990 using the 990’s DAC sounds great too. I also like the 5-channel stereo mode, which I thought I would not like, but it sounds great for background music. We watch Dancing with the Stars and recently they had a 45 piece live orchestra – I swear it reminded of being at the live Cleveland Orchestra – it was out of this world – pristine, in fact. Even my wife has commented how great the system sounds – and she is usually numb to this stuff.
Watch the fish tank scene in “Finding Nemo” (at time 1:18) and you will hear bass response that rivals many subwoofers. My RF-7ii’s and the 990/7500 produce serious bass. My old 12” 250 watt subwoofer is weak link in my audio chain (another upgrade soon!), and I can’t tell difference when it is on or off, since the my RF-7s and the 990/7500 envelope it. This particular scene in the movie has very tight, deep and percussive bass and the 990 just cuts through it without any issues – and will knock you off your chair if you don’t expect it!
I originally bought the 990 with the intention of upgrading to the Outlaw 978 when it comes out for the HDMI. But, right now I see no clear benefit to switching HDMI. You can get great surround sound using optical from the BR or even HD audio using analog outputs from the BR into the 7.5 direct inputs of the 990. I like my A/V simple and pure, as such, I prefer video to go directly to the TV and audio to run as direct as possible from the source to the speakers – that just makes sense to me. I hate most DSP, as it usually sounds artificial. The 990 does not have any of this DSP garbage – it presents the audio signals, on most settings, in a near-pure format. Certainly the Bypass mode handles this very well for 2-channel stereo.
I have not used the auto set-up, since my speakers are all large and I just prefer to run it all full range, so all my cross-overs are set at 40 Hz (I might still tweak the RC-64 center speaker). Plus my speaker placement and distances are ideal in my space, with the prim listening position being almost at center of X pattern relative to front and surround speakers.
In summary, if you can get your hands on a 990 and don’t want to break the bank, you cannot possibly go wrong with this unit, especially with the 7500 providing the muscle. I might still get the 978 when it comes out, but it would only be for the reason of having a current model, better DACs, and HDMI (like I said, I have no use for HDMI switching and my room is simple enough that I probably would not benefit from the Odyssey). I am a very happy and permanent customer of Outlaw Audio. My only slight nit is I wish everything was accessible on the front display without having to pull up the OSD menu (but that is a very minor nit). The 990/7500 is a superior product in every way compared to my old Yamaha receiver (which I did like, it was just getting old). Oh, BTW, the Emotiva UMC-1/XPA-3 does not even come close to the 990/7500 combo – trust me on this. Get a B stock 990 or wait for the 978 and get the 7500 to go with it – you will have one big smile on your face.
I have Klipsch RF-7ii, RC-64, and RF-62 speakers and a very large open-space finished basement. The 990 handles everything I throw at it with ease. I have everything wired with XLR cables and 12 gauge speaker wire. Inputs switch in less than a second, no matter if optical digital, analog digital, or analog. I do not use the DVI, since I run my BP and HD cable box direct to TV. I use optical and 5.1 output from BR direct, but can’t tell much of a difference, they sound slightly different, but both sound great (maybe the 990’s DACs have the edge here but the only way to get HD audio out of blu ray is with direct outs without HDMI). The sound stage is absolutely unbelievable for music, excellent separation of channels, no crosstalk, no noise, no pos, etc. – just pure sound. Bass is thick, so you can feel it in your chest every time the bass and snare drums hit.
I like a thick analog sound, much like I get with my Marshall all-tube guitar amps (I play through a Marshall 60 watt 2 x 12 combo), and the 7500 combined with the Klipsch speakers reminds me of a real “live” sound like you would get in a live band setting – exactly what I was after. Pop in Eagles’ Hell Freezes Over” or Clapton’s “Unplugged” DVD and you will know what I mean – the sound quality is just amazing. Every instrument can be pinpointed. Poor quality recordings also show their limits very quickly with the 990/7500 – some CDs sound phenomenal, being able to push the SPL very high with no distortion, while others struggle to get there, but that is no fault of the 990/7500. I can tolerate about 112 dB SPL (using my SPL meter) at 14’ from main speakers for serious rock/metal music, and the 990/7500 does not break a sweat at all at these high SPLs – in fact, the 7500 barely gets warm. As I’m writing this I’m listening to “Little Man” by Alan Jackson – it sounds AMAZING. I prefer using Bypass mode for stereo, using the CD’s DAC, but again, the optical input to the 990 using the 990’s DAC sounds great too. I also like the 5-channel stereo mode, which I thought I would not like, but it sounds great for background music. We watch Dancing with the Stars and recently they had a 45 piece live orchestra – I swear it reminded of being at the live Cleveland Orchestra – it was out of this world – pristine, in fact. Even my wife has commented how great the system sounds – and she is usually numb to this stuff.
Watch the fish tank scene in “Finding Nemo” (at time 1:18) and you will hear bass response that rivals many subwoofers. My RF-7ii’s and the 990/7500 produce serious bass. My old 12” 250 watt subwoofer is weak link in my audio chain (another upgrade soon!), and I can’t tell difference when it is on or off, since the my RF-7s and the 990/7500 envelope it. This particular scene in the movie has very tight, deep and percussive bass and the 990 just cuts through it without any issues – and will knock you off your chair if you don’t expect it!
I originally bought the 990 with the intention of upgrading to the Outlaw 978 when it comes out for the HDMI. But, right now I see no clear benefit to switching HDMI. You can get great surround sound using optical from the BR or even HD audio using analog outputs from the BR into the 7.5 direct inputs of the 990. I like my A/V simple and pure, as such, I prefer video to go directly to the TV and audio to run as direct as possible from the source to the speakers – that just makes sense to me. I hate most DSP, as it usually sounds artificial. The 990 does not have any of this DSP garbage – it presents the audio signals, on most settings, in a near-pure format. Certainly the Bypass mode handles this very well for 2-channel stereo.
I have not used the auto set-up, since my speakers are all large and I just prefer to run it all full range, so all my cross-overs are set at 40 Hz (I might still tweak the RC-64 center speaker). Plus my speaker placement and distances are ideal in my space, with the prim listening position being almost at center of X pattern relative to front and surround speakers.
In summary, if you can get your hands on a 990 and don’t want to break the bank, you cannot possibly go wrong with this unit, especially with the 7500 providing the muscle. I might still get the 978 when it comes out, but it would only be for the reason of having a current model, better DACs, and HDMI (like I said, I have no use for HDMI switching and my room is simple enough that I probably would not benefit from the Odyssey). I am a very happy and permanent customer of Outlaw Audio. My only slight nit is I wish everything was accessible on the front display without having to pull up the OSD menu (but that is a very minor nit). The 990/7500 is a superior product in every way compared to my old Yamaha receiver (which I did like, it was just getting old). Oh, BTW, the Emotiva UMC-1/XPA-3 does not even come close to the 990/7500 combo – trust me on this. Get a B stock 990 or wait for the 978 and get the 7500 to go with it – you will have one big smile on your face.