Well, I am contemplating an Outlaw pruchase. I really want the flexibility of separates plus the coolness factor of having seperates puts me closer to what I think is true High-end HT moreso than even the most expensive reciever. It's just a look thing I guess. Don't get me wrong, its about the quality of sound and video too.

But alsa, I have a problem and a question. I only have one room in the house capable of supporting a system this large, and it needs to be for both music and movies. It is kind of complicated to explain what I want to do, but I will try my best.

First know that I build my own speakers, and they have gooten very good comments at various DIY shows. I have built a 7.2 system. (dual subs) I already set-up the room in the standard layout for this typer of speaker array. One sub is under the 92" screen, the other is on the left wall. I have 2 spiked stand for the amps to power the left and right speakers. The amps will be between the CC and each L and R speaker. The speakers are Bi-wireable. So is the CC.

I would like to have a system that would use a 770 for Movie playback and then switch to mono-blocks for the L/R speakers when litening to music. My problem is how to implement this using Outlaws equiptemnt. I have figured using the 950, and splitting the sub output to send signals to each sub. Done. The 770 would power all 7chnls. But how would I get the system to use the monoblocks instead when listening to music? Please note that I only have one pair front speakers. If I can answer questions to make this clearer, I will do so. Please help....Raichu

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A good Hometheater experience is like taking a 2hr+ vacation.

What about using a 755 to drive the center and all four surrounds, plus a pair of monoblocks to drive your main speakers all the time? That would avoid the problems of trying to use two different amps to drive the same speakers.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

Yeah I just got off the phone with a very nice man at Outlaw, and he said that outside of very high-end switching systems, there really wasnt a way of doing what I wanted outside of getting off my duff and switching the speaker wires. Awh man...

Right now I busted out the pen and paper, and am working on a wiring set-up. I wil post my idea when I am done. Wish me luck. Please remember that while cost is an issue, if it were not for the "look" I am tring to achieve, (see this month's issue of HomeTheater Mag, Piazza's HT) I would just do the normal thing and buy a 770/950 and be done with it. I wish Outlaw had decided to make the M-200 amps a little more....uhm, well, kinda taller. I know it was designed that way for stacking purposes, but I did not expect it to look like that when I heard the phrase Mono-block.

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A good Hometheater experience is like taking a 2hr+ vacation.

Yeah I just got off the phone with a very nice man at Outlaw, and he said that outside of very high-end switching systems, there really wasnt a way of doing what I wanted outside of getting off my duff and switching the speaker wires. Awh man...

Right now I busted out the pen and paper, and am working on a wiring set-up. I wil post my idea when I am done. Wish me luck. Please remember that while cost is an issue, if it were not for the "look" I am tring to achieve, (see this month's issue of HomeTheater Mag, Piazza's HT) I would just do the normal thing and buy a 770/950 and be done with it. I wish Outlaw had decided to make the M-200 amps a little more....uhm, well, kinda taller. I know it was designed that way for stacking purposes, but I did not expect it to look like that when I heard the phrase Mono-block.

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A good Hometheater experience is like taking a 2hr+ vacation.

id like multiple dsps total and multiple dacs per channel.

1. HDMI/DVI switching ability. At LEAST 3 HDMI/DVI inputs.

2. Leave the discrete inputs alone. Make them STRIAGHT through [to volume]. Stop crossing each of the 5 channels to the .1 channel. At least make that a selectable option so that this receiver will qualify as as a true Audiophiles piece.

3. Make the display more attractive. Something Very 80's about the color/presention of the current model.

Someonoe above mentioned a TFT display. Not a bad idea. Though, it might jack the cost up and that's one thing that sells your product. Cost point.

4. Add XLR balanced inputs.

5. Add an "auto calibration" feature like the Pioneer Elite receiver has (you know, you set the microphone that comes with the unit in your listening position and it plays tones and does channel calibration itself).

This would be cheap to implement and a major selling point for a novice because his system can "set itself up properly!"

Fully balanced XLR outputs and circuitry topology for all channels.

Extra shielded with advanced, ultra low noise, ultra low loss audiophile parts and power supplies. Copper shielding.

At least two (dual differential mode) Wolfsen high end pure 24/192 DAC's (or greater since chips do advance) on all channels for extra horse power and lower distortion. I've been impressed with Wolfsen converter chips since ARCAM started using them and they perform wonderfully.

You may want to look into advanced 32 bit DAC's as INTEL just released 32 bit resolution audio recording and playback capabilities.

Separate processing and D-A conversion for pure DSD signals all the way through for SACD's, and other DSD source material. I would consult with Sony & Philips on proper implementation of pure DSD capable chips and circuitry.

Premium digital master clock for all digital signals to minimize or eliminate jitter. Apogee makes superb digital audio clocks, as an example.

Premium upconversion of all PCM and compressed codec digital signals to 24/192 resolution (or higher if possible).

12+ Channel Discrete capabilities with flexible channel assignment, including multiple stereo subwoofer outputs, extra screen channels, as well as multiple side or back channels/speakers, and the possibility of extra height channels in the near future... all discrete, of course.

Separate bass shaker/tactile transducer outputs with adjustable crossover & slope controls (need not have XLR outputs for these).

Fully adjustable crossover filters and slopes for all channels.

32 Bit audio processing.

At least four HDMI v.2 (or later) inputs with full digital, no-loss A/V switching capabilities. At least four HDMI outputs.

Possible Firewire IEEE 1394b inputs/outputs if need be.

High bandwidth, 8 channel pure analog input with direct to volume bypass mode with no double bass or subwoofer filtering at all. Switchable 80 Hz analog bass crossover for older high resolution players with no built in (or poorly designed) bass management.

Capable of decoding ALL current and upcoming digital surround and high end audio formats including the full MLP slate of functions, Windows Media Audio including their Pro & Windows Media Pro Lossless codecs, DTS++, DTS Lossless, DD++, and fully uncompressed LPCM and DSD. These are all quite possible capabilities of the next generation HD-DVD and Blu-Ray disc formats.

Fully software (user downloadable) and hardware upgradeable.

Extra processing power for future-proofing.

I certainly think that many of the suggestions in this thread are worthwhile. Some posts here indirectly remind me, though, that there is a cost/benefit ratio to everything, and that as one attempts to approach the nth degree of performance, the cost curve usually becomes pretty steep.

I doubt that the Outlaw philosophy would take them down the road to compete in the 'ultimate pre/pro' market beginning in the mid four-figure price range and upward, although I could be wrong. Likely the Outlaws will have a pre/pro in the $1K range that will rival others costing two or three times as much. But for such a price I wouldn't expect that Outlaw is striving to capture the hearts and minds of those living in the audio ‘upper atmosphere’ – those who are enamored by such things as five-figure playback transports, four-figure interconnects and three-figure power cords for the last six feet of a multiple-mile electrical journey.

I don’t mean to disappoint those that can hear and see things that cannot be shown on highly sensitive and accurate equipment, but some really talented engineers are going to be designing the next generation pre/pro, overseen by business people who are not likely among the enamored folks mentioned above. Oops, I’ve gotten off-topic and into one of my favorite rants.

I expect that Outlaw will give us quite a bit of excellence for our dollar in a future pre/pro, but there will be limits as to what is possible at a given price point, or even really necessary regardless of cost.

Santa here is my list,

Add Dolby Pro-Logic IIx to turn non-digital material to 6.1 or 7.1 surround

Ins and outs for both DVI and HDMI video

An IEEE 1394b port for use with your mp3 player, they may not sound quite as good, but they come in handy at parties.

If it won't break the bank, the ability to upgrade software in the system so we do not have to buy a new processor every 4 years. You can sell the software or module upgrade for a few hundred dollars for at least one generation.

Give the ability to change the displays color to match your other components (Not super important at all, just a nice touch)

DO NOT GO WITH THE GIMICKY LCD MOVIE DISPLAY, IT ADDS ADDITIONAL COST THAT IS NOT WORTH THE, "Ooooh Aaaah" FACTOR AND IS DISTRACTING.

Stick with the clean lines and display style you have, just try to get away from the 80's 90's NAD/Proton look. The 1070 styling that I saw from magazine shots taken at the show looks promising!!!

I would really like to see a digital stereo out so I can run 2 channel direct to my active crossover.