I spent about 6 months researching home theater audio and I finally built my system over the past few weeks.

Here's an incomplete list of equipment I recently purchased:

Outlaw 950
7 Outlaw Model 200s
LFM-1
Outlaw interconnects
Zektor 5X1 DVI Switcher (also switches digital audio)
Denon 2910 Universal DVD Player
HD DirectTIVO

The product I was looking for over the past 6 months which does not seem to exist would be a surround processor with the following features:

1. No video switching or display; a pure audio device

2. No AM/FM (hate clearchannel)

3. Really great DACs and Surround processing, completely upgradeable as new algorithms become available.

4. Firewire input for DVD-A/SACD. Great bass management on this input.

5. Rackmountable and comes complete with rack ears.

I'm curious to know if I'm the only one who wants something like this. I've been lurking here for a long time now. I'm sure you guys won't hold back :-)

To me the video switching needs to be in a separate device because of this transition we're in from component to DVI/HDMI. I don't want to pay for component switching that I'll never use. I also don't want to pay for something that will convert analog to DVI/HDMI. I especially don't want to hear all this extra complexity in the audio output.

I also want several DVI inputs. The Zektor is perfect for me. I have a Samsung 61" DLP with one DVI input.

Thanks for letting me vent. By the way, I'm very happy with my system. I haven't tuned it much since I'm waiting for the speakers to break in but it already sounds fantastic. If you have a DVD-A capable player you owe it to yourself to get the Porcupine Tree "In Absentia" disk.

Best Regards Outlaws,

talismax

Are you dead set on not having 1 or 2? I know you don't want to pay for what you don't use, but darn near everybody wants those, so it could very well be cheaper for the manufacturer to just include them rather than make two separate lines of which one barely sells at all. The amount they sell of #2 (the type you want) would have to be more expensive to make up for the fewer units sold. That's why I ask. Is there a sonic reason you don't want them because it may very well be cheaper and/or a better bargain to have them inculded even though you won't use them.

Well everybody wants amps too but they managed to leave those out :-). I think that if you're moving to separates anyway it makes sense to be able to buy this stuff a la carte to a certain extent.

Just think how much more flexible and cost effective it would be if Outlaw offered this matching set of rackmountable products:

1. The surround processor I described above sans tuner and switching.

2. A 5 x 1 digital switcher for DVI/HDMI and digital audio (optical, coax, firewire).

3. A analog video, digital audio switcher with upconversion from composite/s-video to component.

4. A video converter which would convert component video to DVI.

5. A great no compromise AM/FM tuner for those areas of the country that clearchannel hasn't yet ruined.

6. A rack system similar to Middle Atlantic's Slim-5.

I would buy 1 and 2 but you might get 1 and 3. Someone else could get 1, 2, and 3 and 4.

Of course, Outlaw would still offer a receiver with 3 x 1 HDMI switching for those who can get by with only a few inputs and want an all in one solution.

I think one of the benefits of separates is it reduces complexity and minimizes the chances of things interacting in noisy ways. This is why pre-amp and amp are often separated. I would imagine that moving the video stuff elsewhere wouln't hurt things sonically. This is probably why many components have a "pure direct mode" that disables the video circuitry.

Thanks for your comments,

talismax

...but there is a sonic benefit to the amp separation that many, many customers have noticed. Is that the case here?

Also, it's much more likely to be more cost effective if you can fit everything people want into one working package than to have many separate units. While people do want different things, they may find the single unit to be easier to get and find that some items are simply nice to have, but not necessary. We can go on and on with this, but it still comes back to the first sentence. It's more cost effective to make the fewest things you have to.

I'm not trying to discourage you from looking for what exactly you want. I just saw some dangerous assumptions that could unnecessarily limit your search. I wanted to know why you were limiting yourself.

I actually like your list, talismax. I do all my video switching through my display. I don't need or want to pay for that in a pre/pro. I have a better standalone tuner than most anyone puts in a pre/pro. I don't personally care about #5, but a lot of companies sell rack mount adapters for eqp that doesn't come rackmountable. #3 is a given, and I've stated in another thread that my next pre/pro will include i.Link. I bet Outlaw's next pre/pro is at least software upgradeable though.