I used to have an Onkyo 701. My first upgrade was to get a 7100 amp and use the pre outs on the Onkyo. That was the biggest difference. Then I upgraded to the 950 . I noticed a more fluid surround sound and it was better musically but the biggest diference was adding the 7100 in the first upgrade.

Unfortunately, the 950 did not want to cooperate with my system (electrical, component allergy - who knows?) and it kept popping. This is just my luck as you can see everyone else is very happy with theirs with no problems. I ended up going with a Sherwood Newcastle P-956 which I am in LOVE with . It is an amazing pre/pro but it also retails for $1500.00. (I paid $1050.00 new).

I found the sound on the Outlaw 950 to be very good-especially for movies and excellent for the price point. It is a definite upgrade from the Onkyo sound wise but you may be frustrated with the amount of time it takes to lock onto a digital signal. I did find that sometimes it would not pick up the appropriate 'flags' as well as the Onkyo and I would have to choose them manually. Also, the Onkyo would automatically switch to 6 channel when it recognized an SACD or DVD Audio source. With the Outlaw you have to press that little button. ( I also have to with the Sherwood)

If these little things are ok with you then you couldn't do any better for the $$$$$ if sound quality is your #1 priority than the Outlaw. Now.....if you want to spend almost twice as much.....