I've been a mostly happy owner of the 950/7100 combo going on over two years. I've had no issues mechanically and everything is sound. However it seems to me lately that my HT system is sounding really flat and lacks that "punch" I remember vividly when I first got the unit. Now I have calibrate my set up with spl, etc. and I've always been a sound guy. I just got a new DLP and watching movies is sometimes frustrating as I can never get the sound to come out balanced. Either the center channel is way low and I tweak that then the music is loud and have to turn something else down. When I watch my HD cable the sound is not that impressive (hooked up optical) and again have to frequently adjust my settings. I didn't have to do this a year ago.

I know I'm not going deaf but I also noticed I have it turned up louder than I have in the past as well. I moved from a rental house that had a good basement and into a condo that has a great set up for HT. I have nobody living below me or to the side so I can crank my unit up but I still feel that it lacks that punch I remember and also the imaging. I've checked all my connections and everything is running smooth. Is it me or is there something wrong with my unit. I could get more specific on set up but I'm rambling.

Trust me when I say this, there are far more well-informed members of this forum than myself, but I still consider myself better informed than many of the general public. Albeit, I'm relatively new to the Outlaw community, but my experience with their equipment (let alone gear from other manufacturers) has been flawless.

Audio gear, with an exception for tube-formats (please correct me if I'm wrong), really doesn't have an expiration date like the milk in your refridgerator. I would guess that the flatter sound is a combination of a few factors:

1.) Speakers - how old are they? Voice coils, motor structures, corrosion on terminals; they can all have an effect on sound quality. What about placement? You mentioned you moved. Maybe the room dynamics are different than the old HT room.

2.) Media encoding - some DVD's or CD's are simply formatted at a lower/higher sound level than others. At least that's how I have perceived it in the past.

3.) Old age - let's all hope this isn't the case. But being a medical clinician, this is one area of expertise I know I can confidently comment on. Hearing loss is generally incremental. As we slowly turn the volume up higher to miss the detail we can no longer hear, the added SPL levels place additional pressure on membranes, causing further damage. It then becomes a vicious cycle as we keep turning the volume up and, consequntly, keep committing damage to our precious ears. Let's hope this isn't the case for you. Tinnitus anyone?

4.) Upgrade hyperactivity - I would bet this is the main cause. Just like the sports car we fell in love with and bought 5 years ago, it somehow doesn't have the same "oomph" as my best friend's new sports car I recently test drove. What's wrong with mine? The answer? Nothing. As long as I've maintained my car properly, any degredation in performance is going to be negligible and purely subjective. We "think" its getting slower whereas in reality it hasn't changed. We've simply grown bored of it. Thus, its time for new equipment!

I don't promise to have all the answers, but coming from someone who frequently thinks that all systems sound better than mine (even HTIB's - yikes!), I'm never satisfied. Sound quality I would gather is a mostly subjective determination. Use the equipment that makes you happiest. If it doesn't sound good to you, then look into changing it. Best ofluck to you!

Did the problems crop up around the time that you moved into the condo? Rooms can have a remarkable impact on a system's sound. If the system seemed to deflate shortly after the move, you may want to experiment with speaker placement, bass management crossover settings, and room acoustics.

I remember when we ripped up the wall-to-wall carpet in the old house's living room. For a while, we had no area rug on the hard wood, and the system sounded radically different (and not in a good way). A simple area rug in front of the couch gave some softness that made a big difference, actually giving me better sound than the wall-to-wall had.

i've had mine for 2 years now, and it actually sounds better than when i first got it, and continues to sound better the longer i play it.