Being in semiconductor sales, I pay attention when purchasing and I did read the manual before I bought the 770 from Outlaw. I knew the risk and accepted it for the purchase price and features I was securing/Outlaw was making available. Wonder why other manufacturers have higher costs that ship thru B&M stores, shipping and reserves for warranty. So you do benefit by buying from Outlaw online. Plus, how can you assume that the amp is bad, maybe you did do something wrong or there was bad power to the amp. I keep in open mind on these type of issues and how they are handled is how I form my long lasting opinions of a company. But since I am in sales, I treat others like I wish to be treated based upon the terms of the purchase or agreement.

Point blank, you have a choice, if you do not agree or want the risk, don't spend your money.

"Piece of mind can be priceless!!"

Didn't Dr. Hannibal Lecter say that?



Jeff Mackwood

Adding to my earlier comment, I will simply say:

1) If you can find equipment equivalent to Outlaw at the same price,

2) where the warranty is just as long,

3) and where you are not responsible for any part of getting a defective unit to a service facility and back …

… BUY IT!

However,

1) If the Outlaw equipment is a superior value by several hundred dollars or more,

2) if the Outlaw warranty is up to five times longer than some others,

3) and if you can take $50 to $150 of what you saved by buying Outlaw and keep it aside for a ‘repair emergency*’ …

… buy Outlaw!

I don’t know if I can say it more simply.


*think of it like a brick-and-mortar store charging you an extended warranty fee with one large exception – if you don’t need to use a part of this self-insurance method, unlike the B&M store, at the end of the warranty period you’ll get the entire unused portion of this ‘fee’ refunded!

Just my two bits...I am having an ADCOM amplifier fixed and it is taking several weeks. I bought it from a small audio store in my area to try and support him. He has since gone out of business. It was moderately expensive. I have to get it repaired at an independent repair place authorized by the manufacturer. I would have had to pay for shipping if it was not my area. At least the repair center is reputable. Would you want Best Buy to repair your amp? Paying shipping back to the manufacturer is commonplace, according to all the shops I have talked to. I still think you got a great deal from Outlaw, even including the shipping costs.

Quibbling over $54.00 is really silly, considering the costs associated with virtually everything these days. Shipping costs should be expected. Anyways, what would piss me off more is the month long wait without an amp. Outlaw should give out "loaners" to tide you over until your unit is fixed. How annoying is it to have a setup worth the price of the Jones' car that YOU CAN'T USE. Especially when it is hooked up to the TV, etc. (in my case it's a projector that's being used as a TV, so I'm way out of luck with the sound options).

Anyways, that's my 2 cents.

Aren't you glad you didn't spend $10k on that new Krell... ?

-sbc

Well Outlaw used to do something like that. The trouble with loaners is how do you ship it out? Shipping costs rear their ugly head again.

And no one had better be thinking that a shop wouldn't charge shipping either. Some will, some won't.

For all of those people complaining about the cost of shipping their Outlaw products back to Outlaw for repair, I have a suggestion. Put your device in your car, and drive it there. Just like you would with a local vendor. No shipping cost, no UPS or Fed Ex people to drop, or damage your equipment, and no questions as to when the Outlaws received it. Why didn't anyone think of this before?

[This message has been edited by Oil Can (edited May 13, 2004).]

I too am having problems with an Outlaw 770 not providing output. And I know its the outlaw as I took the circuits and ran them thru another device that worked perfectly. Its taken me three days just to get to the point of an RA and a "letter authorizing the return".

I'll get it shipped back, but I can guarantee that sometime later this year I'll also be putting it up on audiogon or ebay to get rid of it. Certainly I'll pay more for a replacement unit, but high quality service is worth something to me. I'll go into one of the local high-end dealers for someone like Bryston or Meridian and have them put a unit in. That way if anything goes wrong, they'll provide me with a loaner while they ship the broken one back. That means also that I don't have to muscle the amp out. The Outlaw just isn't that good for its price compared to the extra hassles. Someone else will do that for me. And I don't have to worry about RAs or things like that.

Yeah I bought one. But I was mistaken about its overall quality and longevity. Being cheap should not be the only criteria as I've found out the hard way.

Outlaw's amps have generally been considered well made and reliable. I posted a note with some ideas for your problem in your thread just a minute ago.

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

If you build enough of any electrical, or mechanical device you are bound to have a few units that will have problems. Even with implantable medical devices, or aerospace equipment where quality control tests, and inspects one hundred percent of the units there are still a small percentage of the units that have problems, or fail. Given the fact that an amplifier in a home audio system is not a critical device I would guess that most people would not be willing to pay the cost of that level of quality control. Even the higher end manufactures that you mention in your post have problems. You are correct. If you buy something from a local vendor they might be willing to lend you a replacement unit while yours is being serviced. Given the number of posts made by people that have had problems with Outlaw products it appears that their level of quality control, and the overall quality of their products is very good. In an earlier post in this thread I mentioned that complaining about having to shoulder the cost of shipping your unit back for testing or repair is unreasonable, I am surprised that someone would do it again. The bottom line is, if you like the idea of buying from on-line vendors, and the return, and service policies are clearly defined, how can you complain? Like I was told long ago. “If you want to dance, you have to pay the band.”

[This message has been edited by Oil Can (edited June 22, 2004).]