For the last two years I have been using Onix Reference speakers that are 4 ohm and have had zero issues with my 770.

Yes, but if most low impedance speakers remain in a "workable impedance range" if I can say that, the amp will work flawlessly. For example, if the speaker in operation stayed close to its nominal impedance, there would be no heating issue for the amp rated to work at that impedance.

If the speaker "worked" but its impedance dropped below the amp's rated operational limit, the amp would run hotter and potentially trip the thermal protection circuit.

There has to be an explanation. I guess I am having a hard time understanding where the problem was. I can only think that the speaker may be faulty as far as the Outlaw amp sees it but not a problem as far as the Parasound amp sees it.

The Anthem amps can take a fork across the leads with no damage. Of course the protection circuitry kicks in but the point is that some amps handle lower impedance loads better than others. I know, not the best example - I don't have a pair of forks for my mains speakers so I don't need an amp that can drive forks. Nor do I want to pay the 3x price tag of the Anthem compared to the Outlaw.

Am I making any sense?

Yeah, you are making sense - and while I doubt it would be likely if the speaker were behaving normally (my understanding has always been that speakers rated at 4 ohms will actually vary from around 4 ohms down to perhaps 2.5 ohms or lower), it is possible that the speakers in question dipped lower than normal for some reason and produced the behavior. I guess my thought was that if it were a common behavior for Axioms there would have been other instances (too many Axioms around being driven by Outlaw amps, not to mention other nominal 4 ohm speakers like Polk LSi, Jed M's Onix's, and others) and if it were a defect in the amp it would have been turned up when tested by Outlaw. I suspect we'll never know exactly what the problem was in this case...

I own a pair of the Axiom M80's and I have not had any problems with the Outlaw amps.

The Parasound equipment is reported to sound somewhat better than the Outlaw equipment but, he did have to shell out a lot more and blow his budget, though he was able to afford it. The Halos are also beautifully finished which is factored into the cost. There are better amplifiers out there than the Outlaws but few if any come close to the quality to price ratio (extreme value IMO).

The bottom line is that he had a very power hungry requirement that the Outlaw multichannel amp could not handle. That being said, the Parasound multichannel amp could not handle it either and had the same overheating issue. No, it was not a problem with the speakers. He had to go with a setup somewhat closer to monoblocks to take care of the heat issue. If he had the Outlaw monoblocks and installed them with enough clearance to allow for adequate natural convective (or preferably forced air cooling), he would likely not have had a problem.

I don't, nor likely will ever, have a room the size he did to fill with that much power. In fact most people will likely not have more than 1500-3000 sq ft of space at most for their home theaters and should have absolutely no problems with the Outlaw amps.

My modest room will be approximately 265 sq ft and when it is done, I will either get the 125W or 200 W per channel Outlaw amp knowing that either choice will not give me any trouble.

In reading both threads, there was no clear description of the problem, solution or outcome and it could cause concern to potential buyers of either product. I realize now it was simply a matter of a very unique installation requirement. Buyers can rest assured that a combination of Axiom M80s and Outlaw amps will work when set up correctly for the particular installation.

BruceH,

I've owned a lot of exotic gear over the years. IMO, I feel that the Outlaw gear is the steal of the century backed up with the best customer service I've seen .
The 770 has 7 seperate amps however they share the same monster power source. This amp is no doubt a tank .I run mine on it's own 20 amp isolated ground circuit for good measure. BTW, I also ran 4 Magnepan MMG's off my Outlaw with no problems, however I'm now running the Axiom M80's, vp150 and qs4's. The mmg's are in my office .

I could go on and on but I'll spare everyone the sos. The bottom line is that this amp is awesome and worth trying.It's really hard to say why the guy had problems and we can only guess at this point....Good Luck! I hope this helps.

Tom

Tom,

What do you think of the 770 with the MMGs? I recently moved to a new office that's got a lot more space so I'm thinking of picking up a pallet of MMGs for studio and "office music" use. The "kids" in the studio like their Mackie and Genelec monitors, but I prefer the sound of the Maggies (when room size permits).

Cheers,

Ritz,

The MMG's are great for the price and sound similar to its big brother. The 770 drove them effortlessly. The sound is transparent as it should be.
I would demo a pair of the MMG's to make sure you like the sound.