Since I don't think that there's any way to start a poll here, would it not be reasonable enough to ask people to post saying that they either have one, or have ordered one ? I guess the reason I'm asking, is because I'm curious about all the fuss of the backorder.

I was going to order one months ago, when I had money, but since then, have been married, paid mucho bills, have gone to Hungary for a second (formal church style) wedding, and have been unemployed now for almost 2 months, though I'm starting a new job this coming Monday.

If all the orders for the 2150 have to be taken on the Outlaw site, then it's also reasonable to assume that most of those people would visit these forums, right ? It just surprised me to see that after months of letting things pass, that only NOW has an announcement been made, saying that the pre orders should be shipping in mid October.

It also surprised me to find out that the prices will be getting jacked up a bit, but I guess that's the law of supply and demand hu ? I know it was passed off as simply being a matter of moving facilities, and needing new tools yada yada, but I honestly didn't really buy that story when I read it (no offense Scott.), but considering that the price of this supposedly wonderful piece of technology is still considerably cheaper than other similar type units, I guess it's still a logical choice to make for a new receiver.

Still though, I can't say that it doesn't bother me at all, considering how I think that the team should have been a lot more prepared than they were, in having proper facilities, "tools" and the right amount of man power for the given demand. But that argument stands to contest the actual given reasons for the price boost, which I don't necessarily see eye to eye with, so perhaps I'll save it for another time.

Anyhow, I'm wondering if it would be possible for everyone whom has ordered one, or owns one, to chime in with just a simple "owner here !" I dunno, I just find it a bit strange that with all the backorder talk, this particular forum has always seemed a bit "dead", so to speak. Just wondering why ?

Doug

I've got a theory about internet forum traffic that seems to pretty accurately track with past activities in this and other forums. In most cases, the people who actually register accounts and post with them in online forums are either doing so due to a problem or question ("it's broken!" or "how do I hook this monster up?") or because they are interested in taking part in the forum's typical discussions. There are exceptions, of course, such as people who take a moment to register an account and post a "thank you" remark upon receiving a new toy, but basically my best SWAG has always put the percentage of buyers who register and take part in a manufacturer's forum to be around 5%. That number would probably be even lower if the product in question is something like a power amp, where user questions are less likely. The RR2150 attracted a huge amount of attention when it was reviewed by Stereophile, and I think there were a number of people who bought one based on that review but who probably didn't even visit the saloon once. Many who did visit the saloon didn't seem inclined to register accounts (there were a lot more "guest" users viewing the site in the weeks after that issue of Stereophile hit shelves than is normally the case). Bottom line: for every forum member who has an RR2150, it's entirely possible that there are more than twenty RR2150 owners who either haven't registered in the forum or never even came to the forum. It's a SWAG, but it matches well with some threads we've had for product launches like the 950 and 990 - when the number of people posting in the forum who had the units numbered only a few dozen even after weeks or months, in spite of the fact that the units were still backordered.

As for the price increase... Well, as you mentioned, the price increase appears to be related to the change in manufacturing - different facility, presumably different production costs for certain aspects of the process, and so forth - and it's likely that the extra $50 is partly due to the rather tumultuous ride that some raw material costs had been on this year (copper's come back down some, but it's still significantly higher than in the past, and steel's been a fairly confusing mess for a couple years now). As you say, it's still a pretty good value - and while we're all doing a certain amount of reading between the lines, the fairly drastic decision to relocate production suggests that Outlaw was forced to make some serious adjustments to get the production volume they needed.

I guess in the end, it's all good if the payoff (audio quality/nirvana/bliss/insert adjective of choice here) exceeds the short lived grief of having to part with that which you worked so hard for. I've got so many priorities on my "to buy" list, so perhaps that Outlaw Credit card is right up my alley. Time to ask my other half, the one with the reeeally good credit....

Doug

Well, I'm glad I have one on backorder, but to tell you the truth, I thought the price increase would be a bit steeper than $50. There's usually something of a learning curve when introducing new audio equipment, so I'm hoping that if there were any bugs in the inaugural RR2150s, Outlaw used the shift in production facilities to dispense with them altogether. We'll know soon enough. Oh, and to kinda second gonk's theory, I entered the forum for a practical reason: I figured this would be the right place to get an informed answer to a question.

Owner here! I guess I'm one of the lucky ones ... I ordered what now seems like "back in the day," when you could still get the first batch. Glad I did. And, OK, it's a home-brew audio mag, but I wrote the very first review as well! The comments still stand, it is a superb piece of equipment.

http://www.affordableaudio.org/OutlawRR-2150.pdf

Thanx, steve6. One question: Have you made much use of the USB input? Just wondering...

I've been on order since the end of May so needless to say the next couple of weeks are going to pass slowly )

To be honest, I haven't used it once. Haven't even tested it. My 2-channel stereo rig is downstairs and my computer up, so I haven't had the need/occasion to try it out.

and a better, direct link that review (I hope)

http://www.affordableaudio.org/aa2006-01.pdf

I ordered one in July. In fairness to Outlaw Audio they did say in their June newsletter that there would be a price increase of around $50.