Well the 200’s finally arrived. Ordered on Monday and arrived on Wednesday. Delivery very quick but pretty expensive.

Anyway, they look great and sound great!!

I’m using them in a two channel audio only system with Classe electronics driving Magnepan MG 12’s. I also have a separate HT setup with the Outlaw 1050 receiver driving Anthony Gallo Micro’s and an Infinity subwoofer.

The 200’s have been powered up about 10 hours so these comments are very preliminary.

THE GOOD NEWS
Almost everything.
Biggest difference is in the bass. I was using a small Classe amp and while it sounded OK it didn’t have the “horsepower” to properly drive the Magnepans. The 200’s certainly cure that.
I also have a Sunfire subwoofer. While the MG 12’s only go to about 45 Hz they sound like they go much lower & certainly fuller with the 200’s. I probably wouldn’t have bought the subwoofer if I had bought the 200’s first. I haven’t put the subwoofer back into the system since I got the 200’s, but eventually I will.
The ability of the Magnepans to disappear leaving a 3 dimensional soundstage is more evident with the 200’s. The Outlaw amps seem to drive the 4 ohm load effortlessly. (Boy am I relieved) After considering amps from Audio Research, Bryston, Odyssey Audio, larger Classe etc. buying the Outlaw was a leap of faith. But so far I’m more than pleased.
I’m using the signal sensing method to turn on the amps and it works perfectly, mind you I’ve turned the amps on and off once so far.
I was concerned with heat based on some of the posts I’ve read. And my 1050 can run pretty hot. But in my 10 hrs of operating the 200’s they run very cool. Actually barely warm to the touch, and that was just above the heat sink. A few inches away from the heat sink and the unit is COOL to the touch!

The not so good news. While the binding posts seem to be a nice step up from my 1050 the lower amp has to be place near the edge of the shelf when using spade terminals since the unit is so thin. Bananas are the way to go.

The other item is that both of my units “rock”. By this I mean only three of the four feet rest on a flat shelf, and yes I’ve tried the amps on other surfaces. Since I was going to put isolation cones under the units this wont be a problem but it seems weird.

So there you have it. My conclusion so far is that the amp exceeds my expectation by a wide margin and the only problems (at ten hours of operation) are nits.

I’ll post other thoughts after a few hundred hours of operation. One other thing I should mention is that I was so anxious to hear the new 200’s I tore into my set up and threw the amps into action. When everything is setup properly it will sound even better (and I have no complaints now). But that won’t be soon I’m going to listen some more.


[This message has been edited by Xyzfla (edited January 09, 2003).]

Me too! Me too! Me too! I got the email today and just finished the order for my pair!

You mean that the legs on your amps aren't perfectly level, kind of like a crooked table? Hmm, that's a peeve of mine. I can't believe that both of your units came that way

[This message has been edited by Mightybuddah (edited January 09, 2003).]

When I unpacked the amps I noticed that one corner of both amps ( I don't remember if it was the same corner) didn't touch the counter. It was quite noticeable. So much so I took it to other flat surfaces and I got the same result. But I'm planning on using 3 isolation cones under each amp so that should keep it from wobbling.

I'm also going to contact Outlaw about removing the feet and shimming the one that’s off.

Thanks for the early info, I'm sure a lot of us find it useful. Anybody have photos of the actual unit up yet? I know there are a few on Outlaw's products page but they don't really show it well.



So, it's just the feet that are slightly uneven? The case itself isn't warped or crooked or something?

It appears to be that the feet are just slightly different lengths. I took the "short" foot off both amps and proceeded to make shims ... after a few tries problem solved. ... and they even sound better ...lets see because they don't rock? .... the whole set up is better (power cords separated from signal cords, etc)? or just more time on them? Let me listen some more while I ponder this.

I just got off the phone with the Outlaws, and mine should be coming in the next few days. Mine will be used to power a monster 15" passive sub. Granted, I still need to build the sub, but I'm very excited to get the amp, and get everything hooked up. It should kick some serious...

Jason

Someone please get pics up of these baby beasts Thanks!!

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Play it LoUd!!

Yup, it'd be nice to see more of them before mine arrive. Unfortunately, I dunno that they've shipped yet, and even then it'll take a long time for them to cross the country.

I'll also be curious to see if anybody has any power problems. The rated maximum draw is 600 amps each, which means just 3 M-Blocks could theoretically draw as much as a 7-channel 770, and 7 M-Blocks could draw 35 amps! I doubt they'd ever approach that in normal use, but I wonder what they do draw in typical use.

Well, I've had a little time to play with my pair over the weekend. I did not have the leveling problem that Xyzfla has. All the feet were on correctly.

With the sound quality, they're not fully broken in, but I really like them. I had only tested them on Bose 301, so I can't say just how good they are as the speakers would limit that. They did provide a lot of clean power to them though. I plan on moving them around a lot, which is why I did not hook them up to my Mirage OM-5 mains yet. Those would really be able use the power. I had them hooked into a portable CD player and was able to go to 112 db with hardly any noticeable breakup. I believe this was from the player, not the amps. I then hooked them to my computer (SB Audigy soundcard) and went to 117 db. Again, any of the slight distortion I would write off as coming from the computer. Eventually I'll get them onto my receiver, but someone else will probably beat me to it (and probably give a better review).

With theconcern about the power consumption, don't most amps have a max/dynamic rating that's about twice their RMS rating?