Obviously, if "The Outlaws" had ANY good news at all.......they would have posted it either here on the Saloon (which they no doubt monitor) or as a News Update on their web site.
These guys are (I assume) intellegent business folks who understand marketing, as well as their customer base. And if they do in fact monitor/moderate this forum site, they surely know that their loyal customer base is disintegrating every minute they remain silent on these issues with the 950.

I too am one of many HT enthusiasts who have $$$ burning a hole in my pocket. I've got a serious Jones to buy a new HT set up....yesterday. If I don't hear any news (good or bad) soon........I'm just going to pull the trigger elsewhere. Maybe, just maybe, this 950 has got so many problems, that it isn't worth waiting for. And maybe that's why these boys aren't talking.

Which brings me to my original point. They know that they need to communicate with us, yet they don't. This tells me that (at least from their perspective) whatever thay do have to say must be pretty bad news. They obviuosly believe that any statement from them regarding the situation with the 950 would cause even greater harm than their deafening silence.

Evidently there must be some pretty nasty news out there regarding the AT 2000.

Evidently there must be some pretty ugly updates on the shipping status of the 950 itself.

Maybe they spoke too soon as to the capabilities of this new dream 950 pre-amp.

Maybe they've gotten their #^*$?@ in a sling over patents or something.

One thing is for sure, that the consumers will continue to speculate until "The Outlaws" themselves come forth and level with us, somehow, someway.

Or maybe, just maybe, "....all that glitters is not gold."


[This message has been edited by dsmith5740 (edited January 21, 2002).]

dsmith5740

Easy with the paste button, fella! You've posted this message to half the threads in the 950 forum!

I'm going to speak briefly here in Outlaw's defense -- call me naive if you like, or overly optimistic, or foolhardy, or even just being devil's advocate if you like. The Outlaws have a long-standing tradition of rarely speaking here in the forum. They also try to only post news every month or so -- they do not post news, good or bad, as soon as they get it, but wait until they have a lot to say.

As for the 950, there is no one standing behind any of us with a club insisting we buy it. We are all here waiting for it because it is an appealing mix of value and features. If the wait is to much, some will (and already have) moved on to something else. Outlaw has made it clear that they want to get it right when it ships, and not give us rushed junk. Having worked on projects that were rushed out when the entire design team knew it wasn't ready, I can attest to the fact that their approach is smarter. The release date has been sliding steadily since November (the first official release date that had near-beta hardware to back it up -- I know there were a slew of other release dates that fell by the wayside before that), which seems pretty reasonable when compared with the arrival of DD-EX and the discovery of a weird bug in a couple of new DD-EX soundtracks that they actually want to fix for us rather than just say "our product is designed to Dolby specs, we're sorry, use the DTS track instead" (which is all anyone can do with existing hardware, and they could do with the 950 if they wanted to ship it).

Yes, they're late. Yes, it's irritating. I know I'd like to get my hands on a 950 today, but I can't. But that doesn't mean the 950 is a disaster being covered up -- it just means we're all impatient. If they rush the 950 to give them to those of us waiting now and it's fundamentally flawed, then they're ruined their reputation for quality and stuck themselves with a product that will never sell well.

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Gonk

I guess I'll open my trap here too ... as I posted over on one of the HT related forums a week or more ago, Outlaw Audio has not been hyping the Model 950. It's us, the possible customers, who have been hyping it. I've had the opportunity to meet several of the Outlaws and, I believe, can safely consider them as friends. Therefore I find it personally frustrating to see them being lambasted for "Hyping the 950" when they've really been rather quiet about it except for their (roughly) once a month news letter.

The only other point I'll make is that if you think you (and the rest of us waiting for it) are frustrated and impatient for the 950 to ship ... try calling Outlaw Audio and speaking directly to one of them. You'll hear what real frustration sounds like!

Ok, I shot my mouth off for the day. I'll go back and lurk in my corner now.

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pat----

email: pat@sklenar.info ---===--- home page: Grumpy's Lair

[This message has been edited by psklenar (edited January 21, 2002).]

It is very possible that they are just doing their best not to release another date that has to slip due to something unforeseen. They probably want the first production run not only complete, but in house and possibly even hand inspected just to make sure that when it does hit, it will be a hit. Its unfortunate that this can't be done on a 100% perfect schedule for anybody that wants one, but with the amount of grief they get every time a date changes, I wouldn't release another date until there was no chance for it to change.

After all, this really is a hobby and I know hobbies are pretty addicting and one of the best parts is a new piece of gear, of course. But if you're bored with your current system to such a point that waiting on a new product is going to kill you, then go buy something else. Or give your system the super tune, moving your speakers around to try and get better placement. Go play the speaker wire game, or make up a wireloom for the back of your rack. Something. There's got to be a better way to enjoy this hobby than driving yourself crazy waiting for something you have no control over.

You could always go watch a movie. I've heard there are a few good ones in the theaters right now.

S.

Maybe they had us spoiled, with six news releases in the last 3 months of 2001. Now a month between news releases seems like a long time.

As far as waiting for the 950 goes, the waiting is not the hardes part. It's the not knowing. I would be very annoyed with myself if I bought a $2k pre/pro a day or two before the Outlaws shipped the 950.

So really is waiting to much? What many dont realize is that most other companies really dont have anything intimate to do with their customers. As I had mentioned before, how many companies do you know would bother telling you problems they are trying to fix for you to get the most out of your purchase. How many would wait 2 or 3 months to save $1100 that could be used for speakers, dvd, cables, whatever? Certainly whatever the wait is, the money I save is worth the wait to me. So those impatient people if you want to spend your money on another company where you would not have this 2-way relationship your really just dont get the point of being an OUTLAW.

Other companies might just release the product and Microsoft it later ie: denon,onkyo. Both companies have released products quickly and had mega problems and had to deal with them later. Not all of there products so don't flame me.

m-mmeyer

I'm glad to see some of my fellow Outlaws with cooler heads posting. I was getting a bit concerned over the Outlaws being blasted for delays and fixes. I'm not even in the market for the 950 but I'm anxious to hear all the reviews. Yes, I'm living vicariously through y'all!

I completely agree that it's us, the customers, who have been creating the hype around the 950. Outlaw has been very straightforward and upfront with us regarding the status.

I'd also like to chime in once again and agree 100% with the get it right BEFORE shipping philosophy.

I second gonk and the others after him. No one is forcing anyone to wait on this product. I myself am content to wait on this product which should be of high quality, not to mention a good value. That is the Outlaws are all about and they are going about it the right way.

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Well count me amongst those that didn't wait.

Been reading about the new Outlaw pre/pro for over a year. Was gonna wait to make up my mind, but the new Pioneer sounded too good to wait any longer.

No regrets, no looking back (my wife just got it for me so my WAF is high on this one! )

I'm sure it woulda been a close call between the two, but the final piece of the puzzle is on the way to my HT NOW!!!!!!!

E