I have a dilemma that I was hoping some fellow Outlaws could help with.....

I have a 1050 which sounded great before we moved into our new house. Now it's in a room with vaulted ceilings, and that opens up into a large foyer, kitchen, and dining room. I think it's a bit overmatched, so now I'm in upgrade mode

First, until I can afford an Outlaw 770, I picked up a used Parasound 1205 (five channel) amp....which is on the way via an Ebay purchase. Then I grabbed some Outlaw PCA cables. Now, here's the issue.....I was planning on adding an Outlaw 950 pre/pro to the mix, but now I'm wondering if I should use that money to first upgrade my front and center speakers from Paradigm Monitor 5's and CC-370 to Studio 40's and the Studio center. With trade in, it's the same money for either the pre/pro upgrade or the speaker upgrade. Since I already have the 1050, I could just use that as my pre/pro and get the speakers for the time being.

I'm going to end up doing both upgrades eventually, but I am trying to figure out which to do first....the other I won't be able to do for another six months at least.....any thoughts???

Having used Studio/CC and Studio/60's with a 1050 (both on its own and as a a pre/pro), I can say that it would be a pretty nice upgrade.

When figuring the price of the Studio's (with trade-in value of the Monitor 5's and CC-370) vs the price of the 950, did you figure on selling your 1050 to help pay for the 950 or did you plan to hang on to the 1050?

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

That's true, I hadn't figured in what I would receive from selling the 1050....I guess they usually go for around $300-350?? So that would put the 950 under $600 out of pocket.....heck, maybe I'll do both upgrades now!

I am torn between the Studio 40's or the Monitor 11's. I love the 5's I'm running now, they just aren't able to do themselves justice in this larger room. I don't know if having more drivers (Mon 11) or better drivers (studio 40) is the answer.....damn this upgrade-itis!

Okay, I've figured it out.....tonight I got a good deal on some Monitor 11's, so I picked them up.....I loved the Monitor 5's in a smaller room, but the 11's are amazing. Even more exciting is the fact that my 1050 has come alive again and sounds great in both 2-channel and DD/DTS. Maybe I won't need to upgrade to separates after all Even at 65 wpc, the 1050 is one amazing piece of equipment!

AJZepp,
I concur the 1050 is a wonderful piece of equipment. I have the paradigm monitor7's with the studio cc. Glad to hear you got a good deal on the 11's.

Mike

Warpdriver:
What made you decide to go with the studio CC instead of the CC-370? I'm interested because when I got the monitor 11's fired up tonight, the first thing I thought during movie playback was that the center channel seemed a little weak compared to the fronts. It was okay with my 5's, but with the 11's it doesn't seem to carry it's weight. Even though the drivers are different, are you finding that the studio CC blends with your monitor 7's?
Thanks

AJZepp,

When I was checking out the CC370 I had them hook up the Studio. I liked the sound and feel of it better and since I watch DVD's 99% of the time I went for it. The studio cc seems to blend great with my 7's.

Do you have to redo the output levels when you go to a differant size speaker?

Mike

Warpdriver:
True, I got them home kinda late last night and only messed with 5.1 for a few quick demos. I was spending most of the time in 2-channel so that I could evaluate the 11's themselves. I'll have to run through with the spl meter today and see if that improves the blending of the 370. But your experience has me tempted to trade mine in for the studio since I'm pretty sure my local shop would give me full credit toward the upgrade. I tell you what, though, it would be a really hard sell to get me away from Paradigm and Outlaw

AJZepp,

I have to agree it would be a hard sell for me also to get me to leave Outlaw or Paradigm.
I plan to up grade my surrounds later this year. I have some Optimus Pro LX5 (Radio Shack) that are dipole and work fine but I am thinking that the Paradigm ADP or the Def Tech would sound better.

Mike

Warpdriver:
If you ever grab the ADP's for the rears, let me know how you like them. I'm running mini monitors back there now, cause I don't think I could position them where a dipole speaker would work. The mini's are obviously a little directional, but can't say I'm unhappy with them. But I am tempted by the ADP's for a more diffuse surround field. I use my system for HT 75% of the time.