PREFECT, did the outlaws mention anything about when they were either going to replace or repair the HISSing sidewinders (my new pet name for the 950)?

Also, you said that they sent you a second unit that also had the HISS. Did they know when they sent it that it had the hiss or were they expecting the second unit the be the fix? If you got two HISSy units in a row, the malasian assembers must have received a bad batch of parts. Which brings me to a third question. The AT version of the sidewinder is advertised to be superior due to "Premium hand selected and calibrated components in the key processing paths. This includes the main pre-amp, DSP, and Video boards; All caps, DACs and Output ICs." and "Higher grade Op-Amps for improved Signal to Noise Ratio in Direct, Digital, and in the Analog-DSP inputs."

What up with that?


[This message has been edited by tetra500 (edited June 12, 2002).]

Howdy Prefect, et al. Spoke to Scott today (Finally. I am quite hard to reach at work, running all over the place...). I had sent Customer Service a very long and detailed email as to my symptoms, system setup, and history (what I had before). Scott seemed to appreciate this a lot, as he didn't have to quiz me much very much as to what was going on in my system. Bottom line is they will be sending me a new unit on Monday or Tuesday that Scott thinks will significantly improve my noise floor. I will keep you all posted as to results. By the way, I have now dealt with both Scott and Jamen, and I must say they are both absolutely superb at customer service. The kudos expressed elsewhere are totally deserved,IMHO. Customer service of this caliber is rare, not only on Internet sites, but at Brick and Mortar stores as well.

Too bad the service before the sale is so poor.

Yeah, I know, Jacket Fan. Seems kind of backwareds, doesn't it? Of course, I can't complain, as I am already on the "after-the-sale" side of the isle. I feel a little bad, though, for all the people who became disaffected because of Outlaw's poor before-the-sale service.

------------------
Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

I was thinking I should wait until Outlaw officially says they found the problem, and had some new and improved 950 out, before contacting them, since otherwise, I thought I might end up with an intermediate solution.

But if after Skyfish gets his modified 950 he sees, as Scott predicts, a signicantly better noise floor than Skyfish's current 950 I'll be tempted to give the Outlaws a call and ask for a replacement. But I'm a little worried the replacement 950 might not be the final word on the current hiss problem. Outlaw may still be working on the hiss problem, as we speak, and I don't know if Outlaw has resolved the problem entirely, or not.

I am unsure about how long to wait before contacting Outlaw about the hiss. On one hand, I'd like to wait a little longer in order to give the Outlaws plenty of time to resolve the hiss problem entirely. But on the other hand, I've had my slightly hissy 950 (hiss barely audible from a few feet away) past the 30 day warranty period.


[This message has been edited by Will (edited June 15, 2002).]

Will, I totally understand. When I originally posted that I thought Outlaw had finally cleared up the problem but as we all know it has been very quiet from the Outlaw Camp lately. I am sure they will figure out the problem but I am done guessing when

Will -

Running past my expiration date was my concern. I at least wanted to register that I was experiencing the problem before then. Scott did tell me that my return period would be extended another 30 days on the new unit. If in fact they are still "experimenting" with the fix and I am used as a guinea pig in the process, I don't mind, IF in the end I have a 950 that is quiet enough that it doesn't intrude on my listening. I kind of assume I am a "worst case" scenario for them.

I have a 2 wishes:

1) That *someday* Outlaw will give us an official update concerning the "hiss" issue, that they have a fix, that all future production will include the fix, and that anyone who wishes to exchange their current unit for a "fixed" one can do so simply for shipping charges.

2) That *someday* Sound & Vision will get a "fixed" unit and update their measurements on it. Whether in the magazine itself, or via Outlaw (and this site), don't matter none to me. But, I finally got my S&V, and to be honest, I can't really find a pre/pro/receiver review out of the ones that I've kept over the years that had noise measurements as bad as the 950's.

Hey, I just emailed S&V that desire too, and so can you...

soundandvision@hfmus.com

I emailed Outlaw saying my 950 hisses and asked to get it replaced but said I'd be pleased to wait until after there's a final fix for the hiss. Scott responded with an email saying a replacement 950 was being sent out today. So I don't know if this is a final fix for the hiss, or an interim solution. I believe they'll pay for shipping the replacement 950 to my home, and they'll pay for shipping my original 950 to Outlaw.

My hiss was audible from a few feet away. My assumption (could be wrong) is many owners with a hissy 950 are going to be tempted to get one of the newer lower-hiss models, ASAP. The reason it's tempting to do this ASAP is who knows if Outlaw will exchange a 950 after you've had it awhile. In my case, my trial period expired, but just barely. I didn't ask about an extended trial period, but Scott wrote that my trial period was extended by about another month. So the period was extended to about 60 total days, in my case.

Scott used the words "as promised" with the extension, so maybe they extend the trial period as a matter of policy.

[This message has been edited by Will (edited June 18, 2002).]

Will, excellent news! Thanks for the update. I am sure I am not the only one interested in hearing your opinion of the "new" 950. As you would say, we wait in anticipated silenssssss