I thought I might as well jump in on this topic too.
I was experiencing some hiss and a bit of 60Hz hum on my system. I live in a 40 year old house with the world's worst wiring. Last week I purchased a Monster Power HTS5000 Mk II. His and Hum are now completely gone. But that's not the best news. My bass response is much clearer and more well-defined. I've always used conditioners in my professional racks(Furman's, etc.) for protection more than anything else. This AUDIBLE improvement is an incredibly welcome surprise! I've heard about the systemic improvements that a good conditioner could make, but as an Audio Engineer of course I knew better. It's nice to be wrong on occasion.
Haven't gotten my turn with the Outlaw gear yet, still waiting.
Has anyone reviewed the Proton AS-2631? I just heard about it and wondered how it sounded.
Mix

That's great you got such good results! I think I will be going that extra step and trying a balanced power transformer. I am waiting until I get my 950 though to see how good or bad things are in my system.

Perfect, did you ever eliminate your hiss problem? Have you tried a new 950?

The hiss problem is still bothering me. I ran some more test and found that the hiss is audible from over 9ft. This is the same hiss Perfect posted about. It is not a 60Hz hum. I switched everything again back to my Yamaha RX-V3000 + Parasound amp and the hiss wasn't audible from more then 3 inches from the speaker. I think there may be a problem with my 950, however after listening to my friends 950, we could both here the same hiss on his system. Is it possible there is a handfull of defective 950's???

Dan

dealcatcher-

Please...

Try to talk to someone at Outlaw and see what they have to say about this.

I actually did try to track down an email ID for prefect to ask him about what was going on with his unit, but couldn't find one. (Not on his profile here, or the web site that his Outlaw forum id points to.)

I want to buy a 950 in Sept/Oct, but this issue in general has me bothered.

(Yeah, I know... Buy it and see for myself! )

Perfect, did you ever eliminate your hiss problem?

Greetings everyone.

I'm back after a month of self-imposed silence about the 950 noise floor issue. Outlaw has been working with me to solve this problem for the past four weeks, and I'm pleased to report that the unit that arrived yesterday has a noise floor that is improved such that I can no longer hear hiss from my seating position.

I first posted about the problem a month ago, and Outlaw contacted me almost immediately. The investigation into the problem started out with Outlaw asking me to perform numerous tests on the unit that I had at the time. They also queried me quite a bit about my equipment, room setup, etc.

They promptly sent me a second unit to try, on which I tried many of the same tests with similar results.

At this point, Outlaw chose to involve me with some of the technical information coming back from the engineers, as I am an engineer with audio experience myself. I was privy to some of the emails and documents that were going between their engineers, and they were indeed taking the problem quite seriously. There were several leads that the Outlaw engineers pursued and tested in their own labs without my direct involvement over the course of the past few weeks.

Yesterday, I received my third unit, which has a greatly improved noise floor due to the results of these changes. The reduction in noise is not enough that it _completely_ eliminates the hiss when I stick my ear close to the speaker, but it is more than enough to reduce it from my seating position. I wasn't particularly displeased with the previous units that I had tested and never intended to send them back, but this one's definitely a keeper.

During the course of this investigation, we reached the conclusion that I have a particularly revealing setup (amps, speakers and room) and very sensitive hearing. It would seem that the few other folks that are experiencing this noise floor issue from their seating positions are in the same boat.

From day one of the problem, Outlaw was very committed to solving my problem, and I have to give them a lot of credit for that.

I chose to remain quiet about this issue in the interim because I wanted to give Outlaw the courtesy of my professionality. I knew they were working on the problem. The last thing they needed was a litany of negative posts and speculation about the problem before they even fully understood it.

It was very clear to me that when they started working on the problem, they weren't quite sure what was causing it; they even said as much to me. They had a few leads, but it took a few weeks to isolate the key culprits and make the changes that are represented in the unit that I have at home now.

So, I would say - for those of you who are not experiencing any noise problems (the vast majority, it sounds like) - keep on enjoying your units. For those few folks who were experiencing problems, Outlaw will help you out on a case-by-case basis.

So, Will, I hope this addresses your concern that Outlaw had dropped my problem on the floor. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Now it's time to enjoy some movies!

Wow, that is interesting news, Prefect. Extremely interesting. Thanks for reporting back on it!

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

What changes did they make to the unit. To they have a QC problem on the parts that were corrected where a handful are not making proper tolerance. Does my unit that I have now which has a little hiss but not enough to piss me off have a chance to continuely get worse as parts age. Will my unit also, have problems if I decide to change out amps, speakers, etc. The bottom line if the Outlaws have found a solution to your unit why would it not apply to all units?

TPS

I am not at liberty to discuss the specifics of the changes. Outlaw is, after all, a company with competitors who would probably love such juicy bits of information.

Suffice it to say that what I know of the changes makes perfect sense from an engineering standpoint.

I'd suggest that if you have further questions about this issue that you give Outlaw a call.