Hi, I'm new to posting, but have been reading since they announced they were coming out with a pre-pro. I unfortunately made the jump to "seperates" and now am in the market for a pre-pro.
I guess my comments are: Is Outlaw still planning on making a more expensive pre-pro like they originally stated? I don't think I could live with all the glitches reported here. (Slow signal locking, hiss, punching things thru on the remote?...and the green buttons).
Does anyone know when Parasounds "Halo" pre-pros are gonna be out? Or Sherwood Newcastles' new P-958? Will Sherborn and Atlantics' vesions have the same issues?
Why can't companies like Pioneer and Denon make a pre-pro for the same money as their top end receivers? You have to buy a receiver, it seems, to get all the cool features. Why is that? Anyway I couldn't hold it in any longer sorry.

Welcome to the forum, Maximum7.

1. Yep, Outlaw still (last anyone heard) plans to produce a "big brother" to the 950. I would expect it to be a while arriving, however.
1a. I'll toss in my two cents on the glitches you mention -- the signal locking problem is true of all the home theater pre/pros (nature of the beast, as it were), the hiss is apparently about to go away, and the remote is good for most people (although the problem of adjusting things like sub trim is undeniably present). It may still not be what you need, but don't give up on it too quickly!

2. I know there are a few "Halo" products out already, but so far it's all two-channel gear. I haven't been closely watching the Halo stuff (just sort of noticed it here and there). Their site mentions "surround sound controllers" in 2002, for what that's worth, and they had some stuff at CES 2002 as you are probably aware, but they aren't even mentioning it on their website yet. Pricey! I know even less about the Sherwood Newcastle, I'm afraid...

3. The general concensus is that the Sherbourn and Atlantic Tech versions of the 950 will be straight clones -- they may have different specs for some components, but otherwise they're the same.

4. Heh-heh. Good question! And this may change, as Outlaw, Rotel, and others start making very competitive "budget" home theater pre-pros -- stuff that can be paired up with a multi-channel and and compete pricewise with the flagship receivers.

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

Last I heard, the Sherwood Newcastle P-958 tuner/pre/pro will be priced in the same general ballpark as the Outlaw 950 and the Rotel 1066 pre/pro. I imagine it will compete with the Outlaw and Rotel, rather than the more-expensive Anthem and Sunfire pre/pro's. Here is some information on the new Sherwood pre/pro/tuner, from January 2002 CES. The information says it has Dolby Headphone and a dedicated room 2 remote, and is available next month (September 2002), but please take the availability date with a grain of salt.


[This message has been edited by Will (edited August 07, 2002).]

The Denon Rep has said they are working on one. I believe for release next year? However it sounds like it will not be cheap- maybe more than their top-of-the-line-flagship receiver?? I guess we'll see .

Why can't they just take the amps out of their top of the line receivers and sell them that way? It should be cheaper, not more! For higher prices I expect to see much better specs like better S/N ratios, etc. compared to the pre/pro half of the corresponding receiver.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Thanks everybody for your thoughts.
Matt, I whole heartedly agree with your comments. I, in fact, have thought about purchasing a 47tx or 49tx (Pioneer) and just not using the amps, but unfortunately they only have pre-outs for the front channels. I have put in a few "systems" for friends from hundreds to thousands and the recievers lock onto signals fast, why can't $1000.00 pre-pros? I also have heard from my local Rotel dealer that this was addressed in the 1066. Is that true? I wonder why do you have to pay more to get less? Better quality with more quirks?
If anyone knows, what is the time it takes for the signal to be aquired on the 950? A few seconds after play has started?

I'd put it at under a second. On CD's, there are only a couple of discs with tracks that allow me to spot the delay -- you need a track to start playing at 0:00, and you need that to be the first track you play. When the disc switches from one track to the next, the 950 does not have to re-acquire the signal (unless the disc or player is doing something strange). It shows up on DVD menus pretty consistently, but my 1050 did the same thing (actually the 950 seems to be faster at picking it up). My old Yamaha receiver didn't, but that was because it was Pro-Logic only and therefore had no digital signal to lock on to!

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

Worse than the signal acquisition time on the 950 is the fact that the damned onscreen display comes on to tell you what's happening.

When I try to play some PS2 games through my home theater, the damn OSD flashes frequently as the audio briefly drops out during a disc load.

My old Harman-Kardon preamp had two svideo outs but only one of them displayed the OSD. That worked great.

The Sherwood AVP-9080R lists for $1200. The Sony TA-E9000ES lists for $1700 (and sells for $1200 here ). Both pre/pro's have been out for awhile, so budget pre/pro's from big companies is not new. Both pre/pro's are pre-DPL II vintage. Still waiting for one of the big boys to sell a budget pre/pro with DPL II. The wait shouldn't be too much longer I hope.


[This message has been edited by Will (edited August 08, 2002).]

Bobblinds: I've seen a lot of pre/pro's that do that, and I was actually surprised that the 950 didn't. Doesn't seem like it should be hard to do.

The Sherwood P-958 looks interesting. Anybody out there have a bead on how much it's going to cost? Could be a very good deal if it's the same price as the 950.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net