Come on allready!! Maybe you all might want to scrap this project and start from scratch (I'd probably get that version delivered before the original 950). It's just getting to be ridiculous I know that everyone is going to say, "No one is forcing to buy their product." Well true, but $899.00 + good reviews = No brainer (At least for me ).

As you say, the price plus the reviews by owners make this a no-brainer. BUT, I fear that there will be a slew of new pre-amps available from others by the time the 950 begins shipping again and it will be becoming "outdated" feature wise at that time. I appreciate that the Outlaws want to ship a quality product and things have not gone their way so far. They could sell everything they could ship if only it was available. I have not heard of anyone receiving a 950 for a long time now.
Pete

They need to start shipping it again, even if they don't figure out why a few units are hissy. Just replace those as they come up. This is getting simply rediculous.

If I hadn't been on the waiting (and waiting) list early enoguh to get one before they stopped shipping (the second time) I would have given up long ago and gotten the Rotel.

I can say that there is NOTHING WRONG with my 950. I'm glad I bought it. I think most of the people who have gotten one so far feel the same. Why aren't the Outlaws shipping? Why are they pissing more people off instead of winning more converts like me?

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Sorry, but I won't accept a unit for my reservation until this hiss issue is put to rest and corrected.

Your suggestion to ship anyway is why I wouldn't want you working for Outlaw, that's simply dishonest.

Hello Outlaws:

We appreciate that you've been patient to date, and as the title of this thread indicates, it IS a virtue.

What you are pointing out is yet one more example of the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" nature of this situation. The problem is that we're in a fluid situation and even though we are 99.9% of the schedule for re-starting production and shipments, if we end up falling into that last 0.1% we'll be zinged for "missing another deadline". In terms of another Newsletter or "Update" we can say that the next public announcement is scheduled for the day we resume shipments or the week of August 5th, whichever comes first. Suffice it to say we hope the date is the former, not the latter.

However, since you asked...

We have done an incredible amount of testing and engineering work over the past few weeks and we feel that we finally have nailed down all the various contributors to the "hiss problem". In fact, I've heard the final, updated 950 myself and it is great. We know that this unit will provide the performance that most 950 owners are already enjoying, and which a few are still waiting for.

As to the question of "if it's only a small sample, why don't they just start shipping and replace the defective units", the answer is one that has to be viewed in the context of our business model. In the "bricks & mortar" world, traditional brands can suffer a larger percentage of defective units before something reaches serious proportion. By comparison, in our case even a small handful of units generating complaints has the tendency to get blown completely out of proportion in relation to the actual number of units shipped.

This is already the case with the 950. Again, most owners are happy, and only a very small percentage of the units are causing problems. However, we cannot allow even that small number of customers to be unhappy. The bad news: It means that our only course of action has been our current path of freezing deliveries. We know that this disappoints customers, it also impacts our revenues. The good news: it means that EVERYONE will benefit from improved performance, even if they can't hear the difference.

The bottom line: At this stage in the Outlaw's business cycle, we have taken the more conservative approach rather than continuing to charge ahead. To do so might have brought short term gain, but at a considerable risk. We remain financially healthy and we're here for the long term. Our ability to stop production while continuing to deliver existing new products and develop a number of new ones is clear evidence of that.

Therefore we ask that you bear with us while we implement these modifications at the factory level. Public "heat", not withstanding we sincerely believe we are doing the right thing.

Best Regards,

Scott

Wow. That is the closest thing to a direct answer I've ever seen on this form. And even though I disagree with the final conclusion (better to halt shipments for two months than to replace a few hissy units) I certainly understand the reasoning and appreciate the explanation.

Bstan: I personally see no evidence that you would receive a hissy unit if they had kept shipping while resolving the problem. More likely, you would have been perfectly satisfied, like me. My unit is NOT HISSY and I don't plan on sending it in for replacement.

It is certainly not dishonest to ship a product when you know a small percentage of units will be returned. That's simply common business practice; you simply cannot ship something with a 0% return rate; all you can do is hope to get it as low as you can.

Scott's right, though, a small percentage of unsatisfied customers seem to blow product defects out of proportion. He might even be right that a small, vocal group could hurt them even more than the large number of grumpies still on the waiting list.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Scott,

Thanks for the candid response. It's much easier waiting when you know a little about why you're waiting. I'm willing to wait for the problem to be fixed. Personally, I don't want to have to send anything back after I've hooked it up.

Thank you for your post Scott. A few words go a long way for us folks still on the waiting list. I'm glad to hear that you've got a handle on the problem and some solutions in hand. That's encouraging!

Cary

Way to go Scott! In the aircraft business there is an oft used saying, "you only get one chance to get it right". I think it rings very true here too.

I am getting very impatient. However, the quick response by Scott has helped me tremendously to continue to wait. I have looked at the older model Rotel and a Denon 3802. The response today by the Outlaws has made me decide to wait longer. I wish this was the way they had responded 2 months ago, when so many of us thought of entering anger management courses .