Disclaimer on following post: Cut me some slack guys I've never done this before.

I use to hum the song by INXS/Brighton; Deliver Me, when I surfed the Outlaw site. After I received my original 950 there were days I felt sheer relief I had it, other days it was hard to be on site watching the other ‘wait listers’ bite their nails. Imagine my surprise (and chagrin) when I got a call from Outlaw asking if I would be willing to listen to the new 950, placing me in the enviable position of having two 950’s under the roof.

I must be a faster box opener than Gonk! I was dismayed the first hour when I thought I had blown amp channels, or had a malfunction rendering my system useless for Outlaws purposes when I was not able to bring up test tones on all speakers to calibrate the new unit. Very quickly you become aware while on the receiving end of phone calls from Outlaw how intense and driving their efforts to complete the process of moving the 950 out the door are fully consuming them. I got a call from Outlaw to notify me I should shortly received the unit and then a direction to use DPLII for calibration, sighed in relief and moved forward. Be aware of this small difference in setup, if it ships on the 950’s coming out directly.

Outlaw requested I not change any parameters on the system, just replace the old unit with the new.

I focused listening on the 2 sources in heaviest use in my system for the last two months.
I have 2-channel interconnects in service on the DVD player and Satellite decoder that are awaiting our system location change, to be replaced once new run length is calculated.
Panasonic DVD-RP91 Progressive: Analog Input Pair: Monster cable Digital Optical Input: Outlaw
HDTV RCA DTC-100 Satellite: Analog Input Pair: unknown/unmarked. Digital Optical Input: Outlaw
The 7.1 Main Audio Outputs: Outlaw PCA interconnects.

The ‘hiss’ heard on my Outlaw Unit One, was from seating distance (approx. 8’) with dB at +10 down to roughly –8 while in analog/no source, with no hiss and a audibly dead quiet noise floor, while using Digital Coaxial or Optical inputs.
Unit two had no hiss from seating or at speakers using Digital Optical inputs, and no hiss heard from seating at +10 using analog input/no source. My results parallel what Gonk has detailed in his post, the hiss could only be heard raising volume to max +10 dB from approx. 5 to 6 “ from speaker fabric, on the fronts and surrounds and 4” to 5” on the center.
It might be worthwhile to note that my husband never heard the ‘hiss’ on unit one. So I had a similar situation to Gonk's household, my husband considered me to be extreme (and possibly dangerous if a source were to be inadvertently selected) when I was testing for hiss at +10 dB.

The first day I received Unit two, I spent listening to CD’s, DVD’s, and Satellite with Analog and Digital inputs selected. The second day I removed a secondary 3-disc DVD player from the rack so I could go back and forth between Unit One/Two changing out only the interconnects I focused my first hours for 2 days selecting DVD’s which had been played extensively recently on the 1st 950 . On Optical input many hours were spent comparing DVD’s I am recently very familiar with between the 2 units. I was again impressed by the Outlaws seemingly consistent amplitude across the demanding frequency response of HT applications. I honestly could formulate no preference for one or the other unit. Sonically hearing no difference with the exception of one DVD, ‘Super Speedway’ which I felt I slightly preferred on the new 950.

I also made use of several warm bodies (non-audiophiles passing through) asking for their impressions when pressed into service for some quick A/B listening. From my prior posts some might be aware I just acquired a new Sony LCD 60” display which is quite popular at the moment, providing me with approx. 6 people whom had recently spent many hours at my location, watching HT with Outlaw One providing audio. I will relay the results of this unofficial poll for any additional insights it can provide:
One: preferred the old Outlaw. Two: could not hear any differences between units. One: thought he might slightly prefer Unit Two but waffled back and forth on that statement. One: decided he liked the tone of the new Outlaw better.

For all, I suggested that they listen for ‘background noise’ (if any) between the 2 units. Directing them away from tracks we all own, which have noise/hiss audible at an upper range of dB but recorded in the sound track on particular CD’s. Five stated Unit Two had absolutely no ‘noise’, but all remarked hearing noise at their various described levels of intensities on Unit One. The 6th stated he could not hear noise/hiss on either unit.

I am confident that the Outlaw has achieved a ‘hiss’ fix. The 950’s performance and build quality combined with close to as versatile and comprehensive a feature set as is currently available at market is a refreshing return on the dollar. I look forward with great excitement to their future offerings.


[This message has been edited by Smart Little Lena (edited August 30, 2002).]