I just received this email. Cheer up campers, this ride may be coming to an end. Here is some of the email I just received.


Dear Fellow Outlaw,

We are pleased to announce that work has been completed on the hiss issue that you reported as occurring on your unit. As one of the first customers for the Model 950 we appreciate your loyalty, and we are sending you this message before we release this news to our general mailing list. We realize that it has taken more time than we anticipated to solve the problem, so we wanted you to be the first to know. We appreciate your patience and support during the past few months and we are confident the resolution of this issue will add to your enjoyment of your Model 950.

That said, here are the details and procedures for replacing your existing Model 950 with an updated unit:

Our plan is to send you a unit that has all the modifications related to the performance improvement. To keep things straight, be advised that the unit you will receive is rebuilt to the latest factory specifications and carefully inspected to assure that it is in "like new" condition, but it will probably not be a brand new unit. Our reason for doing this is to speed the replacement to you as quickly as possible so that you are not without a processor at any time. However, for those who wish to have their specific unit rebuilt, we will be pleased to accommodate those requests. And, as previously promised, we will pay the freight both ways no matter which option you choose.

As evidence of our confidence in these units, we are re-starting your five-year parts and labor warranty so that it starts on the date we ship the replacement, not the date for the original unit.

In terms of timing, we have already built up a pool of units that is sufficient to cover the needs of everyone who has requested a replacement due to the hiss issue. Thus, with accommodations for the Labor Day holiday, we will begin shipments during the first week of September. To initiate the process, please follow these steps:
...


We hope this information addresses all of the procedural issues, but in scanning the Saloon, we realize that some of you will have additional questions. So at the risk of making this message a bit longer than we had planned, here's a bit of a "mini-FAQ" on the Model 950 as of this moment:

Q. Is the hiss issue fixed, and what is the status of shipments?
A. Yes, the hiss issue has been solved. As you read this we are preparing to send replacement units to those who have registered with us that their 950 is one of those impacted by the problem. It should take no more than two weeks to replace those units. Once that project is complete we will immediately begin contacting those on the reservation list and begin shipping to those customers upon receipt of billing information. However, due to what is still an extensive waiting list it will take a few weeks to fill all the reservations. Our commitment to assist existing owners before re-starting shipments for new sales still stands.

Q. What was caused the problem?
A. The problem was caused by the stack-up of a number minor items. None of them would cause the problem by itself, and when you combine that with the many variables in your individual systems, you have something that was hard to track down. No, there wasn't one single root cause. Unfortunately, tracking everything down, validating the fixes and making sure that the fix didn't take break anything else was obviously a lengthy process, but we needed to take the time to do it right and test the fix both internally and externally.

Q. How did you solve the problem?
A. Given the fact that there were a variety of minor issues contributing to the cause, the fix was a number of adjustments. In broad strokes, some component values were changed slightly and the circuit flow was adjusted to avoid the introduction of noise.

Q. Were there any other changes made to the product?
A. Nothing major that alters its performance. As we've said all along, if a unit sounds good, it IS good. If it was in a system where there was a hiss issue, the changes will fix that. Some very minor upgrades were made as maintenance issues that all manufacturers make as running changes during a product's life cycle, as well as to allow for the integration of the fixes to the hiss problem.

Q. How do I know that the unit I receive has been updated?
A. All replacement units will have a slightly larger serial number label than the original unit. The serial number will start with an "01" and there will be a red dot on the label. This is your indication that the unit has been rebuilt to the latest specifications.

Q. What will happen to the unit I send back?
A. We will re-build those units to current specifications and hold them in reserve for service replacements, review units and other internal purposes. Of course, they cannot, and WILL NOT be sold as new, and given the relatively small number of units involved, we need them for other purposes and have no plans to offer them as "B" stock.
OK, we'll sneak in two questions that do NOT involve the Model 950:

Q. What's the story on the Model 7100?
A. It is on schedule and barring unforeseen circumstances it will ship this fall. More details on the Model 7100, including the power specs will be available in our next Update newsletter.

Q. How are the Outlaws doing?
A. All things considered, just fine, thanks! Sure, we'd rather not have had to put everyone, including ourselves, through all the hassles the initial shipments have caused. However, we are confident that all of this will end up bringing you a better unit that remains the best value in home theater. Our company remains strong, and we have many exciting plans for the next twelve months that will continue to surprise the competition and please our customers!

Thanks again for hanging in there with us!
Regards,

The Outlaws

Even though they are minor and maintenace issues, there are some upgrades in the new 950.

I just got a call from Scott, asking my to chime in here with some additional positive news for everybody waiting for the hiss fix. Outlaw got at least a few "fixed" units in last week, and sent some of them out for some end-user testing. I received one of those tweaked units last Thursday afternoon, and have been poking and prodding it for a few days now. I was asked to pass along my findings, so here they are. I'm on my way out of town and will not be online until late Friday at the earliest, so if I don't reply to anyone's questions for a while that's why.

Yes, the new 950 has a significantly reduced noise floor. At Peter's suggestion, I switched the new 950 to an analog input (CD player, specifically, set to analog rather than digital) and turned it up to +10dB -- with no CD playing, of course -- to see what sort of hiss I might be able to get. I had to get within 6" to 12" of the tweeters on my mains to hear anything. At my listening position (a little over 6' from the speakers, probably), it was dead silent. For comparison, the center channel (which was getting no signal from the 950) had a hiss at about 2" distance simply due to the system - interference from power cords and the like. I think that would qualify as "fixed". For digital inputs, the results were quite a bit quieter. As an additional comparison, I hooked my old 950 back up and repeated the test. I had never noticed a humm or hiss problem at my listening position during normal use, but I discovered that at +10dB on an analog input with no signal there was a hiss from the old 950 that could be heard at the listening position. (I'll spare you the look my wife gave me when I told her about this test -- neither of us have noticed any objectionable noise from our old 950, and she considered this "max volume, no sound" test sort of silly. Can't say I blame her. ) For people experiencing an objectionable hiss currently, the new 950 should be a real eye-opener.

What about the sound of the new unit in general? Peter asked me to do an A/B comparison between the two, using some fairly revealing material if possible, to see if I could hear any difference and if there were any sonic trade-offs on the new unit. He didn't want to turn loose the new fixes if the result would lessen the 950 in any way. So I did some back-and-forth testing. Both units were connected to a Model 750 amp with the same type of cables, both were using optical cables to connect to my Yamaha CD changer, and both had the mains set to "large" so the sub wasn't involved (saved me switching the sub between the two units). My initial tests were done with the Theater Compensation mode inadvertently turned on on the new unit and off on the old unit. The new unit’s Theater Compensation, of course, was tempering the highs on some tracks, which had us a bit confused. (For those of you who think the 950 is a little harsh, you might play around a bit with Theater Compensation -- I've left it off on mine, but some people might prefer the sound with it on.) Once I caught my mistake, I re-visited some of the more revealing tracks. With both units using Theater Compensation, I could not distinguish between the two units at all. With Theater Compensation off on both units, I felt like the reduced noise floor on the new 950 was showing through, as it seemed like the sound might be a bit clearer or cleaner, particularly the highs. It was a very, very slight difference though – for anyone with a 950 that isn’t exhibiting hiss, you’ll be hard pressed to find a difference between the one you have and a new 950. In general, I would say that the sound of the new unit is essentially unchanged from that of the original unit (except for the reduced noise floor).

There have apparently been a few software tweaks along the way, too, and my test unit (as both Scott and Peter were quick to tell me before I even got it unboxed) has a setup quirk. The 950 has to be in a surround mode for the test tones to work on all of the channels. If you have the 950 in stereo mode when you go to calibrate with the test tones, the unit will show that it's sending all of the tones but will only send tones to the mains and sub. Pro Logic II will do fine for a surround mode (I tried it, in case it actually was looking for a multi-channel input), so even if you are using nothing but stereo analog connections to the 950 you won't have a problem. I don't know if this behavior applies only to the samples they are testing, but they wanted me and others to be aware of it. The new 950 is also a couple of dB quieter, so when I set my speaker levels I ended up bumping them all up a dB or two. Those are the only real differences I could find between the old unit and the new unit. The “standby” lights blinked out of sequence on the two when they were both paused at the same time, but I don’t think that really matters.

From the conversations I had with Peter last week, Scott’s post on Friday, and this new e-mail, it is clear that the Outlaws have decided that the changes included in the 950 I’ve been testing have satisfactorily solved the hiss problem. From what Scott told me, they should be shipping soon. Hang in there, crew. Good stuff is coming.

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

[This message has been edited by gonk (edited August 29, 2002).]

From what Scott told me, they should be shipping soon. Hang in there, crew. Good stuff is coming.

[/B][/QUOTE]

Happy Days are Here Again!!!

DmC

Good news!

Okay! Hiss totally fixed. Lower noise floor. New warranty start date. Okay, I'll take one.

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Take Care,
merc

Haven't heard anything yet from the Outlaws about my unit (I've been in contact before), but I will chime in that I'd definitely swap mine out with a finalized unit. New preferrably.



Dan

Even if it is re-built, it still has to be perfect cosmetically... right??? If it arrives ugly, then we can send it back right???

I think this means the replacement 950's will probably be refurbished, not new.

Yeah.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net