Music then HT are my priorities.

Which is your recommendation?

Go for the 1050,use it on your system for 30 days and find out for your self if the 1050 is for you.I have the 1050 and I an very proud.I was going to up grade to the 950,but The 1050 has everything that I need,I use it for music and home theater;(cd & DVD,and Satellite T.V.)I was a proud owner of NAD,but their equipment has been known to have problems....

Just about any question can be answered with, "It depends."

What kind of speakers are you using? How big is the room?

I was looking for a receiver that will drive 4 ohm speakers. All of the receivers I looked at specified 6 ohm minimum (including Marantz 6300 and 7300). The 1050 has an impedance selector that allows for 4 ohm speakers to be connected.

** Disclaimer - The above may or may not have any relationship with reality. **

I understand that NAD recievers have a fan issue problem-- at least the first iteration of the T752/T762 series.

I also understand that MANY recievers from Denon, Marantz, NAD to name a few, have an issue where the first second or so of a song is cut off when using it with a CD player. I believe it's chip based and there's no way around this.

Does the Outlaw reciever have such issues or any deal-breaking quirks?

The 1050 (like all of Outlaw's amp products) has no cooling fan, hence no fan problem.

Basically all home theater processors (including receivers) have to deal with the problem of digital audio signal acquisition -- the process of determining just what format the incoming digital audio signal is in, so that the correct processing can be applied. Using Dolby Digital processing on a stereo PCM signal would not be a pleasant experience. For example, Secrets of Home Theater and Hi Fi recently reviewed the Sunfire Theater Grand III pre/pro (list ...ks]Saloon Links [/i] | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review