Here's my review on the Outlaw 950. I am not an audiophile so this is completely subjective and non technical. I received my first unit back in mid May. I did not have the hiss issue but I noticed that my unit lacked the low end bass in stereo mode. I even visited Will (discussion board member) to listen to his setup and it sounded better than mine. I started corresponding with Outlaw support and they indicated that they would ship a replacement unit once they started shipping. In the meantime, I hooked up my front preouts through my old preamp to get more lowend ooomph.

I recieved my red-dot unit second week on September. I noticed a slight improvement on stereo sound and a different type of bass. Bass was neither better or worse, just different. Overall, it sounded a little better but still not what I was used to. I have a carver ct-5 stereo preamp and music from this unit sounded much fuller. Another issue I noticed that this unit had a louder hiss compared to my old unit. I could hear the hiss from my sitting position, 8 ft away. I contacted Outlaw and they immediately made arrangements for another replacement unit.

I got my second red-dot unit less than a week after. I went through the same tests again (same CDs and DVDs). This second unit still sounded much better in stereo but still lacked the oomph that i was looking for. Even at maximum bass settings, I only hear thuds rather than thumps. The good thing was that there was no more hiss. Now I was at a dillema whether to tolerate the stereo sound, continue to pass my fronts through my old preamp or buy a different unit. I asked my buddy to bring his rotel over. We went through the same tests. Stereo was way better on the Rotel but we both agreed that HT sounded better on the 950. Since I watch more HT, I didnt see the need to spend an extra 3-400 dollars for the 1066.

I decided to keep the 950 and just continue to use my old preamp. Now another issue came up when I connected the red dot unit to my pre-amp. I hear a really loud hiss through my fronts. It was maybe caused by the new changes they did to this unit, it just became imcompatible with that setup. So guess what the end of this story is? I returned the new red dot unit and kept my first one. I dont hear any hiss in stand alone or using an extra preamp. The carver adds fullness to the stereo sound enough to satisfy my needs. As an added bonus, since the fronts sound fuller and bass is deeper now, HT sounds soooooooooo much more explosive and alive.

Another note. One of the major factors I stayed with Outlaw was the level of support I received from Scott and Mike. They were reponsive, polite and patient. They ship units right away to my surprise because thats just not the kind of support I'm used to in dealing with Internet only businesses. So kudos to those guys!

So sorry about the long post. I just wanted to share my experiences and opinions. Hope everyone has/had a great day!

I ended up relagating my 950 to DSS, VCR and AM/FM duty only. It's really a shame I had to do this. I put my Sony EP9ES Dolby Digital processor back in service, with my Smart CircleSurround box which extracts Dolby EX better, I think, than the same function in the 950. For straight stereo, I run the analog output of my Sony DVD player directly to a very good vacuum tube stereo preamp that is in line with my main left and right speakers. I have to get up to turn a 'real knob' to change the volume, but the sound is as pure as it gets for stereo. The 950 hisses out to about 5 feet in my system, which has very efficeint horn speakers, but I can't hear it at my listening position 15 feet away. The vacuum tube preamp is dead quiet, even with my ear pressed to the tweeter. Progress??

Hi RMBG,


It was great seeing you a few months ago! I'm glad you ended up with a 950 you like. It gets down to which 950 is the best of the bunch.

I can certainly relate. Of the many 950's I have listened to here, no two of them sounded exactly alike. They were similar, but not the same. And as you discovered, some have different ways of hissing, than others.

It's the luck of the draw. If you don't like the one you first get, get another and see if you like it better or not. If it's worse, keep the original.

Enjoy!

Will


[This message has been edited by Will (edited October 02, 2002).]

Soundhound: Ya gotta be kiddin? You paid $900 for DSS, VCR and radio only?
And, I thought I was limiting the 950's use by using it for those funtions plus DVD playback?
I too added a Sony TAP-9000es and Outlaw ICBM for MC bypass music functions....?

Am I understanding properly that all these noise issues are associated with the 'pure' analog inputs?

Or more to the point, does this noise problem affect the 'normal' A->D->A analog inputs and D->A inputs? If not the TAP solution is what I'll look into, but if the digital side is also showing problems I'll need to look elsewhere. Maybe 1066+TAP????

Also, is the noise issue a gain structure problem I could fix with adjustable gain on the amps? I will have adjustable gains there.

Will,

Thanks again for you hospitality. I am currently enjoying my system and will not tinker with it anymore. Passing the fronts through my old preamp is working well for me. Now on to my TV purchase.... :-)

The "noise" or hiss is through all speakers with any source selected. When I turn my unit on and it is on a digital source, such as DVD, with nothing playing, it is quiet. Once I change to analog CD input, the hiss appears. Switching back to DVD does not "re-mute" it and the hiss is still there.

Applejelly,

My 950’s have never displayed that behavior (and I checked in early user days) for the occurrence of hiss activated and sustained across all sources once you pass the initial mute circuitry and have switched into and back out of any analog source. I can flip back and forth all day between D and A inputs.
Never occurs on Digital with mine.

Yeah, well my system is not very typical, and I admit I have rather low standards for the program sources the 950 handles. The 950 replaces a Fosgate Model 3 which went belly up. I don't use DSS or my VCR or radio for any serious listening or viewing. I was just disappointed by the excess noise. I was hoping I could use the 950 for DVD playback, but unfortunately, my old equipment works better at this task, so I pressed them back into service. I've always had the vacuum tube preamp driving my main left and right channels (the preamp is a custom design and build) and always use it for 'pure stereo' playback, which I am very picky about, as it is used as a final quality control step for film music soundtracks I master. I have a button which controls an 8 channel relay switcher which changes the input from the whole system from a HT mode to the output of my mixing console for work duties.

The noise measurements I have done on my unit and Will's have been taken in the analog/DSP mode which seems to be a worst-case mode. That mode is basically using any input, but having the input switched to 'analog' , _not_ 'bypass'. On my unit, having any input switched to 'optical' or 'coaxial' digital input reduces the hiss level quite a bit.