The 1050, as you mentioned has several limitations when compared to other current A/V receivers. As I mentioned before, it all comes down to what your requirements are. Based upon your stated needs the 1050 may not be the best fit for you.

I spent several months doing research and demos. I ended up extremely happy with my decision to get the 1050. There are some things that I wish were different, but it meets my needs and sounds great.

Good luck in your decision.

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

The 1050 is an excellent value. I just wanted something better than what I had and something that would pretty much cover the different 5.1's, 6.1's & 7.1's. The processing used by the 1050 is excellent in all modes. It does a decent job even on dts. Try out the eagle's when hell freeze's over dvd. It does an amazing job. The only draw back to the 1050 is the lack of video options. It is a simple matter of buying a video switch box. I highly recommend the 1050. If you pay a low price for all the bells and whistles then where did they cut the cost. In the 1050 they cut it in areas that although nice are not required. The sound of the 1050 is worth the sacrifice of the bell and whistle's provided by others.

take one home...if you don't like it send it back! that's the only way you can tell if you will like it... I LOVE MINE! (1yr later) good luck!

Hi gang. It's been quite a while since I've written anything in this forum. I welcome any comments on this but here is how I see it:

It seems to be human nature to want all the latest options on any given product, but in reality, we rarely use most of them. For the price, the 1050 is still a great deal. It is well built and has power beyond most competitive units that boast a lot more wattage. The sound is excellent (for music as well). For DVD it does both 5.1 and 6.1 very well with nice separation. Set up is easy and the remote is simple to use. For most of us, that's all that is needed.

The main drawbacks I see are that it does not do Pro Logic II (the 1050s PLI is quite effective however), and the remote is not a learning remote. But if DVD is your thing, rather than TV and VHS, then PLII is not such a big deal. And a learning remote is a nice convenience but not a necessity.

So if you need a solid unit with great sound and power, and DVD is your main activity, and you don't care to spend $1000, the 1050 is still a good decision. AND, as folks have said, it has a 30 day return policy.

It all depends on what you want the product to really do for you, given the amount of money you want to pay.

MD

Well, I broke down... and finally purchased a new unit.

Sadly I didn't go with outlaw...

This is what I got. Thanks all for your input. Maybe next one will be from outlaw.

http://www.6ave.com/product.jsp?x=AVR1082

A used 1050 seems to be around $375 and appears to sound comparable or better to all the other $1k or less receivers. So I use the 1050 for my HT needs and have always been happy and am applying the rest of my money on 2-channel. 2-channel preamp, phono, 2-channel amp, TT, DAC, CD. I run center and surrounds into the 1050 as well as a DVD player. This becomes a really affordable HT bolt-on to my music system. I just haven't felt the need to upgrade the 1050 for HT where I'm constantly wanting to tweak the 2-channel.

I find the 1050 simple to operate and the 3803 rather remote oriented and complicated.

Maybe one day I'll update my 1050 to a 950 and Outlaw 5-channel amp but for now I'd rather put that money into a nice external DAC.

I felt I had to jump in once more. I got hold of the Denon 1803 specs, and the more I read it, the more it seems to me that to some degree Denon had Outlaw in their sights when they designed this new(ish) receiver. Consider:

Main "faults" of the 1050; lack of DPL II, no DTS ES, DD EX is proprietary.
Some stengths of the 1050; discrete amplification for each of the six channels, adjustable cross-over points, 5.1 channel inputs, etc.

Guess what? These strong points on the 1050 are all offered on the Denon. Coincidence? The Denon goes on to offer DD EX, DTS ES and DPL II; all things that the 1050 lacks (well, apart from DD EX, kinda). Ladies and Gentlemen, perhaps the "upgrade to the 1050" already exists? :-)

Seriously though, the problem with purchasing the 1050 for me is this. Am I about to spend $500 for a product that arguably had its peak from a HT perspective about two years ago? If I may be able to get a product with similar performance but more current features for the same price, maybe that is enough to supercede the 1050 alone? I've been taking note of various systems on the market, and even the "disposable" $200 HT in a box systems in Target, Wal Mart, et al usually offer DD EX/DPL II. I'm thinking why don't Outlaw do this? It seems to me that economies of scale have come to play for the big guys; they pay Dolby for the "name brand" technology, and can amortize the cost over a line of a dozen or more models and their production volume. Outlaw is stuck with two(?).

The final point that is driving my decision Denon's way is that Tweeter sent me a catalog that has a 1803/Mirage AVS combo package for $1000. I guess I will be heading over there to check that out soon...

“Specs” and “even the "disposable" $200 HT in a box systems in Target, Wal Mart, et al usually offer DD EX/DPL II.”

There is however that last little tiny weenie detail which starts reducing all those seemly limitless features and choices which I tend to stub my toe on.
Sound

AMEN Sister Lena! All the features in the world don't make up for mediocre sound.

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

Personally, regardless of how great the 1050 sounds, I can no longer recommend it without adding a caveat that the 1050 has a problem decoding some DVD's that appears to be unique (see the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets thread). This is especially true for people who are not planning to install a sixth speaker (which eliminates the work around posted in that thread). As I have found out, using the excuse the 1050 sounds better doesn't buy you anything when the kids and spouse point out that other families' systems can play this DVD just fine.

Combining that with the lack of DPL-II support, forces me to conclude that the 1050 is well past its half life as a product and may not be the best available system at its price point.