Fellow Outlaws:

I am writing after a great deal of reflection. I figure that most of us will never get the chance to do a side-by-side comparison of the Outlaw gear against the Anthem. I hope this information is helpful. If you want to cut to the chase, please read on the last few paragraphs. Finally, describing sound quality is like describing the color blue!. I will do my best but it’s very subjective and hard to convey. On to the shootout.

Tonight, I took my Outlaw 950 and 770 to a local audio dealer to do a head-to-head shootout against the Anthem AVM20 and MCA-50.

A little background...

I had been a waitlist member since January 20th. As such, I had had a long time to build my excitement about the 950/770 value/performance proposition. I had participated in the Forums and extolled Outlaw's virtues to my friends. I had been very patient despite a great deal of exasperation. When Outlaw finally started shipping product again, I was one of the first on the list.

When I finally received the 950/770, it was Christmas all over again. I gleefully opened the boxes and set about hooking up the equipment. I used decent interconnects and speaker cables (Monster) as well as a couple of homemade CAT5 speaker cables for my two fronts.

After using my Radio Shack sound meter and a tape measure to configure my system. I proceeded to put the Outlaw gear through its paces. I started with the Matrix lobby and helicopter scenes, and followed that with the mid-air collision scene from Fight Club (a good scene due to its sudden, sustained peak and sudden drop to near silence.) Finally, I watched Amelie, for its subtlety and nuance. In 5:1, the movies sounded okay. I found that the Outlaw gear lacked a certain clarity and coherence. I wasn’t sure of my ears but I gave it the benefit of the doubt.

I then tried a couple of CDs. First, Diana Krall. Generally, the audio quality of her recordings is very good. She usually is a part of a quartet or trio. As a result, the soundstage has the potential to present very defined placement of instruments and distinct clarity. I listened in both bypass and 5-stereo. I both cases, I was very disappointed. The sound was flat and mushy and the soundstage was very muddled. Listening to an Alana Davis CD (more rock pop), I still didn’t find the clarity I had expected. Finally, I put on a Colin Hay CD. Simple acoustic music. Again, not happy.

I thought, “Okay. After all this time, maybe I have become hyper-critical (al la the discussion of hiss, IMHO.) I need to have a basis for comparison. So I called an Anthem dealer in Silicon Valley and asked if I could bring in the Outlaw gear for a shoot-off. He was gracious enough to agree.

I arrived at the dealer, and carried in my 90+ pound 770 and the 950. First we listened to the Anthem gear. Just as an aside, the Anthem had not been optimized for either the speakers or their placement in the room. Diana Krall came first. The imagining and soundstage was clear and real. She sounded like she was in the room. I could close my eye and place both her piano and the microphone. Every nuance of the drummer’s work on the cymbals and snare was immediately apparent (I’m a drummer, by the way.) When we put on Colin Hay’s CD, I could hear him fingering the strings of his guitar. I could also place him in the recording space.

Okay, I though, the Anthem sounds good in two channel music. What about Dolby 5:1. As a movie test, we placed Shrek in the DVD player. We chose the dragon scene (rescue the princess). The sound was clear and crisp, with excellent separation. I was impressed.

The Anthem now had me worried. I had been waiting for the Outlaw gear so long that I didn’t want it to compare unfavorably. But my ears don’t lie…

On to the Outlaw test.

I hooked the Outlaw 950 up using the same cables, amplifier, speakers and source components. We started the testing with the same scene from Shrek. The 950 did not compare! The soundstage was mushy and incoherent. The highs were flat and the lows were muddy. I expected the 950 to shine in a head-to-head movie test. It didn’t.

On to music… I used the same Diana Krall CD as a sample. The Outlaw sounded flat and lifeless. The cymbals were mushy and the soundstage was incoherent. Again, no comparison to the Anthem.

I then hooked up the 950 with the 770 just to make sure that there wasn’t a mismatch of some kind between components. It actually got worse.

Someone I don’t know heard the two demos as well. He agreed that the Outlaw gear simply didn’t compare. It was unanimous. We all heard the difference

The Results?

Well, it is with a very heavy heart that I tell you that I am returning the Outlaw gear tomorrow. The Anthem AVM20 and MCA 50 combination buried the Outlaw 950/770 pair with neither last rites nor a funeral. I desperately wanted to believe that Outlaw was the way to go. But, after this experience, the old axiom still applies:

You get what you pay for!

The Anthem gear combination costs twice as much. If you have the wherewithal, buy the Anthem. You will not regret it!

Regretfully (soon to be a former Outlaw),
Santa Clara Jim


[This message has been edited by santaclarajim (edited October 03, 2002).]

You say before you went to the dealer to listen to the Anthem, you found the Outlaw gear lacked a certain clarity and coherence.

How did your 950 compare to whatever you were listening before you bought your 950?

Will,

That's a good question. My original amplifier is a 1976 Harmon Kardon (45W) paired with a Denon CD player.

I had listened to many CDs through that combo. The Diana Krall CD is one of my favorites so I figured it would be a good basis for comparison. The speakers (JBL S312s) were the same ones that I paired with the Outlaw. The HK sounded much warmer and the soundstage was also more apparent.

I didn't think to add the original system components to my post. I didn't want to list equipment. That's not my real interest. As a musician, I really try to focus on the sound. I thought the Outlaw would be a real step up. I was wrong.

The Anthem just sounds better.

Regards,
Santa Clara Jim

P.S. I haven't bought the Anthem combo yet. I've got to come to terms with the purchase price first. Know what I mean?



[This message has been edited by santaclarajim (edited October 03, 2002).]

Geez, Jim, you mean to tell me the dealer actually perferred his equipment over something he doesn't sell? What's this world coming to? By the way, if you are really paying only 2x as much for the Anthem stuff over the Outlaw- that might be a real deal!

Steve,

The dealer was actually pretty cool. Unfortunately, customers and staff alike reached the same conclusion.

As for the price, $5,000 is STILL $5,000. It's just hard to see it as a bargain. Still, you're probably right.

Regards,
Santa Clara Jim

Jim:

Your comparason was interesting. When I was at Will's house, I immedately noticed the Outlaw's 'sonic signature', even though I was not listening for it, nor expecting to hear one. I am on the more objective side of the fence, but when I hear a difference, I hear one, and that's that. Please do keep us posted on your future experiences with the Anthem (assuming your wife doesn't kick you out of the house for spending all that money!) In that case you can always stay here, but bring the Anthem!!!

Yes, let's see if we can figure out why on your old HK, the soundstage was more apparent than on the Outlaw 950.

In your old set up, when you listened to the Diana Krall CD, was it going through any pre/pro at all?

Will,

There was no pre/pro in my old setup. The Denon CD player fed directly into the intergated pre-amp/amplifier. Analog input in for both configurations. Same cables, as well. I used the Denon's DAC to decode the CD.

I tried the 950 in bypass and processor mode. It didn't do justice to the recording.

Regards,
Santa Clara Jim

Jim,

Do you remember the name of the HK integrated pre-amp/amplifier? Also do you still have it? And lastly, did you use a subwoofer setting when you played Diana Krall through your HK integrated pre-amp/amp, and did you use a subwoofer when you played Diana Krall in your 950, using the 950's bypass mode?

Will,

The HK is a model A402. Yes, I still have it. As for using a sub with it, ummm...it's so old, it doesn't even know what a subwoofer is.

I listened to Diana Krall through the 950 with and without the subwoofer. I would like to say that I left the sub off intentionally. However, I forgot to press the power switch for the first few days. Oops!

I tried the CD in both processor and bypass modes through the 950

Hope that helps.

Regards,
Santa Clara Jim