dear mr. hound,

for service far above and beyond the call of duty, i nominate you for the outlaw hall of fame (in my book, gonk is already a member and needs no such nomination).

though hiss is not an issue in my system, i'm sure this is great news for those in whose it is. thanks to outlaw for backing my claims about them as a company.

now...where's this big brother?

I second the nomination to Outlaw Hall of Fame!

I can't wait to get the "less hiss" fixed one!

---------------------------------------------
Thank you Mr. Soundhound...
After reading your commentary, it makes sense that RF interference would be the cause of the bulk of my minor hiss problem. The power conditioner also isolates components to filter out any inter-device coupling (I understand that some CD & DVD players can be a source of this). Anyway, in my case it had a very noticeable effect on sound quality.

Thanks again... Happy Holidays!

Bosso & Zak:

Gee, shucks guys! Thanks for the kind words!

Now how about a pitcher of margaritas to back up those kind words

I just received my new 950 today. How do I know if it is the no latest model?

My new 950 had no red or blue dots in the serial number as a clue. The serial number was prefixed by "02-" verses "01-" on my old 950, if that means anything.

I would simply listen to your 950. If it sounds quiet to you, then that is what counts. Of course, you might give Outlaw a call, and ask them about it.

Another clue would be to raise and lower the master volume control: on the new 950, the level of hiss will _obviously_ increase and decrease as you turn the knob full clockwise and full counter-clockwise.

If the unit is replacing a previous 950, the difference will be obvious in that the new 950 will be way louder for a given volume setting than the old 950, assuming the trims have not been re-calibrated on the new unit.

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited December 20, 2002).]

I had an older 950 before exchanging it for a red dot 950. The red dot 950 was quieter by about 4 db or so, when set to the same settings. So, what I did to compensate on the red dot was bump up the trim on every single channel. This worked for me since the maximum volume on the red dot didn't quite slam enough for me, otherwise.

There may be a different (less severe) volume/trim adjustment needed for an original 950 than for a red dot 950, if either is replaced by a SH hiss fixed version of the 950.

[This message has been edited by Will (edited December 20, 2002).]

I like! And, potentially just in time for Christmas for some of us...

AGA: filters, ground blockers, etc, made no difference on the hiss from the 950 in my system. I tried AC from my wall outlet, vs an Equitech balanced power unit (some of the best noise filtration you can get), and made no difference.

Helps with ground loop "buzz", but not hiss.

soundhound,
i forgot to ask...does the 'fix' change the sound characteristics of the 950 in any way, that you heard?

Bosso:

About the only change I can hear is one I also heard on the prototype: it sounds a bit more 'spatial', in that it seems to have a more open and 'big' soundfield. Tonally, it sounds very, very good. In stereo, I have a switch where I can directly A/B the 950/DVD combination (optical input to the 950) to a direct feed from the excellent DACs in my DVD player (bypassing the 950 entirely). I can hear absolutely no tonal difference in my system when doing this. Given the details of that was changed in the new 950, this makes sense.

I'd be very curious to the reactions of the others who get the new unit about sound changes.

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited December 21, 2002).]