other receivers have? (besides an amplifier)

I'm seriously considering this piece, but I'd like to see why I would go with this and not a decent reciver plus the 7100 Amp.

Price Range for comparable Receiver being around the $1000 mark.


[This message has been edited by Hokie99 (edited March 10, 2003).]

....the expensive THX logo?

what's the price range? if you're considering something like the Denon 5803 or Marantz sr9200 (2 that I was considering before ordering the 950 and friends) the only thing you'd gain is S-video -> component conversion... but you'd lose some if you go with the internal amplification.. but either of those would be more expensive than almost any combination you could put together here

[This message has been edited by Unferth (edited March 10, 2003).]

Analog crossover on the 5.1 inputs. No receiver at all has this.

I'm not sure this is a strong plus as implemented.

The obvious one is the flexibility of separates - amps are much more stable technology than the processor, and in any case they are logical candidates for decoupling. If you need more amp, no problem. If you want to get newer processing modes or whatever, no problem.

On the minus side, some have commented on the 950 having a less than perfectly polished user interface and set of 'convenience' features, like relabelable inputs, per-mode trims, etc.

I'm not sure what subset of that the competitive receivers would implement though.

You're saying that the Outlaw has this, but no receiver does. This is for DVD-Audio correct?

That is correct, Kevin is saying that the 950's 6-channel analog input has analog bass management, which receivers will not have. Useful for DVD-Audio and SACD both.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

i tried an onk 898 receiver before the 950 (the first receiver of any kind to ever be in my system).

there was a horrible hiss in the front right speaker with some modes. there was a clicking sound in the sub which, after 2 weeks, spread to the center chanmnel. the 'local authorized service tech' said he didn't have a clue what the cause was, or what to do about it.

the difference with the 950, for me, is that outlaw acknowledges a problem immediately and sets a course to correct it. onkyo didn't even acknowledge that other folks had the same problem i did.

needless to say, i sent it back. i thought it sounded pretty good otherwise, but when i connected the 950, wife, sons, friends...ALL... said the 950 sounded light years better. (same amps, same speakers, same software)

i believe that BM is crucial to dvd-a/sacd. the 950's BM is very accurate and worth at least $100 of the total price.

5 year warranty...from a company that obviously backs it. receiver manufacturers will charge a good bit extra for that sort of extended warranty.

you won't get 'hall', 'church', 'stadium', etc., which is just varying digital delay, or, a REALLY cheesy digital reverb feature.

i'm not sold on ES/EX/circle surround/logic 7...i think, for now, 5.1 is where multi-channel sound is at. price/features/warranty/and SOUND, the 950 is the product of the decade. the icbm is a very close second. i haven't heard any of the multi-channel outlaw amps, but i also believe they are a great value.

Trying to consolidate all the replies, here is what we have so far:

Receivers Advantage

• Up Conversion of S-Video to Component
• THX certification
• DSP modes

Outlaw Advantage

• 6 channel Analog Crossover(including BM) for DVD-A/SACD
• DTS-ES discrete
• crossover freq for individual speakers or for sets of speakers
• 5 year transferrable warranty

I didn't count the separates as a plus because that's pretty much a given. This is good, can we get a few more


[This message has been edited by Hokie99 (edited March 11, 2003).]

Receivers around $1000 will not have upconversion of s-video to component video.

I personally do not consider THX certification an advantage since I prefer to pay for sound quality, not a badge.

The DSP sound modes is also not a good criteria by itself. It is actually how the sound modes are implemented. That is logic 7 is a sound mode as is "hall" but they are in no way equivalent modes or methods.

I didn't really mean thx cert. to be an advantage of recievers

...Am I right in the assertion that THX cert. is just basically a stamp that the device has a fixed 80hz crossover on all channels and has at least some number of watts per channel and probably some kind of distortion or S/N requirements...

Also, don't companies have to pay for the certification? It's just used for a selling point for the uninformed masses at Best-Buy and Tweeter (the latter more-so)

is that the jist of it? or is there something more worth while with it?