Ricky:

All products have their compromises, either in parts quality, fit and finish, or features. The designer's job is to create a product that hits the best balance of these compromises for a given price point. The way a product is marketed also plays a huge part in the final cost of a product to the consumer.

Everybody has their own opinions on what aspect of a product is of greatest importance to them. To some, it is the pure performance of the product. To others, it is the look and style of the product. To most it is a combination of both of these.

The Outlaw business model of direct to consumer sales knocks a huge amount off the price right off the bat. The packaging, while very good and substantial, is nowhere as expensive to produce as that of 1/2" thick billet aluminum faceplate products. The electronic circuits inside are to a very high spec, and are generally as good as anything out there.

This is not to say that there are not comprimises - there have to be. The point however is that in the case of the 950, the decisions on where to make the compromises have been made very wisely, and the weight has been given to sonic performance over "features & flash".

Now, this set of priorities may not matter much to you (they probably don't), and there are many other companies out there that will be more than happy to take your money, and in doing so, satisfy your particular needs.

The Outlaw 950 has almost all of the sonic performance of preamps in the $3,000 range. It does not have the titanium anodized faceplate and balanced output connectors they have, but personally this does not matter to me. The only titanium I care about is on the muffler of my motorcycle.

Challenging someone to defend the 950 directly against ("Straight Up") a $3,000 preamp is a pretty pointless exercise in my opinion, about as pointless as defending that my wife as prettier than yours. There's more to life, and precious little time to explore it all.



[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited March 30, 2003).]