a buddy of mine had a friend who was interested in buying my 1050 receiver. i told him he could have it for $375. it's in very good condition and i thought it was a great deal. another of his friends told him it was an outdated receiver that was at least 7 years old (we know that's not true) and sold him the new yamaha for $600. i wanted to post this so you guys could give him your opinion on the two receivers. look forward to reading the posts. thanks.

i bought my 1050 used 'bout 1 1/2 years ago,i love it,no problems.i power my center and surrounds with it(and don't have to) i do mostly 2-ch listening.$375 is a good price,they have held their value,unlike the competition.
i'll use it till it dies!

not familiar with the yammie,though.

outlaw is the best buy,they have great customer support,and an awesome SALOON!most problems get solved right here.

I've been using my 1050 for about 4 years now and LOVE it! Sure... I'm starting to get upgrade-itis but it's not because I'm unhappy with the 1050. It's just because I'm greedy.

Even when I eventually do upgrade, I'll still be keeping this around for the bedroom or one of my girls. It may be getting a little dated now, but it's still a powerful piece of gear and is a great buy at $375.00 for somone looking to get a receiver.

There may be things with more bells and whistles available, but when you look at the price difference and performance history of the 1050, I'd say it's still a bargain and a worthwhile piece of gear.

There is nothing wrong with the 1050 for home theater if you are using a 6.1/7.1 configuration (avoiding the drop-off problem that occurs in 5.1).

FWIW, I replace my Yamaha with a 1050. The Yamaha had more bell's and whistles and more flexibility but the 1050 sounds better. I used both with an external power amp (Parasound 1200-II 205wpc) for the fronts.

When I eventually upgrade, I will give mine to one of my girls or use it for a bedroom system.

I had a 1050 for about 2 1/2 years. It was quite a nice piece. Before the warranty expired a rear channel went out. I sent it in to get fixed. It cost me $100 CAD for the shipping and border duties. Shortly after the warranty expired the power switch went on the fritz. I didn't think it was worth the cost (shipping both ways and repair costs) to send it in for repair. No local shops were interested in repairing it unless they had schematics.
After some internet research I bought the Panasonic SA-XR50 digital amp for about 1/3 of the cost of the 1050. I'm extremely pleased with the sound. I would have to say my CDs sound as good (if not slightly better) on the Panny as they did with the 1050. Movies are also awesome. The quietness and clarity of the Panny is better than my old 1050. It has more useful current features. The best part if something happens under warranty it won't cost me anything for repairs. If it dies after the warranty (3yrs) I will simply replace with a new model which will have the newest features at that time. Since the initial dollar outlay is low, no big deal. I'm done with buying expensive audio components.

I've owned a 1050 for three years and recently purchased a Yamaha rx-v657. I've always loved the 1050, but I needed component switching and wanted newer DSP formats. I had read a number of very good reviews on the rx-v657 and was looking forward to trying it out.

I arrived on Monday and I let it burn in a few days. The sound at first was lighter than the 1050, and it improved a bit. The bass is firm and taught, punchy even, but you can tell that the 95 watt rating is quite overstated. The amp section isn't as dynamic as the 1050, and there simply isn't any low end below 50Hz. The treble is very sweet, and the upper mid is refined and open. I found that the Yamaha drove 2 channels much better than the Outlaw, but with all channels driven, the outlaw was far superior.

I was pretty upset that the Yamaha didn't sound better than the Outlaw and felt like an idiot for a few days. Then I tried an experiment. I setup the Yamaha as a processor, and the Outlaw as a power amp, sending the 5.1 output via the Yamaha pre-out to the 5.1 input on the outlaw and setting the amp to Direct. It took a little while to get all the cables connected correctly, but the sound is absolutely fantastic. It has the Outlaw's deep low end, high current, and multi-channel dynamics, with the Yamaha's terrific DSP processing modes, sweet treble, and beautifully clear midband and upper bass.

As a preamp/processor, the Yamaha is brilliantly conceived. And as a power amp, so is the 1050. Which makes sense, because mainstream manufacturers always skimp on the amp section of a receiver and focus on the processing - which is what sells receivers in Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. Conversely, Outlaw clear spent their money on the amp in the 1050 and the DSP modes are restrained, even by the standards of 2000, when the receiver was made. But put these two together and you have a fantastic separates setup at bargain prices.

If you still have your 1050, keep it. Go and buy, or just audition, an rx-v657 as a pre/processor. The combination is a nearly perfect balance, at least in my home.

Now I just have to buy a larger AV rack to hold all these big boxes...