in my humble opinion, the "short skirted girls" were much cuter than Peter! :rolleyes: Anyhow, they were hostesses in the Cinepro/Silicon Optix room. Cinepro's Demo was louder & something like three to four times more expensive than Outlaw's, as for better ... well, besides Outlaw, they were the only other demo I sat through where they explained up front I was going hear and what I should be trying to distignuish. Silicon Optix HQX demo was *very* impressive ... I want that chip in my display!

Just my two cents worth,

The new Outlaw 990 has an digital upsampling feature, so I am interested to learn how it performs on CD's relative to the Stereo Bypass Mode. I have a Panasonic DVD / DVD-A player (which upsamples CD's to 88.2 kHz/24bit before converting to analog output), and use the Outlaw 950 Stereo Bypass Mode for all two channel music listening. Bypass Mode is significantly better, which seems to imply that the Panasonic DAC's and/or circuits are superior to those in the 950.

Using the Outlaw 990 digital input would allow full use of the base management features, which would be a real advantage. So, if there are any Deperados, Gunslingers or Outlaws that have evaluated the digital upsample performance of the 990 relative to Bypass Mode, please share your observations. Thanks ...

Allan

I'll get on it Agassarsson, as soon as I get home with the unit, unfortunately, this is still a month away (an eternity). Maybe SFOX7076 will be able to give you indications sooner. For my part, I'll compare the 990 phono input to my Creek phono stage as well as test the digital upsampling relative to the bypass mode. I own three different CD players and two dvd players(I can't throw anything away), I think I'll be able to give you a few insights altough I am not an expert.

I will try my Arcam CD73T as a transport tonight. I will use the optical digital connection to do it. I have never really used digital coax because I always have had optical cables lying around. I will let you know. I know it upsamples all digital in the front two channels. The sound from my cable box on the HDTV show TrueMusic was intense compared to what my NAD T763 was. But the NAD is also garbage compared to this setup. Oh, and the name is Shawn...

Thanks TheFront and Shawn!
My wife is from Canada, and she worked at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC. Let me know if you are in town, and I will give you a tour... You can choose the sights, food, sound or the best Hockey bars in town. Some of the best NHL games I ever saw were between Les Nordiques de Québec and Montreal...

Allan

And the third winner is:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=535668

Congrats to the winners - got me pumped up even more to get the unit. Does Outlaw need help unloading the ship?

Sorry Shawn, I should've seen your signature at the bottom of the first message. I hope that the pressure to be the first in the world to give feedback on the new unit is not too much. I'm glad I did not have to break the ice.

If your NAD unit is garbage relative to your new 990/770 pairing, how will I describe my 1991 sagx-505 Technics receiver to my new Outlaw/Adcom setup ?

Playing your Arcam with 990/770 will surely sound like sonic heaven.

Hello Alan,

Thanks for the invite. I recently got a good dose of Washington and the Canadian Embassy because of my job. Didn't see the hockey bars but saw plenty of the Nationals, our former Expos. Good luck with your new team. For my part, I plan to drown my sorrows in music with my new 990...

I'll let you know how it works out.

Michel

Well, the arcam and the 990 are not that different sound wise. Which I think is a good thing. I must say I do like the arcam a bit more for vocals, but that may also be the arcam having been burned in for a month or more. I really cannot say there is a huge difference.

The pre-amp is 7 3/4 including the feet.

I listened to an HDCD, if any of you hoped that it would do HDCD, it doesn't, but that isn't surprising really. No one really uses it anymore. After further listening, here are my thoughts on it versus the Arcam. I had originalyl been listening to the Josh Ritter album "Golden Age of Radio" which has a kind of Alt-Country feel. It reproduced his voice in a way that was very similar to Arcam. However Josh doesn't get into the high register very much. Then I listened to a few other rock cds and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. I just put George Gershwin in the Arcam and I must say I am not conflicted as to what way to listen to the CD. I have to confess that the one disappointment I have had with the Arcam has been its ability to reporduce bass. The highs are so open and clean that it is hard not to feel like Tom Yorke is next to you when you listen to Radio, but it just doesn't get there when it needs to hit the lows. I listen to everything on tone defeat. Well, the Arcam is more open in the higher register. The flutes and piccalo's in Rhapsody in blue are more transparent to my ear from the arcam, but there is the Outlaw creates noticably more bass than the Arcam does. This is a Hobsons choice, or it was until I discovered the upsampling mode in analog. Finally, I need to have two disclaimers. The CD player retails for $699, it is one of the better CD players in that price range and has impressed me at every turn. And I have had the Outlaw in use for about 4 hours, plus I have the unit they actually used at the show, which was used for 2 days. It needs more time I am sure. As does the 770, which was only used at the show as well... Finally, in all of this, I forgot to tell you what speakers I have. Paradigm Studio 60 v.2's in the front, Studio 20 rears, a Studio Center v2 and Hsu VTF-2 as a subwoofer.