Hi Everyone,
While This is my first post to the forum, but I've been reading it on a weekly basis for over a year now.

I need help deciding. I currently own an HK-525 receiver with the Klipsch flagship RF7 speakers which sounds great by the way. But, I need to upgrade to separates, I'm trying to decide between the Outlaw 990/770, Anthem AWM30/MCA50, NAD T163/T973 or the Aragon Stage one/2007.

I'm more 90% music(7.1) and 10% Movies.

-How does the Oulaw 990/770 combo stand up againts the mentioned combos above (Forget about the best bang for the buck)? (I mean soundwise, specially music wise)

-Did anyone in here is using Klipsch speakers with Outlaw? Is it a good match?

-Will the 990/770 sound better than a receiver such as the HK 7300?(Forget about the advantage in power in favor of the Oulaw combo)

I haven't heard the Outlaw combo yet, but I heard the Anthem combo and it sounds great, but does the Anthem combo really worth $2000 Canadian more than the Outlaw combo?

TIA

i ve owned the hk 7300 .. a nice piece but you will be happier with the outlaws .. your klipsch ref will sound great .. outlaw amps are neutral and will not get your klipsch too bright .. the 7300 is nice dont get me wrong .. but i think they have too much going on in one box.... HK wont givce you all you want out of your klipcsh .. hk ;s are very warm good for B&W paradigm etc.. the outlaws will show you what your klipsch are made of ..

NAD is still having trouble getting into the prepro world .. they have alot of bugs... anthem great set but imo not worth the $1000 's more than outlaw .. aragon i cant say..

oh and i have used ATI amps with klipsch .. great ... ati makes outlaws amps .. cannot go wrong.. with you being 90% movies you'll notice a ton of difference between separates,, and one boxers (recievers),,

I use the 990, 7100 and the Klipsch KG4.5's, RC-3, RS-35's... Sounds good to me, and a step above in audio clarity than the Sony 4ES I was using for a pre-amp prior. I set the tone to Bass +4 and Trebel +1, but that might be too much bass for the RF-7's.

Now if I could just prevent "The Matrix" from popping out the backs of the speakers, I would be ok. I had to open one of them so far, and use liquid nails to fix the back. When Trinity is first seen in the first movie, and she does the first slow-mo leap, the backs of the KG's came loose...

Thinking of replacing them with Onix Rockets RS1000's...

Jester - Ae you serious about blowing the backs off? Do you mean the actual cabinet or the drivers? Do you have a subwoofer?

Anyway I went from Klipsch RF-3's to Rockets (750) and now have the RS1000s. The Rockets are about as different sonically as you can get from the Klipsch. I would recommend you try to audition the Rockets if you haven't already before you buy. I should also point out that the cabinet quality of the Rockets is in a totally different league then the Klipsch.

I blew the backs off (broke the back free of the glue in sections) of the cabinet itself. I had the crossover set to 40, but now have it at 60. I do have a sub, but wanted to distribute the bass.

I'm surprised that no one can tell whether this thing sounds better than a receiver.

Is this 990 sounds better than an Harman Kardon receiver? Please, I really need to know since I'm in the market to upgrade my HK525 receiver. I'm in Canada, so buy and return will cost me too much.

It's difficult to simply compare it to "a" receiver, since there's also an amp to consider. Would the 990 and 770 combo sound better than a receiver in the class of the HK525? I think it is safe to say "yes" to that, even though I haven't actually done a direct comparison between the two.

My question and its probably been addressed before , is what I will get over my 950. I am using a 950/ATI 2505/1502 in my new theater. With my recent purchase of a JVC HX2, I cant help for wondering how DVI switching would look as opposed to component switching. My installer says its unlikely that you will see a difference. I am only running satelite and DVD(with up conversion) into the projector. The picture is fanastic on HD and the more reference quality DVDs. Just trying to convince myself that a "990" will give me that much nore than the "950". I do listen to DVD audio, but, again, the 950 seems to do the job fine.Maybe when we get DVD HD/Blue Ray it would make a difference.The price sure is good, as I once thought I would get a ATI 8500 to match my amps...

Since you say you need separates I suggest you might try an amp first. Here and other forums indicate the amp may make the bigger difference in sound quality and loudness.

I have a Denon 3805 receiver and am pleased with it. I have M200 monos on order to see if they make a difference. I have Axiom M80ti 4 ohm speakers rated at 92 and 400 watts.

Check the amplifier feedback sections for more on amplifier benefits.

If you are updating your receiver for newer features, then look for the features you want. If they are on a receiver, buy the receiver. If a pre/pro then but it.

I like the features on my 3805, but I could have bought a 2805 with the same features and used an amp for power. That's what I would do today. Buy a mid grade receiver (3-500.00 refurbed) and an amp 1-2000.00. As features change, I can upgrade pre/pro/receiver later.

Seperates are considered to have better sound because amps are high power devices and preamps are not. By seperating the power supplies and circuitry of both requirements you are supposed to get less interference and distortion. In reality a good receiver can have just as low or better distortion than a amp/pre-amp combo. So it would be hard to say the 990 has better sound than the Harmon Kardon.

In my opinion if comparing a pre-amp to a high quality receiver the "better" sound you get from separates is due to the fact that dedicated amps have more power than those built into receivers. Even THX Ultra receivers (about $4,000) are rated at 130 or 170 Watts and these ratings are NOT all channels driven simultaneously. So you are probably only getting about 70 watts per channel all driven. The cheapest outlaw amp can do 100 watts all channels driven simultaneously. Get that amp and the 990 and you are in the low 2k range, well under the range of high end receivers and with much more power and flexiblity. And plenty of power gives you plenty of volume without reaching clipping or distortion levels. Even if you dont play with a lot of volume a sudden loud sound from a movie (like an explosion) can temporarily put your receiver at distortion levels or cause clipping.

Another advantage of separates is the ability to upgrade only your pre-amp instead of the whole setup.

Receivers have the advantage of not requiring interconnects between amp and pre-amp and usually having the latest features before they reach the pre-amp world.

Bugbitten makes a good point. If your reciever has pre outs you can get an amp and see what type of improvements you get. It should be noticeable.

In terms of the 990 sounding better than the 950 some people claim it sounds slightly "warmer" or more "musical". I believe they sound the same. And even if there is a "slight" difference that some people can notice it is not the "that much more" you are referring to. It is my opinion that if you are going to upgrade your 950 you will probably want to do it for the features.

My Denon literature says 120WPC all channels equal power. Is that not the same?

What Denon does, like most receivers, is list what all the channels are capable of seperately as they don't say driven at the same time. The Denon 3805 (just guessing that is what you have since they list it a 120WPC) puts out about 77WPC with all channels driven simultaneously.

That is all channels capable of producing 120W, but it doesn't say 120W with all channels driven to that level at the same time.

I will be suprised if you don't hear a difference. I had Axioms and 3805 too and they really came to life with the addition of separate amps.

Got one amp today so I will try center speaker test.

Posted my thoughts at "200 feedback"

Somehow I knew you would say that!
Wait till you hear the M80's

More is better!