I set up my 990/755 over the weekend and wanted to get some quick impressions off before I head out of town for a few weeks.

The outlaw setup replaces my old Yamaha DSP-A3090 amplifier. It runs DefTech 2002s, a 2002 C/L/R, and a pair of BPXs as the surrounds. Per advice from DefTech, the fronts are set to "Large" and subwoofer to off.

Auto Set-up: I have run auto set-up a couple of times and it has worked well in both cases. Measured distances generally were accurate, and I did not experience the issues some have reported with auto-setup. While I have done some tweeking (and might continue to do so when I get back), the auto setup for me was a very positive experience. Any tweeking I will do I suspect will be to refine output and sound of the 2002s' built-in powered sub, which can be touchy and sometimes a bit boomy.

Sound: I tested the audio using a Sony DVP 700P DVD player, with both optical and analog outs hooked up to the 990. Various test CDs were used, including Michel Camilo's "Triangulo", Bruce Springsteen's "Live in NYC" (since I was at both of those shows), and a couple of Telarc classical recordings.

As a general matter, my DefTechs have never sounded better. To my ears, in any sound mode (stereo, bypass, or upsampling) the speakers seem to have opened up and to operate in a more integrated fashion between the bottom and the top (if that makes sense). As a general matter, the soundstage seems broader and deeper. Family and friends who have heard the system all say it is a great improvement over the old set-up.

In terms of the various modes, we also all have a strong preference at this point for upsampling. If I understand correctly, upsampling is supposed to remove the "brick wall" at the upper end on CDs. If so, the 990 seems to do this well. With upsampling, the higher range seems brighter, with more depth and detail than in either stereo or bypass mode. No doubt some of this also reflects the fact that the Sony DVD player is not a high-end CD player, and so the 990 might inherently make it sound better, but the bottom line is that all who listened preferred upsampling with the 990 over any other listening mode.

Video/DVDs: Have not spent much time on the video side. I have hooked up the Sony DVD and Tivo to the 990 as a video switcher (largely because I do not want to run a bunch of cables from the a/v rack to the television -- A 40-inch Sony XBR700 HDTV). The DVD player is hooked up using the its component outputs, Tivo using S-video, and the 990 is hooked up to the television using the component out.

The switching works well and the picture from either the DVD or TIVO at first glance seems as good or better than before.

As to sound, running a couple of DVDs (including The Incredibles and various Pierce Brosnan James Bond films), again, the 990/755 combo blew away my old Yammie. Sound seemed more focused and distinct, and the sound envelope more encompassing. Although the LFE inputs are not hooked up, with the fronts set to "large" there was plenty of action from the subwoofers -- enough to shake the room without being too boomy or overwhelming. I need to spend more time with DVDs for a better sense of how everything goes together, but so far I remain impressed.

That is not to say I don't have a few nitpicks. As others have noted, these two pieces are huge, and getting them into a BDI Vector 9522 took some effort. I ended up having to put the 990 on the very top, and getting some right angle adapters for the 755 at the very bottom.

Another nitpick is that so far, as reported by Brent Butterworth, every time I play a DVD, I find the default sound for the Sony DVD play switches back to "DPLIIx Movie", even though I previously had set it to "Upsample" for playing CDs. Perhaps this can be fixed in a firmware update.

I will try to get out some other impressions at a later date, including SACD and DVD-A sound when I hook up a universal player (yet to be purchased).

In any event, I hope as a newbie reviewer that these comments are helpful to those who are on the waiting list or thinking about purchasing the 990. From my perspective, its a keeper!

Bob

Thanks for the excellent report, Bob. As to your issue with the DVD input mode switching back to PLIIx, I can offer an immediate solution that may help you. It's what I've been doing for several years now, both with the Model 950 that I had previously and now with the 990. I set up the CD input to use the digital input from my DVD player (the same input that is assigned to my DVD input), and then set the CD input up to always play in upsample mode while leaving the DVD input in surround.

Thanks for the compliment and for the fix, gonk. I have read your comments/reviews for some time now and much appreciate all of the knowledge you share on the forum.

Bob

Excellent! Thanks for the review Bob.
A question about how you connect your 2002s; have you ever used the LFE or Full Range inputs? I'm just wondering if they have any benefit in addition to the standard speaker cable connection.

Thanks,
Asim

Asim -- I originally set up the 2002s using the LFE input and the spekaers set to "small" (advised to by my dealer). But after reading several boards, people tended to advise the setup I have now. I checked with DefTech, and Chet Pelkowski. I quote extensively from him below, as this may help you. He gives 2 options:

"First, you could connect the front left and right speaker outputs on your receiver to the mid and high speaker connectors on your front left and right BP2002s. You would then remove the jumpers between the mid and low speaker posts on your BP2002s and connect an RCA cable from the front left and right pre-amp outputs on your receiver to the full range low level inputs on your front left and right BP2002s. With this hook up method, I would set your receiver to large front speakers and no subwoofer. Your receiver will combine the bass from the front left or right channels with the bass from the .1 LFE bass channel and send "both signals" together through the front left and right pre-amp outputs to your BP2002s. (This should work well.)

(With this first hookup method, instead of connecting your front left and right pre-amp outputs to your towers, you could connect your towers with only one set of speaker wires and leave all the gold jumpers in place between the high, mid, and low speaker terminals on your towers.)

Second, you could connect the front left and right speaker outputs on your receiver to the mid and high speaker connectors on your front left and right BP2002s. You would then remove the jumpers between the mid and low speaker posts on your BP2002s and connect an RCA cable from the front left and right pre-amp outputs on your receiver to the full range low level inputs on your front left and right BP2002s. (This is exactly like the "first" hook method I described.) You could, however, also connect the "sub out connection" on your receiver to the "Optional LFE" connection on each BP2002. If you have only one "sub out connection" on your receiver, I'd use a "Y" connector to connect this subwoofer signal to each BP2002. With this hook up method, I'd recommend setting your processor to large front speakers and subwoofer to "on" or "yes".

With this "second" hook up method, the amplifier in your BP2002s will combine the bass from the .1 LFE bass channel and the bass from the front left and right channels. The amplifier used in the subwoofer combines or
sums both signals. This hook up method would allow you to control the
volume of the built in subwoofers from the remote of your receiver. (This assumes your receiver has a separate volume control for its subwoofer or LFE
output.)

Honestly, the sound quality from both hook up methods will be about the same. The only advantage to running a separate LFE subwoofer cable to the "Optional LFE" connection on each BP2002 would be the possibility of controlling the subwoofer's volume from your receiver's remote control.

(I'd recommend setting your receiver to large front speakers with either hookup method."

Sorry for the long post -- hopes this helps. In any event, if you like your DefTechs now, I suspect you will love them with an Outlaw Combo.

Bob

nice review bob

Bob,

Thanks for the very helpful info. It was just what I was wondering. Now all I need to do is save up for the Outlaw combo.

-Asim

I also have the 755 and 990. I was in a bit of a quandary about what to do with 2-channel audio since I have a Monarchy DIP "jitter buster" that I like to use with my transport. So...as mentioned above, I used both the optical out (for DVDs) and the coax out (connected to the CD input on "upsample" for 2-channel stereo). It works great!

I haven't really been able to exercise the system yet since my Maggies are still in transit and my Dahlquist DQ-20i's are a bit long in the tooth. My initial impressions of the sound quality are favorable. It's not as good as the Adcom GFA-5802 that I had been using for 2-channel use, but then again, the 755 isn't nearly as expensive either.

My biggest problem seems to be seemlessly integrating the dual LFM-1's into the system without getting any boominess. But I suppose that can wait until the Maggies get here.

Finally, one last nitpick....the 990 is WAY too big. I have a pretty generous LOVAN rack system and it wouldn't fit. The 755 fits nicely.

Best regards,

ritz,
although i don't own a 990(1050) i do own a monarchy DIP between my CAL delta and sigma II.
that is my "tap" for spdif from 'puter.i hear the most drastic improvement there!

you are the first OUTLAW i've heard from that owns one!they made several versions,do you have the same?

here is mine.

Paint,

No, my DIP looks a lot different (physically) from yours. I bought it about 4 years ago. It's the 24/96 version. I've never tried using it between the computer and sound system (as a matter of fact, I've never tried connecting my computer to my sound system at all). 8-)

Cheers,