Hey Outlaws,

I was wondering what people owned before 'upgrading' to the Outlaw 990?

My previous pre-amps included the Sherwood Newcastle AVP-9080R and Sony TA-E9000ES. The Sony was a definite improvement over the Newcastle, but I still believe the Newcastle is a noteworthy DTS decoder considering price vs. performance. Neither of them is considered hi-end, but are decent entry-level HT pre's.

I am especially interested in hearing from those who have owned the ELITE $$$$ brands such as Proceed, Lexicon, Meridian, Linn, Tag McLaren, Anthem, etc. but still found happiness with Outlaw.

Look forward to hearing about your experiences

Onkyo TX-SR501 6 Channel 65W Receiver with DD/DTS/PII.

I am on the other end of your ELITE $$$$ spectrum. I went with 990/7125 combo, and I am extremely happy.

-Rob

My 990 replaced an Outlaw Model 950. Like many 950 and 990 owners, the Outlaw processors have been a cost-effective means for me to get into surround processors without blowing the budget - many 950 and 990 owners are the folks who could only admire Lexicon, Meridian, and others of that price bracket from afar. This thread by DarthSimon may be of interest to you - Simon has experience with the Outlaw 950, Lexicon MC-1, and Outlaw 990. Jcmccorm also did a comparison between the 990, 950, and AVM-20 (described in this thread and the original AVS thread ).

Like Gonk, I owned a 950 before the 990. I was an early adopter of both units.

The 950 was my first multichannel processor. I had been on vintage Carver gear (C1 preamp, m500 amplifier) on a 2-channel setup for years before. I was still using the amp (and had bought another one) with my 950. I'm chomping at the bit for the new 200Wx7 channel Outlaw amp to hit the market. My room is almost done and I'm trying to hold out to get the newer amp.

Audiolib, I currently own the AVP-9080, and have been considering an upgrade to the 990. Could you do a short comparison of the two? I'm particularly interested in the channel separation and steering effects. The 9080 doesn't seem to be doing the best job it could for me anymore, and I'm wondering what kind of improvement I could expect from the 990.

Thanks in advance,

Scott

Although I liked the AVP-9080, it really showed it's shortcomings once I got the Sony TA-E9000ES. The Sony was more detailed and open, with much more flexibility than the Newcastle as far as setting crossover frequencies and delay settings. As far as DSP modes goes, the Sony has almost too many choices. Like many others, I don't care about church, hall, stadium modes because most manufacturers do them so poorly. The Cinema EX modes and Virtual 6.1 of the Sony were my favorites depending on the movie being played. As I recall, the Newcastle had less options, but was also less configurable.

I tried a Lexicon MC-1 recently and it outperformed the Sony significantly, but not as dramatically as the Sony over the Newcastle. Specifically, the Lex had better channel steering and gave a more being there presentation which I preferred. Everyone in the family noticed except my wife... ole stone ears.

The other thing that the Newcastle lacked was auto-DTS recognition. I got tired of having to switch to DTS on the pre-amp when playing a DTS soundtrack - and you couldn't do it from the remote. For music, the Sony is much better as well. In 2-ch mode, the TA-E9000ES is invisible, but exhibits a slight hiss in multi-ch.

I just ordered my 990 tonight. I hope it is as quiet as I've read. I'm looking forward to moving up to 7-ch and lowering my noise floor even futher.

Not owning the 990 myself yet, I hesitate to give advice. With that disclaimer in place, I not be the least bit surprised that the 990 would be a significant upgrade over the Newcastle. Pull the trigger. I did!

I'm definitely thinking of buying it, but I'll anxiously be waiting for your review once you get your 990. Please keep us updated!

Scott

My 990/Lexicon CX7 replaced my 950/Rotel RB985 setup. Before that I had an Adcom GTP-740 hooked up the Rotel.

I then replaced the Kenwood 7080 receiver I had in the bedroom with the 950/Rotel. Nothing like having a full blown 5.1 separates system in your bedroom

I was running an EAD Ovation-8.The problem was in stereo mode it ran full range to the mains and disregarded the small speaker setting.That was the audiophile way to preserve the signal path.

The 990 has PLII and is just a newer unit.Plus the extra money from the EAD sale got me a new mini-DV camcorder.

I used and Adcom 555 II preamp for the mains and a Yamaha DSp-e492 for the center and surrounds. The same Adcom power amps (555-II and 545-II) are still being used with the 990 and sound amazing.