I just sent this email to Robert's for sale listing:

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Finally upgrading to an Outlaw 990?
You won't be disappointed!
Enjoy,

1lonster
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:-) :-0 :-0

Lonster, that's funny! Let us know what his response is.

Heh.

I will, if he does.

Pete,
I am an NAD fan, and considered the NAD T163 before I got a 990. I think the T163 was missing some feature that I considered a deal-breaker...I think it was video conversion. And the balanced outputs of the 990 are nice too (I just use the subwoofer balanced out for a long run to my subwoofer).

Hey thanks! I don't use most of the features. I run video direct to TV.

Music is 85% for me.

Yet here you are stomping on 3 companies, and I'm willing to bet you've never seriously compared the AVM, Parasound, or P-9 (or P-8) to the 990.

To me its foolish ownership pride taken to an extreme level.

I own Arcam equipment, Martin Logan speakers, and an Outlaw sub. I even have some outlaw cables.

I have actually taken part in a blind test with people with a 990, P-8 (now replaced by the new P9), AVM30, and a NAD T163.

A Bel Canto amp was used (don't know why) and some really nice PSB speakers.

We had 9 people. All 9 people had a tough time discerning the AVM and the 990, as they almost tied, with the AVM just edging it by one person's opinion. This happened with both stereo music playback and both Dolby and DTS movie playback.

The NAD on the otherhand came in 2nd, and it wasn't by a whole lot, but it was more than "slightly," better, I'd say almost significantly. This was for music playback, and the NAD fell into the pack with movie playback.

So you could safely say that for Movie playback the NAD, Anthem, and Outlaw were pretty much dead even.

The Arcam on the otherhand won out without one person ever saying it wasn't the best on any part of the tests. The difference between the lot was significant. Movie playback sounded far more spatial. It was easily the biggest difference between two pieces I'd heard in years. Its why I bought an Arcam.

I would TOTALLY expect that from a Pre-Pro that costs nearly FIVE TIMES the Outlaw. I put some thought into the Outlaw and NAD, but the final decision came down to the fact that once I'd heard what the Arcam was capable of, I didn't want anything less. Call it 25% better, but 5 times the cost... and I judged the difference worth it. I just moved my budget around by getting said outlaw sub and some other changes.

We also did a Receiver test, and Arcam came in 1st and 2nd with their 2 receivers. Again without any form of competition except in the form of the Denon 3805 which competed well with the 250, but the 300 by Arcam won every test.

We did have an Outlaw, but it was the original Outlaw receiver, and it came in dead last, and I didn't think anything of it, and neither did anyone else. However out Outlaw guy insisted we see how it stood up.

What amuses me is that there are people who actually think that Outlaw is trying to get into the Arcam market. I seriously doubt that you could even find an Outlaw employee who would even say they are competition.

Outlaw is a very smart alternative to the NAD, Anthem, Pioneer, and Harmon Kardons of the world. However when I read an Outlaw owner pumping his chest trying to compare his product to the true high end (which I don't think Anthem is, Anthem Statement possibly) it disturbs me. It makes the Outlaw faithful look silly, when you have a lot to stand on.

Outlaw does a great job of competing with products that cost 50% more than their own price point and they are very good at showing what pieces are severely over priced (the AVM30 for instance). However there are still companies out there who do a standup job in the high end. Outlaw wasn't made to compete with them. Perhaps make it tougher to justify spending so much more, but not to compete.

Well...you had me sold b/c its all believable till you mentioned the 3805 which I owned and consider a pile a crap for 2ch.It could NOT compete with a lowly Rotel 1056 or HK 630 for 2ch,and that's no BS it's 100% for sure.The 990 is superior to the hk/pioneer etc.. top offerings in my experience(based on 2ch)not day and night but still better.The 990 is no giant killer but it can keep the giants on their toes and is still WELL worth its price.Again,I agree with some of your comments,hey... nobody agrees on everything.

Um...I didn't see any "stomping" going on. Just an opinion that the 990 can give some established, quite more expensive gear a good run for the money.

I don't know what to say about your issues with the 3805, which frequently gets reviewed as being very musical. All I can figure is that there might not have been good synergy with your speakers, or speaker placement... I don't really know. I found it to be better than most receivers at stereo playback. It couldn't touch the Arcam equipment, but we didn't have a lot of top notch receivers. If memory serves we had a Yamaha, Onkyo, both Arcam units, Denon, Pioneer Elite, and the Outlaw.

Perhaps the Rotel and the Harmon Kardon would have rated better than the 3805. I don't know. I can only say it was better than a Yamaha, Onkyo, Pioneer Elite, and the original Outlaw receiver.

The test we did was in a controlled environment and the setting was far better than most people would have in their homes. It wasn't an anechoic chamber, but it was an extremely well designed room for acoustics.

The test was blind, so our findings weren't tainted by manufacturer ties.

I believe I also mentioned we didn't have the new Outlaw Receiver in that test. The new Receiver might have shown the 3805 up. I'm sure it had to be better than the Outlaw unit we had. Which correct me if I'm wrong was one of the first things Outlaw ever made.

The 990 was extremely impressive to me. For the money the 990 and the NAD T163 can't be beat. If stereo playback is important, the NAD is the choice. If DVI switching is important (and it is to a lot of people I'm sure), then the 990 is the choice. Both cost about the same on the street. $1,100 for the Outlaw, and its easy to get the T163 for around $1,200.

There is no doubt in my mind that anyone with a mid-budget home theater being designed should seriously consider the Outlaw. However, if you're designing a high end system and have a well sized budget, there are Pre-Pros out there that blow the Outlaw away in sound quality, features, and upgradability. I can think of Arcam, NAD's Master series, Theta Digital, Bel Canto and Meridian just to name a few. The 25% better that these units might be is justifiable for many of those that can afford it.

Of course there are giant priced Pre-Pros out there that the 990 can stand up to. All that proves is that those units are vastly over-priced.