Guys,

I spent 1/2 the day, cutting holes in the ent cabinet, I wanted the 990 and the Anthem MCA 50 amp to breathe. Replaced all my cables with monoprice cabling!! Cables as good as AR or Monster tier 2 cables..The wife(manager)made sure I vacuumed my mess....

My little boy said Daddy you now have 2 boxes instead of one" Very good, Your right, I replaced a reciever with an amp and a pre/pro...Gotta a teach them young!!

My son said , "Is 2 better?" I replied, "I sure hope so"..

The OSD is straight-foward and easy to navigate. I'm running my component video straight to the Pioneer TV for both cable box and the DVD player. Audio running digital coaxial for cable, and optical for DVD.

With this being Easter weekend, relatives bothering me, without running any auto or manual cal yet: I put in Ice Age DVD....In the opening scene the glaciers start breaking up, it was like they were breaking in my room!!! The Bass being sent to my Axiom sub was incredible!

Cosmetically as others have said the 990 is pretty much jet black in color, not grey as seen in pics. It looks pretty nice. It matches up nicely with Anthem amp.

After this quick seesion I'm pretty happy so far.

Guys thanks for the guidance to date,
Vince

Sounds like fun! Thanks for the report.

hi vince well im in envy, since im still waiting for mine ( darn ups screw-up ) i have axiom speakers as well , do you mind listing the ones you have it will be interesting to me if we get similar results i have vp150 m60's qs8 and an ep500

zest,

I only have the one axiom sub, ep500...My mains, center and rear surrounds are swan diva 6.1, 4.1, c-3...

your will come soon........
Vince

Vince,

Just curious, what did you replace with the outlaw and why? What convinced you to take the plunge?

Holydoc,

I had the either the top of the line...or 2nd from the top older Yamaha 2092 receiver the last 6 years. They were built like tanks..60 lbs or so..The yamaha recievers they sell at BestBuy today, are like toys next to it.. plastic volume knob etc...with the swan diva speakers and the axiom sub...2-channel music and DVD movies sounded pretty dam good.

I was wondered am I missing something witout DTS processing? Are the guys with separates having the next level audio/video expereince?

I got a little caught up in the all channels driven thing, Yamahas cannot output 5 x100, the rears fall off to 20-30 watts in reality..

I started reading alot of posts on pre/pros avsforum, audioholics etc...I started my focus on Anthem, solid reputation, nice looking pre/pros and amps in black... excellect cust serv etc..

Went to the only authorized anthem dealer near me,
they had the avm30 pre/pro mca50 amp combo setup. The combo seemed to bring more crisp surround activity....and a slight more realistic soundstage upfront...the salesguy played his own demo material..They were a rich man's boutique, they stocked no gear, and If i wanted anthem, he would order for MSRP -$100..$3K avm30 + $2K mca50 -$200 = $4800!! too steep for me...

I read numerous posts and PM'ed a lot of owners of anthem amps, they all said rock solid, built like a tank, minimal heat, dead quiet unless called upon..Realibility 99.8% type of numbers..when one came along used with 4.5 yrs left on warranty I grabbed it audiogon.

The pre/pro was a tougher choice: Focused on used avm20 or 30, arcam avr300 and avp700, used parasound, used lex,cary cinema 6, and the 990!! ...I wanted black to match the rest of my gear..that eliminated cary and parasound halo series used...could not swing new...Over on AVS the Arcam AVP700 pre/pro recieved such strong press, 2-ch music killer, DVD's the movie is happening in the room etc!!But of the owners had the statis freeze issue, hit power reset to fix etc..Unaccpetable on a $2K piece of gear!!No matter how good it sounds...

Cutting to the chase finally- the 990 more attractive in price, 5 year warranty, if its no better than my yamaha I give it back minus shipping. It has all the latest audio processing modes other than blu ray or HD-DVD which has yet to play out...Hopefully as Gonk says, if one of these new players puts out audio on 7.1 analog we are ready!!

My gut feel to date is, the 990 gets you 97-100% of an anthem avm20/30. You need to step up to like anthem D2($6K) to step up 10-20% on a 990.

So unless your Onkyo receiver is a killer, the 990 plus an outlaw or anthem amp should be a big step fo you...

Vince

My 990/7125 is so far ahead of the Onkyo TX-NR900 that it replaced it's not even funny. The sound from the combo is much, much, much more full and encompassing. I wasn't unhappy with the Onkyo, but I'd never go back.

My 990/7125 is so far ahead of the Onkyo TX-NR900 that it replaced it's not even funny. The sound from the combo is much, much, much more full and encompassing. I wasn't unhappy with the Onkyo, but I'd never go back. [/b][/QUOTE

Thanks Vince. That was a great explaination.

As far as the Onkyo goes, it really opened up once I hooked the Outlaw 700 amp to it. My surrounds came alive. I think my power hungry fronts were sucking the life out of the power of just having a receiver. Treating the Onkyo like a preamp made all the difference.

I have also been considering replacing the Onkyo with a new preamp. Not because I am disatisfied with it, but because I read too much and am wondering if I am missing out on anything.

It is funny that you and I have been looking at the same forums and considering the same preamps. I am also very interested in the Arcam AVP-700. My two problems I am having with it right now are finding a resaler and determining if it really has shut-down problems (or if it is just a vocal few with a bad one).

I really respect Outlaw for both their products and customer service but am worried that the 990 will just not be a very noticable upgrade. Unfortunately, I am not like you and had a receiver that was lacking something. The Onkyo has all the functionalities of the 990 with the exception of DVI switching. This is just not a big deal even with my 50" plasma. I have not seen the improved PQ from DVI or HDMI.

Maybe I should just stop reading forums about how I could do better. Funny thing is that though I very much enjoy my current sound, you always wonder if it can be better.

This hobby is definitely a diet for the wallet!

Those Polks were good candidates for external amplification - that was definitely a worthwhile upgrade. The 990 and Arcam's AVP-700 would both probably offer additional sonic improvement (ignoring feature set), but it may not be as pronounced as the amp was in your case.

Gonk,

That was exactly what I was thinking. I have done so much upgrading in the last year or so just to discover (as I learn more and more from these boards) that my system would be considered an OK system. I think my system has been shocked with so many significant upgrades that I would be disappointed in an upgrade that was not highly pronounce. Maybe I need to try to refrain from purchasing something until my current upgrades have time for the newness to wear off. hehe

It is kind of like going from a Yugo to a Buick. You are strutting around proud of your new car. Then you discover that there are Cadillacs, lincolns, BMWs, and Mercedes yet to conquer. And then after them are Porches, Ferrari's, and Rolls Royce's still even further out.

Never ending search for "what is good enough".