I just received a b-stock 1070 today. Initial impressions after a few hours of playing:

Build Quality
Very nice sturdy construction. Simple and uncluttered. I love the all metal binding posts. While unpacking I did notice that one of the screws securing the RS-232 port was loose, and the other one missing. Luckily I found it rolling around in the bottom of the box. One of the screws holding the back panel on the 1070 was halfway unscrewed as well. No batteries were included for the remote.(Note: This is a b-stock unit)

Set-up
Pretty straight forward following the manual. It would be nice if there could be separate speaker settings for each input. For example, I usually watch television with speakers set to large and switch them over to small to watch DVDs or listen to CDs.

The on-screen display is very nice...and it needs to be. As others have noted, the display on the front of the 1070 is simply a cruel joke. The text is tiny and unreadable from more than a few feet away.

Remote
Cleanly designed and layed out, and I like the blue back-lighting. The buttons are nicely sized, shaped, and spaced. I already have issues with the way it functions however. I find it odd and uncomfortable having to press one of the source buttons (DVD, VIDEO 1, CD) to turn on the receiver. The manual notes that this is helpful for the use of programmable remotes - perhaps I'll appreciate this more after picking up a Harmony.

I also find it odd that I cannot change surround modes while the remote is set to operate my cable box. I have to switch the remote back over to TNR before I can try a different Dolby or PLII mode, for example. On the other hand, the Volume Control Punch-Through function is very handy, and allows the use of the volume and mute controls to operate on the receiver even when the remote is set to operate another device.

Speaking of surround modes, it does not appear that I can use five or seven channel stereo mode when listening to 'digital' cable channels (only the analog channels). This is our preferred surround mode for television (with the exception of movie channels broadcasting in Dolby 5.1). If I am missing something...please let me know as we are not thrilled about this limitation.

I was able to set-up the remote to operate my cable box, TV and CD player using the preprogrammed codes, but not my DVD/VCR combo. I already miss having a learning remote.

Video-switching
I am using three video feeds switched through the 1070 - digital cable through an S-Video cable, DVD player through component, and VCR over a composite cable. The video out to my TV is through a component cable. Though I have not tried the VCR yet, the picture on cable and DVD are excellent.

Sound
I have only listened to bits and pieces of music and movies and television, so I can't give a full report on sound quality. I will say that I was a little concerned going from a "110" watt per channel receiver to the Outlaw rated at 65 watts per channel, but it turns out I had nothing to worry about...the Outlaw sounds more dynamic and powerful than my old receiver (Note - my speakers are from Ascend Acoustics and are not difficult loads to drive).

Day 2
Watched Memoirs of a Geisha on DVD. Sound was very good. My wife's unsolicited input matched my own thoughts - better power and clarity than our old receiver.

On the downside, I already experienced two 'no audio' incidents while surfing digital cable - change channels and all of a sudden there is no audio. The only way I found to get it back was to turn off the receiver and turn it on again. For now I've set that Video input's audio to "analog" thinking that this issue is some result of auto-polling or other digital-analog anomaly. This also allows us to watch all channels using the five channel stereo mode that I mentioned in my original post.

Chas..why are you using S-Vid out of your digital cable box?? Doesn't it have component or HDMI? I've got the Comcast box, and using the Outlaw HDMI-DVI cable, it works amazingly well.

I've got a 42" NEC 42xr4a Plasma, and even the difference between Component in and HDMI is stunning.

I've been doing a LOT of experimenting with setups..and I still may just DIRECT to the TV with the HDMI out of the DVD and Cable box. Then, run one component out of the 1080 into the unit as well for OSD (and eventually XBOX 360).

Today..I'm gonna attempt to get the Harmony 880 remote working with everything...

If it's an HD cable box, it should have at least component and possibly DVI or HDMI. If it's a standard digital cable box, he's probably lucky to have s-video out.

Gonk is correct...I only have a standard box and S-Video is the best it offers.
I'll be interested to hear how the Harmony works with the 1070...

Since I am still within the 30-day trial period with the 1070 I have been trying to decide if the Outlaw is a keeper.

Last weekend my wife suggested we try a back to back test with a couple of movie scenes - first with our old receiver and then with the Outlaw. She picked the Lobby Shooting Spree from The Matrix and I chose The Bridge of Khazad-dum from The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition DTS track).

I have said very little to my wife regarding the Outlaw, as I wanted an uninfluenced opinion. Her comments were as follows:

1. Our old receiver sounded good with both scenes - but the Outlaw sounded better.

2. Our old receiver played just as 'loud' but did not sound as powerful as the Outlaw. During the loudest parts the sounds across the front speakers were sort of 'mashed together' with the old receiver, but remained separate and more distinct through the Outlaw.

3. The sound from all five speakers seems to blend together as a whole better through the Outlaw. With the old receiver it's easier to tell that the sound is jumping from speaker to speaker.

4. High frequencies were more clear and more realistic with the Outlaw. They sounded a little more "tinny" through the old receiver (shell casings hitting the floor in The Matrix for example).

5. Dialog was more clear with the Outlaw (specifically Gandalf's voice...which for me has always been a bit hard to understand during some parts of the Lord of the Rings).

I have to say I was very impressed with the feedback I received from my wife. She has no interest in the technical aspects of this hobby but she does appreciate good sound and probably has a better ear than I do.

On the downside, the operation of the remote continues to bug me. I still like the overall look and feel of the unit, but why can't it just have a power button for the receiver and a source power button? With my old remote I could just press two buttons and be surfing digital cable. With the Outlaw remote I have to punch five buttons to be in business. And why do I have to switch back to TNR to access the Dolby/DTS/Stereo mode buttons??

One final note - The Bourne Supremacy sounded fantastic on Encore today....

chas,
Glad to hear your enjoying the sound quality of the 1070. I too very much enjoy the sound. However, I have the same misgivings about the remote, specifically with the lack of a power on.

Have you experienced any more "no audio's"?
Ragnar

I have had my cable tv input set to analog to avoid the no-audio issue. Today I set it back to the digital coax input with auto-polling on to watch some movies on cable and have had no issues. Outlaw tells me another firmware update is coming soon.

I did end up returning the 1070 after an extended audition period (thanks Outlaw for letting me keep it a couple extra weeks!). The "no-audio" issues continued to haunt my 1070 and since we moved this summer I really did not have the time to experiment with the latest firmware update.

I admit however, that I do miss the performance of this receiver. My old receiver just doesn't have the punch and clarity of the 1070.

Here's my wish list for the next generation of the Outlaw receiver:

1. Fully resolved no-audio issue (has the latest firmware resolved all issues?)
2. Discrete on button for the remote. This (along with the no-audio issue) was the most frustrating thing for my wife.
3. 5/7 channel stereo mode for all sources.
4. Speaker settings for each input (speakers set for large on one output, small on another). I believe some HK's have this ability and I would love it, since I frequently switch this around depending on what I'm using the receiver for at the time.
5. Learning remote.

Give me these and I'll be first on the waiting list for the '1090' !

That's a pretty good list. I'd hope that the source buttons would always double as discrete on commands (since it really is handy for macros).

This is limited to stereo inputs because using it with other sources (speaking here of Dolby Digital and DTS) would require downmixing to stereo first - which would effectively defeat the purpose of DD and DTS.