I have a old Sony STR-DE935. I just bought some Axiom M22 for my mains but I dont think I am using them to their full potential. Do you think the 1070 will be a good replacement and improve the sound. Thanks Drew

I poked around in google for a bit and tried to get up to speed on your Sony receiver. The STR-DE935 was rated at 110W per channel but had a power supply with a rated power consumption of only 290W. In comparison, the 1070's specs include this: "7 CH Load @ 65W Output Power: 855W" - so the 65W/channel receiver actually can consume roughly three times as much power. This is because the Outlaw is rated to provide those 65W to all seven channels at the same time, which your Sony cannot do. So just from the perspective of clean power for your speakers, the 1070 would probably be a nice sonic improvement.

In addition to the better amp section, the 1070 benefits from a lot of technology changes. The video switching is radically different from what your 935 offers, which would allow you to make use of video switching with an HDTV if you have moved or plan to move to HD. It also offers more digital inputs, pre-amp outputs (in case you ever wanted to add external amplification for some or all of your speakers), much more robust bass management, real binding posts for all of the channels (none of the spring clip things that your center and surrounds have on the Sony), and an assortment of very nice surround processing options. Pro Logic IIx is a dramatic step up from old Pro Logic. If you wanted to add one or two surround back speakers, you could also make use of Dolby EX and DTS ES, although many people still run with 5.1 setups because not all rooms offer good places for surround back speakers.

Beyond the 1070 itself, Outlaw offers very good customer service in addition to the crowd of fellow gunslingers here in the forum who can help if questions pop up.

Thanks Gonk. I am not really interested in the extra feature the 1070 provides. I believe the receiver should just concentrate on audio and not video and also like you said most households still use 5.1. What I would like is a receiver that will be a big improvement over my sony in sound clarity. Quality not quantity (power) is what I am interested in. I am also looking into getting seperates instead of 1070. Thanks Drew

Features aside, the 1070 and 970 are in many respects descendents of the Model 950 - which would suggest to me (as a former 950 owner) that the sound quality would be very respectable. It would be an improvement over your old Sony, although having not ever heard your Sony I can't say how significant it would be. My suspicion is that it would be a notable improvement. I made my previous comments about the amp section in the 1070 not so much to point out the extra power as to point out the more robust design - it's likely to yield a nice improvement over the amps in your Sony STR even before you factor in the digital processing section, DAC's, and analog section design.

If you do decide to go separates, there are several good amp offerings available from Outlaw - both the 7075 and 7125 would be great upgrades from your current receiver's amp section. And I can vouch for the 990 from personal experience - it and either of those amps would be a remarkable sonic upgrade from the Sony.

Actually, that is the exact same receiver which I replaced with a 1070 when it was first released. While my results may differ from yours, since the speakers I use are all very efficient (Klipsch), I've never had any issues where I was hoping I had more power.

Besides that, the sound quality was really much better with the Outlaw. I think I posted in one of my original comments about it that I could finally hear how horrible some of my lower bitrate mp3 files sounded.

Finally, if you ever watch any analog channels over your receiver, I will say that DPLII is exponentially better than the old Pro Logic that the Sony has. I always used to feel like I was better off using stereo than Pro Logic with the old receiver, but now using DPLII, I can actually hear surround effects.

Edit: And as for what gonk said about the binding posts on the Outlaw, I totally agree. I bought a spool of 12 gauge speaker cable back when I had the Sony, and I remember having to actually use the wire strippers to pull off chunks of the copper cable in order to make it fit into the spring clips.

I have had two of my friends switch from Sony ES receivers to Outlaw. They couldn't believe the difference in sound quality. Well my Sony 50ES died on xmas and I am looking to replace it with the Outlaw 1070 receiver in sping 2007. I am hoping the new model is coming out soon so I may get a lower price on the 1070.

I am running B&W 600 series all around on my set up.

I just hooked up my 1070 in my system as a replacement for an 8 year old JVC RX-884V, and I can honestly tell you that the difference is awesome. I am still working on calibrating everything in my system, but after just reading the manual and doing the basic system set-up, I can't believe how much improvement has happened.

The noticable hiss / distortion previously heard from my speakers when turning the receiver volume up loud is completely gone and the clarity and details picked up from my surounds is great (this I could tell right away and now can't believe the sounds I've been missing). I can't wait to mess around with it tomorrow and get everything calibrated to really have some fun!

hog,
sounds like the 1070 is it. I to am looking for a replacement. I have the oppo 981hd, aperion speakers 5.1 sound. Please let me know how the movies sound and was hook up easy?

Is Outlaw Audio going to be coming out with a new receiver that has HDMI inputs and outputs this year?? If so when are they going to be planning to release it. If anyone has any information let me know.

The reason I ask this because I heard a rumor about a new receiver coming out by spring 07.

There have been no official announcements on this subject, and based on past cases it's likely that official word will come close to the same time that the first shipments start. All that having been said, there will be new electronics to support HDMI v1.3, but it's not likely to be before the end of 2007 at the earliest (HDMI v1.3 receiver chips having only been finalized in the last few months so that receiver makers could try to include them in products). Unless they have been cooking up some very special black magic, there will not be a new Outlaw receiver in spring or even summer 2007.