A few years back, I ordered a 1050 receiver. I really liked the sound when using digital sources, but with no analog bypass, I wasn't entirely happy with its performance from analog sources and I eventually returned it.

I listen almost entirely to digital sources now, so this is no longer a concern. I'm thinking of giving the 1070 a try, but I wonder if the sound is similar to the 1050. The 1050 was designed and made by an Oriental firm (something like East Tech, as I recall), while the 1070 (at least the pre/pro part) seems to be based on a Sherwood OEM design.

Is there anyone who has owned both units who can compare the overall sound quality for me? I'm trying to avoid having to return the 1070 if it sounds significantly different. Thanks in advance.

The 1050 and 1070 were both designed by Outlaw in conjunction with Eastech, and the 1070 is manufactured by Eastech just as the 1050 was. The Model 990 is based on the Sherwood P-965 platform and manufactured by Etronics, but that's the only Outlaw unit being manufactured by Etronics.

For what it's worth, I owned a 1050 and a Model 950 (also manufactured by Eastech, and from which much of the concept for the 1070 was drawn) and the 950 was a nice upgrade from the 1050 as far as the pre-amp section was concerned - the sound wasn't all that different, but it was cleaner. (I could probably have gone into greater detail at one time, but it's been ~4.5 years since I last had the 1050 in my equipment rack - my old 950 review might shed some light on the difference between the 1050 as pre/pro and the 950.) The amp section of the 1070 should be pretty darn comparable to the 1050, with a bit more power if anything - some others around here with 1070 experience may be able to speak to that.

Thanks for the input gonk. The 1070 is more similar to the 1050 than I realized. Your recollection of the sound quality of the 1050 is very similar to what I remember... not "squeeky clean" but there was something about the sound from that little reciever that I liked.

I think I'll go ahead and try a 1070. I noticed they have some "B" stock on hand, which would save me a few bucks and if I should decide to return it, Outlaw wouldn't be stuck with an additional open box unit.

Sounds like a good plan - let us know what you think of it.

Hey gonk... I have one more concern. I was just taking a closer look at the 1070 and noticed it has a switch for speaker impedence. I kinda associate this with mass-market receivers and have always thought of it as sort of a "band-aid" to compensate for low-cost power supplies and/or power amps.

I probably shouldn't be worried about this since all my speakers are 8 ohms and I think they're an easy load (Athena's), but still......

The speaker impedance switch is commonly used on receivers to compensate for the limitations imposed by fitting the amps in the same chassis with everything else. In fact, I've even seen some receivers in the 1070's price range omit the switch by restricting the amp ratings to 6 ohms or higher (basically saying that they make no guarantees that it'll drive a 4 ohm load). I wouldn't worry about it for a 6 ohm or 8 ohm load.

Yeah... you're right that quite a few mass-market receivers aren't even rated for use with 4-ohm loads. I hadn't thought about that!

Also, after posting the above, I recalled that many NAD receivers and amps are equipped with a speaker impedence switch, and I consider their amps to be pretty good.

Thanks once again for your input.