...(and other Outlaw products for that matter) what would it cost? The recent posts regarding the 970s value for the dollar go me to thinking:

Presumably, the Internet-direct marketing scheme Outlaw uses cuts out a lot of middleman mark up. When I worked retail, the margin on most speakers and electronics was around 50% (i.e. dealer cost was half of MSRP).

Don't know what manufacturer cost was back then, but for the point of the discussion, let's say it's the same margin as dealer cost. If Outlaw follows the same structure, that leaves them with the same profit margin as if they sold it through a retailer, without the associated hassles.

So if the comparisons are all 1:1:1, I'm thinking the 970 would cost $1,400 +/-. Or looking at it another way, you're getting a near $1,500 SSP for $699.

I think that may make sense anyhow, as the platform on which the 970 is based sells under another manufacturer (Sherwood, I think?) for about that price tag.

It's hard to say for sure, especially since the pressure of internet-direct marketing has made it harder for dealers to stick to MSRP's as consistently as they used to. Some of that 50% mark-up would have to be retained to cover the staff required for customer support and sales, services that (at least on theory) dealers would provide the bulk of for a manufacturer using a dealer network.

One possible indicator would be the Model 950, which was the basis for several dealer-channel clones. The Model 950's original price was $900, and the two clones that were most like it (different face plates and some inspecified parts selection changes) were the Atlantic Technology P-2000 at $1700 and Sherbourn PT-7000 at $1500. Another indicator would be the Model 990, which takes the Sherwood P-965 (MSRP of $1500 or $1600 I believe) and adds balanced outputs, a more robust bass management scheme, and DVI switching for $1100. Those would suggest that you might end up adding around 40% to the price to get a probable dealer network MSRP...

Regarding your first point about MSRPs, that is proabably more true these days than back then. The Internet ushered in a whole new playing field.

In my day, our flexibility on price varied depending upon manufacturer. For example, we could discount products like Adcom and Denon, but not boutique lines (e.g. Conrad Johnson, Sota, Apogee, etc.) Doing so ran you the risk of being dropped by the manufacturer.

I think there's still a bit of that around, for example, I'm eyeing a Bel Canto amp to replace my Adcoms. Trying to find it discount anywhere has proved futile. It looks like their price is firmly locked, whether you buy it directly from them or a dealer. Not sure how Outlaw would behave if in the same siutation.

Your comparison to the Atlantic Technology and Sherbourn SSPs are probably the best indicators of a potential storefront price.

When I was considering the 970, my brother cautioned I was replacing my once pricey stereo preamp with the (cheap) Outlaw; clearly, it is not a 1:1 price comparison. In hindsight, I should have told him it was a $1,500 SSP.