Nice step Outlaws!

My only disappointment is that, in your introductory message, you failed to mention a single Canadian loudspeaker manufacturer. Us Canucks know where the best speakers in the world come from. Paradigm, Energy, psb, Totem, to name but a few.

I'll take your ommission as a shrewd marketing ploy to not draw attention to your only real competition!

Jeff Mackwood

SEAS makes good drivers as does Vifa and Scanspeak. All of those drivers can be bought in the same size as used in the Outlaws for less than $50.00 USD each from reputable and authorized sources. Unless Outlaw is designing their own cabinets and crossovers then why the high price? Keep in mind that I am extremely satisfied with my Outlaw Equipment.

POST REMOVED FOR OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE AND PERSONAL ATTACK

Arthur,

I can understand your frustration with the model 970 no audio problem, however I will never understand such a vicious personel attack on a fellow Outlaw! Particulary one who has on a regular basis helped so many.

I understand the frustration of unresolved problems, Arthur - but my point was that the resources that remain focused on fixing the problem that you and others have been stuck with for a long time now are pretty specialized. Remember, please, that part of Outlaw's structure is to not operate their own factories - they contract with very large entities such as Eastech, Etronics, and ATI to use those companies' facilities and resources. It's become pretty common practice. In the case of the 970 and 1070, the partner is Eastech, and the burden of fixing the 1070/970 problems would have to be shared by Eastech. At both the Outlaw and Eastech ends, the work is going to be software-based to a huge degree - digging through raw data, debugging code, testing new code. These speakers, on the other hand, are being built somewhere else entirely and aren't going to be involving programmers. Outlaw isn't building them in the spare conference room, for that matter. Their announcement explains that these are US-made speakers (and the testing tolerances suggest a fairly sophisticated facility at that). Eastech isn't building these - even if they did make speakers, they don't make them in the US. Outlaw and their partnerships are big enough to run multiple projects in parallel - they have to be, if they want to make more than one or two things. My purpose in posting was to try to reassure you that this announcement did not mean that your problem had become any less of a priority. It was not my intent to be patronizing.

It's worth pointing out that there are other pieces of the puzzle that could quickly contribute to a higher price. The cabinets very likely are being made specifically for Outlaw, as are the crossovers. The crossover is said to be using "audiophile grade" components - those pieces alone can get expensive. The boundary compensation stuff is also custom from what we've seen described so far. The tweeter is also not an off-the-shelf item based on the FAQ, which will again add some cost. Toss in the issue of manufacturing labor (assembled in the US, with a corresponding labor cost) and I'd suspect that the drivers end up being a smaller part of the cost than it might at first appear. As Svet pointed out earlier, there are a number of other companies making very good speakers with similar drivers - and at similar (or even higher) price tags.

I'm looking forward to some listener feedback on these, as that will be where the rubber really meets the road. I just have to keep my wife from seeing the pictures posted this weekend - it's been a couple years since the last pitched the idea of smaller front speakers, but she might find the idea of an Outlaw bookshelf a nice way to scale down our Paradigm towers...

I love outlaw, but while these speakers may sound great, they look kinda . . . .[nice way to put it] like something I would have purchased at Montgomery Wards [basic electronics store like Sears] 10 years ago.



p.s. they are more expensive (cherry version)than my Polk LSi9's. Tough price point. Would they really sound better than the LSi9's?? I'd love to know.

Interesting, I suppose the proof will be in the pudding when it comes to whether or not the $1000 price is justified vs. the competition.

Whether they "sound better" is going to be subjective. My HT is all Polk Audio as well, and we polkies tend to like that sound. I am more of a vintage polkie (a nice way to say old) and may be a while before a part with my RTA-12Cs of 20 years. However, I have been intrigued by the Rockets by Onyx line of speakers. It sounds like the Outlaws are targeting a similar line and I think that's very smart. The brick-and-mortar showroom speakers are getting outrageously expensive (B&W, et. al.) and, sad to say, my polkies will not live forever.

I would have thought a Sat system would have been the first entry to this market as they already have the subs.

Interesting product.

My 990 has been a charm with not problems. Im a big fan of this company.

But if I had a 970 with the aformentioned problem I would be pissed!