Actually if I were a betting man, I would place a parlay on neither of them happening. I think this is a safe bet because if the world ends it is going to be tough for them to collect!

But seriously, I am beginning to think that we won't see a 997 at all. The old saying "A day late and a dollar short" comes to mind when I think about this product. By the time it comes to market it will be irrelevant and most likely overpriced versus the competition. I have always loved Outlaw Audio and their entire business model, but lately they have veered so far astray from their roots I fear there is no turning back for them. I wonder how they are doing overall as a company. This economy has been tough on everybody, but when you add in 997 which is almost a complete failure at this point, I am really concerned as to whether the company will be around in a few years. And that concern alone is enough to sway my buying decision. Then I have to consider that the 997 is a S/N based product. S/N has completely lost my respect for and confidence in their products. So when you add it all up, even if the 997 makes it out before the world ends how many people are really going to buy it? At this point I would have to say that the 997 is a complete failure and that it just possibly could be the down fall of a once great company!

If there is any hope for the Outlaw world it is the possibility that maybe the Outlaw management is as smart as we all have believed them to be over the years and that they have an alternate plan. In my mind, I would be looking to scrap the 997 and the S/N relationship, i.e. cut your losses and run. Of course that only make sense if you have a fall back strategy. Obviously, I have no idea what that is, but I am sure we could all speculate. Now if I were running this, there are couple things I would want to have happen. What ever my alternate plan might be it has to be rock solid and acceptable by their loyal customers and I would not disclose this plan until literally days, if not hours, before I could actually start shipping product. So if that is the case then I can understand why we have been hearing so little from them about their new processor.

Well here is to hoping that Outlaw Audio can pull a rabbit out of hat!

Regards,
Mark