True, which is where price point comes into play. If there is a substantial difference in price between the 978 and other offerings then the potential buyer will start to ask "do I need this or that feature?". If the cost of the 978 is close to the Marantz offerings then I feel it's in the 978's favor because you can then argue that you are getting much more value for your money with better components and more features.

Then we have to determine if the components are truly better or just different. I guess an independent review/lab tests will show some of the story.

Is it reasonable that Outlaw can assemble a team of designers that can compete with the designers employed by Marantz or other large companies? I would imagine these other guys will have the advantage of consistency and practice.

You have to take more into account than just this design house vs that design house. There's economy of scale argument, but then again you have to look at overhead and marketing costs etc. Outlaw is a very small company with far less overhead than Marantz (I'm guessing). I think this is an advantage for Outlaw since they all seem to outsource the components and builds. Marantz will sell a lot more units but their overhead is probably a lot higher, so they may opt for slightly less quality components to recover costs. They're not whoring themselves out like Onkyo, but then they may not have the same QC problems either.

I believe it may also be a matter of philosophy.

The smaller companies such as Outlaw are thinking quality first and are targeting the audio and videophile who are seeking better performance and higher quality products and components. I don't know if they are thinking number of units sold first and foremost but obviously they must take that into consideration before they invest. Companies such as Marantz and Denon do a lot of research with respect to features that are going to sell to the mass consumer and they also have a price point that they are determined to meet. If you look at the price levels, you will see $499, $699, $999, $1100, $1400 and this repeats every year with their new models. The models change, the features change some what but the price points fall in line.

So yes I think that Outlaw can put together a team as you stated and maybe at advantage because with Outlaw there may not be the restraint of price point. Think of what Yamaha, Denon and Marantz could do if corporate told the engineers to build the best units possible with today's technology and whatever it cost...it cost.

Today's TV's are also a good example. If you follow the reviews and test you will see that the last couple of years there have not been significant advancement in black levels, color uniformity, filtering, gamma accuracy, etc. but they do almost everything a desktop computer can do and evidently that's what the people want.

Let's not forget that they're an ID company and they don't sell through the brick & mortar channels. That'll put more money in their pocket per unit while keeping costs down to the consumer. I'd be curious to see the margin difference.

As an owner of several Outlaw products, I have to say I can only partially agree. For example, I don't think that there is any doubt that Outlaw has cut some corners. My personal experience has been on physical controls. My 1050 had an abysmal manual volume control that was completely useless and the RR2150 has a source selection dial that works in a random manner. I don't know that the 970 and 1070 customers were all that thrilled either.



Now If turns out the 978 has electronic components (both audio and video) at the same level as the OPPO BDP-95 along with MultiEQ XT32 then you might be right, but so far there is very little evidence to support this.

All great points. It appears that the 978 will be a defining moment for Outlaw.

Agreed. If it doesn't materialize or it turns out to be a poor seller, that's going to be strike 3 for the successor to the 990. Personally, I don't see it being worth their while given the single digit employee count and the fact that pre-processors seem to be like kryptonite for small niche players these days, but what do I know...

Best,

Same with my 950. Trying to get it repaired locally so I do not have to ship back to Outlaw. -Bob

Same with my 950 - volume control turned up sometimes REDUCES volume and visa-versa. It also slips sometimes and the volume does not change when I turn the control. And, the transformer buzz in maddening. BUT, if I'd bought a name brand receiver 10 years ago, would it be problem-free today?
I think not.