Or maybe Gonk is in audio nirvana and forgot about everyone.

If that was the case then Outlaw would have a pre order page up already. I would bet my bottom dollar they are having some serious issues that they can't figure out and have no idea when and if they will.

Outlaw will not release anything that they don’t feel is ready which is certainly admirable and good business practice.

Is it possible that designing a modern processor from the ground up is an insurmountable task for a small company outsourcing to a foreign design team? Sure they will throw out some features like networking, multiple DSP modes, fancy UI,...., but they still have room correction, video processing and other required features to handle. The final product will surely meet the expectations of their niche target customers but I would also think it is a stretch to believe the SQ and durability would surpass products from larger companies with dedicated design teams. I am rooting for Outlaw and hope they produce another game changer like they did with the 950. -Bob

Well, Scott went to China a bit over 2 months ago and we still haven't heard a peep. Hopefully, he at least got to catch some fireworks during Chinese New Year.

I suspect they'll eventually get around to releasing the product and that it just won't sell in any significant numbers. After 2 Mulligans, I don't think they can afford to whiff the ball again. However, it does make me wonder how they plan to support this product going forward if they can't even get/keep the attention of the Chinese engineers at this stage of the game. Normally, this is the time when the Chinese manufacturer would be all hot and bothered and smell money in the air...eager to please...and all that. Seems like they skipped straight from the honeymoon to mid-life crisis.

Best,

This is one of my greatest concerns, also. It is admirable that Outlaw wants to release a bug-free product but it is inevitable that occasional firmware updates will be required... indeed, Outlaw makes specific mention, in each of their rare announcements, of how painless a process this will be. Will we wait forever for these updates once the urgency of releasing the product has abated?

Also, I remain dumbfounded by the ongoing silence regarding the status of this product. Countless examples show that there is nothing to lose and everything to gain by keeping the lines of communication open.

I agree GaryB. While I enjoy my 990/7700 combo I wish that the marketing side of Outlaw Audio had kept their mouths shut about an upcoming, updated, brand spanking new processor. The audio video market is ripe for some good sales in all areas of Home Theater AND two channel listening.
There is a High quality Home and Audio store not to far from me that is giving 20% for equipment that you want to upgrade.
They made me an offer of $400.00 for my 990 sight unseen.

I am considering the Integra...DHC 80.3/DHC 80.2. The $400.00 was based on the 80.3.
I have to do some comparisons. I know that the 80.3 has a lot of bells and whistles along with 9 channels.
That's three channels I will never use since I have a dedicated HT room and I only have the capability of using six channels b/c of speaker placement.
Again I have to rob the piggy bank and I have negotiated with my better half but I am still at this point holding back from pulling the trigger b/c of the 978s arrival.
It's not easy.
Hearing no information for months frustrates me. I want to remain loyal to the Outlaw team. They make a wonderful product and there support (Scott) is excellent but I am beginning to think that they will have to make a better offer for people like myself and I believe many others for them not to jump ship.
Price point and the bells and whistles are going to have to be substantial with today's market climate given the competition.

Certainly support issues are a valid point, but given the overall length of time that Outlaw has been doing the direct internet sales thing with the range of amplifiers, receivers, processors, speakers and accessories it strikes me as more than a bit "chicken little-ish" to suggest that the viability of the model is collapsing -- I still see banner ads for the two channel receiver on many internet sites every day.
While I too am a little annoyed that several months have passed since the publicized trip to China w/o any update I wonder if that is necessarily a sign of anything bad about the product. Reality suggests that in a small organization the impact of even minor problems that may creep up, from employee health to demands on one's time may not have allowed for a fully thought out response to the progress that has been made with the product. Further, while I seem to recall that there was originally a target mentioned in the announcement of the 978, which has long since past, there has never been a firm shipping date talked about -- probably to avoid any finger pointing, though that does not seem to have been avoided...

For all we know the evil manufacturing partners intent on destroying a nonexistent US based consumer electronics assembly business have more than lived up to their end of the deal, with a dozen or so fully functional production line roll-offs that are fully tweaked with software that is "golden master" but global currency conditions have driven the price of the commodity electronic components too high for Outlaw to seriously consider moving forward for with marketing. Bigger firms routinely will exert pressure on their suppliers to absorb a temporary loss in margin and/or allow substation of lower fidelity components in the audio chain to meet a price point, neither of those options would make sense given the Outlaw size / positioning...

That said the announcement of the availability of the Marantz receiver a few weeks ago did mention that Outlaw would have other developments in the coming weeks and months. Traditional electronic stores have often timed sale events to coincide with people's spring tax refund, a period that generally happens near to the tax filing deadlines -- if there is no announcement about the 978 in that time frame maybe that would be indicative of a more major change in direction.

Fellow outlaws, it is my humble opinion we boycott this forum. Maybe the utter silence will entice these guys to give us an update. I don't care what it is, but I am getting extremely annoyed. This is extremely unprofessional. As an outside sales rep, even if you have to tell the customer "I don't know" or ultimaley deliver bad news, that is what you do. This silence is maddening. Either this is truly the most secretive lot in the business, the 978 is in development hell, it's never coming out, or these guys are simply closing shop and trying to get every last amp sale. I have a feeling one day I'll click on my hotlink to the forum, only to find nothing here. So, fellow outlaws, I urge you, do not respond to this. Simply give them their silence right back.

LOL. I suspect their silence being met with apathy and/or more silence is what they're after until they figure out what's going on.

To be honest, I just don't see any value being offered by the Outlaw brand anymore. While I'm rooting for them and hope they'll pull a rabbit out of their hat, I'm having trouble visualizing how they'll get there. So what do you do when you own a brand with little perceived value, even from your existing clients? Throw lots of money at it to re-build the brand? Doubtful. Sell it to someone else who can fold it into their own brand(s)...perhaps another D&M Holdings stub? Maybe. Become the next "Audioadvisor.com" and attempt to make a living sifting through products and offering value to customers by distilling things down to product/price mixes from diverse brands that your clients might want? They're almost there now. If they're able to keep inventories at a very low level, it's possible that it isn't costing them much to keep the lights on...as long as they're able to maintain some operating cash flow. But I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for anything "revolutionary" or unique to their brand. That costs money and, as they say, that isn't growing on trees these days.

I look forward to seeing "the plan" if/when their management team decides it's time to reveal it to their customer base.

Best,

Fellow Outlaws:

Please know that we hear your comments and concerns about the lack of an update on the Model 978. We had planned to bring you our status late last month, but that newsletter was delayed until we had the results of some testing that is currently underway.
It will take another few days to fully analyze the data as it impacts the schedule, but the headline for today is that the results are favorable in a key area that means we will soon resolve the toughest part of this product, the implementation of XT-32. Our concerns over memory requirements have been addressed, and we'll now be on a path to completion that will be more fully described in the forthcoming newsletter.

The Model 978 is only one of the things we have in the pipeline and you will begin to see the results of that soon. In the mean time, we ask for your patience until early next week when we'll have a more detailed update.