First, welcome to the Saloon!

Second, I'm very interested to get your thoughts on how the Outlaw/ATI amps perform with your speakers for music. I just got a new-to-me 2-channel preamp and I'm looking for a amp. I have an ATI 2005 paired with my Outlaw 990 and it has been really reliable and I have been thinking about getting an ATI 1802 or 2002 to pair with the new preamp.


Lastly, you probably have already seen it but check out the amp comparison spec sheet on ATI's website. While it does have the gain for RCA and XLR the same 28db for the ATI 6000 and 4000, the 3000, which is the Outlaw 7900, is 34db for RCA and 28db for RCA. I have no clue why they are the same for the ATI 4000 and 6000.

Thanks for the insights on how the Outlaw/ATI amps work for music!

Thank you for the warm welcome!

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the ATI/Outlaw Audio amps. They are very robust and dynamic. Mine are dead silent, and my loudspeakers are very inefficient and are a heavy load. In fact, when I was checking voltage gains of both amps, just out of curiosity, I calculated the difference in voltage gain between the lowest output channel and highest output channel of the 12 channels to see if the difference in gain could be audible or not. The voltage gain difference was .07 dB for RCA and .05 dB for XLR, both inaudible, I would say.

[quote][/quoteLastly, you probably have already seen it but check out the amp comparison spec sheet on ATI's website. While it does have the gain for RCA and XLR the same 28db for the ATI 6000 and 4000, the 3000, which is the Outlaw 7900, is 34db for RCA and 28db for RCA. I have no clue why they are the same for the ATI 4000 and 6000.]

So it sounds like the voltage gain for the 7900 may also be misstated as well, if the 3000 is the Outlaw 7900. I don't understand how the voltage gain could be the same for the XLR and RCA inputs for the ATI 4000 and 6000. It would seem that the gain structure would no longer be equivalent to each other.

Thanks for the insights on how the ATI/Outlaw amps work with your speakers. At some point I will pull my 2005 out of my HT cabinet and try it out with the new preamp and my speakers. And I'll do my best not to strain my back during the process! My speakers are 4 ohm nominal, efficiency is 87db and my current integrated amp has 180 watts at 4 ohms with plenty of headroom. Testing the 2005 will be about how quiet it is, soundstage and bass performance versus how loud it will go.

Yep, that is one of the downsides to these amplifiers: They are back breakers! And I occasionally show my active loudspeakers at audio events, so that entails lugging around the amplifier along with the loudspeakers. Now worse yet, when I complete the 4-way, it'll be two heavy amps.

I also have the Outlaw 990, but I only use it for digital source selection, keeping the signal in the digital domain into a miniDSP 4x10HD, which then performs the D/A conversion for my amps. Volume control is through the miniDSP. The sound is absolutely stunning, and I really don't anticipate much improvement with a 4-way, but who knows?. I would like to test the effects of using dipole behavior for controlled loudspeaker directivity.

I know this is off the original topic somewhat, but speaking of ATI and Outlaw Audio, here is a link to a PDF found on Linkwitz Lab, highlighting some of the history of ATI. Notice on page 10 that Outlaw Audio is listed, along with numerous other companies whose products have been made by ATI:

ATI Sales Story

Very interesting reading.