ICBM

I have a question, and pardon me, if this has already been asked a million times, but i'm just wondering i really need an ICBM if I have a sacd/dvd-a player with bass mgmt (although i have read that the bm on most units only operates with dolby digital) and obviously the 950 has bass mgmt built in.

I've been pretty happy with the 950's analog bass management, even though it isn't as robust as the ICBM. If a DVD-A/SACD player provides bass management for those formats (which was unheard of a couple years ago and is still not always the case), the ICBM would only be beneficial if you were looking for a greater degree of control -- even in the players that offer bass management, they typically only provide a single fixed crossover (similar to the 950's analog bass management), whereas the ICBM offers individual adjustable crossovers for mains, center, surrounds, and surround back. Also, some people use the ICBM to facilitate setting up stereo subwoofers.

------------------
gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

I'm considering one, but in hooking it up, i would think that the best way would be to place it between the 950 and the amp, that way it could be used for everything coming out of the preamp. However, I see alot of people place it between the sacd/dvd-a player and their preamp. Are there advantages or disadvantages either way ? Which is the best way to hook it up ? Thanks alot.

The ICBM was developed to be located between DVD-A/SACD players and pre/pros, because that was the signal path that lacked any bass management. It can be placed between the 950 and amp to provide bass management for everything, but the only bass management benefit of the ICBM over the 950's digital bass management is the stereo subs. Also, Outlaw recommends disabling any channel delay settings if the ICBM is used between pre/pro and amp, so unless you are planning to use the ICBM to implement stereo subs it's probably best to rely on the 950's own bass management.

------------------
gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review