950 Owners - was this your first dedicated pre/pro?

So was the 950 your first dedicated pre-pro? It seems to be an ideal "entry level" unit. It was not mine, my first was a Sherwood Newcastle AV-P9080, which died on me. The Outlaw is nicer IMO than the Sherwood (which was also nice). My amp is still the Sherwood 9080 5 channel behemoth.

The 950 was my first true pre/pro. I was using an Outlaw 1050 as a pre/pro with an Outlaw Model 750 and a Parasound HCA-800 Mk II (for surround back amplificiation) before. I agree that the 950 is a good "entry level" pre/pro -- and a good budget pre/pro for those wanting to have the latest processing goodies without the big sticker shock of the AVM-20's and Lexicon's of the world...

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

Yeah...

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

my first was an adcom (shudder) pro logic pre i've had for a long time. last year, i tried several receivers-as-pre (onkyo, marantz, h/k, etc.) and disliked them all.
i never owned a receiver in my life.

after an exhausting search, i decided not to pay the high price asked by virtually every pre/pro manufacturer and wait for the 950.

i'm glad i did.

Yes, the 950 is my first pre/pro. It, and a quintet of Parasound monoblocs, replaced a 10 year old Sony DPL receiver.

No. The last *true* receiver I used was a Pioneer 450 or something in the 80's. Since then it's been an analog Adcom preamp/tuner, an analog Nakamichi CA-5 preamp (should have kept that one), then with a Yamaha DSP-E1000 (to add DPL), then a Yamaha RX-V793 receiver-as-a pre/pro (+DD), then the Sony TA-E9000ES (+DTS) for the last 4 years.

No, I've had numerous seperates over the years. For HT I've had Carver DPL-33 and Lexicon CP-2, and Parasound PSP-1500 (pro-logic units). Since DD came out I've had a Nakamichi CA-1 and a Denon AVR-3300 reciever that I used as a pre-amp with a Nakamichi PA-1 five channel amp. None of this equipment came close to the Outlaw. I don't think you can find anything better at this price, and I was especially happy to find that audio performance is also outstanding.

Yes it was, and yes it is.

Like Gonk, prior to my 950, I was using an Outlaw 1050 as a pre-pro with the Outlaw 750 providing the amplification.

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pat----

email: pat@sklenar.info ---===--- home page: Grumpy's Lair

I personally would never ever say "entry level" and the 950 in the same sentence.

To me, entry level implies a hint of things to come in more expensive, better performing units. A stepping stone if you will to better products. The 950 *is* that better product. At a very reasonable price.

Depends on whether you are talking purely home theater, or also music. I've always had separates for my stereo systems and still use my Crown pre-amp for stereo. When I decided to add Home Theater capability, I never considered anything but separates, ended up with the 950 (was very fortunate in my timing, had to wait only about 6 weeks). Being still a relative novice to HT, if the 950 is an "entry-level" unit then I don't think I'm smart enough to operate an "advanced" unit. In terms of ease of use I would put the Adcom more at the entry-level (low quality and obsolete eletrconics just for the record). 950 is entry-level only in the sense that as far as I know, there are no less expensive pre-pros on the market.

Kevin and Norman, well said, I agree.