976 impressions so far.

I have had my 976 since Tuesday now and so far I am very impressed overall with the sound quality. I can't really comment on the video aspect yet because I have my sources connected directly to my LG Oled. I listen to a lot of MC music like sacds and dvd audio discs and the sound is excellent so far. I listen to all my music through the 7.1 analog inputs because I really like the dacs in my Oppo 205.

I read the manual before getting the 976 and setup did not take long at all. I tried going with the auto setup but it failed because I did not have 2 back surround speakers. I have a 6.1 setup and Outlaw Ben from tech support was good at explaining what happened. It was no big deal though because I really prefer to do a manual setup myself and that is what I did using the 976 test tones for balancing the speakers.

The sound stage is quite big and full sounding like Adrian L mentioned, and I am liking this more and more as I go through various sacds. The noise floor is incredibly low on the 976. This is one quiet prepro. Movies sound very good as well and dialogue is quite clear. I am hearing everything better now with good detail in the front stage.

I ran REW for all of my speakers and applied the EQ recommended filters to the PEQ of the 976. It was not hard after using the match response to target and then looking at the EQ adjustments it suggested. I tried using the EQ for all my speakers but decided to just use the subwoofer filters for now. The other speaker responses looked pretty good as they were. My graph on REW for the sub looks smoother now with EQ applied even though I do get an overall lower bass output. I have been watching movies with EQ on and off to compare the sound.

I have had to turn the gain on my sub up just a bit but that is ok and not unusual when you get a new prepro. I have been trying to decide on whether to keep the 976 or stick with my Marantz AVR but I am definitely leaning towards the 976 because the sound is so good and I have always wanted to go back to separates.

Outlaw has invested a lot of time into making the 976 a quality component and it is evident in the sound I am hearing. I wish I could accommodate Atmos but I just can't for now, so the 976 is a good match. For me it is all about the sound and the 976 delivers this well. Thanks for reading my review.

Thank you for posting your review.

Excellent feedback on your 976's performance. Almost everyone has noted the improved clarity of dialogue which will be nice. I have a separate 2-channel rig but after reading your comments on how good music sounds I will certainly give it a go. I think using your OPPO UDP-205's DACs is likely a good choice but it would be interesting to compare. My 976 is I'm my cabinet, I'm wall mounting my LG OLED today, the OPPO UDP-203 is in, my old Apple TV and cable TV box that will be replaced in the near future are hooked up. I plan on doing the manual setup but I will have to wait on adjusting the PEQ when my mic arrives.

Would it be possible for you to walk through the REW steps with the 976? And maybe share a look at your room curves? Thanks!

Thanks for reading my brief review and for your comments. I would not mind going through the REW steps for the 976 except that I am a complete novice when it comes to REW. I learned how to do it by reading AustinJerry's REW guide for novices like me. I would highly recommend it. He goes step by step and it is not hard to follow.

I will provide a link to it here. I don't mind trying to answer specific questions about the procedure, but I would no good at trying to give a walk through of the steps like you mentioned. On the link I am providing, you don't have to setup an account with dropbox. There should be an option to do a direct download. Thanks.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/91-audio-t...ml#post22823228

5.1 System; I just put my 976 through the Auto Setup process. It registered 2 SB speakers not present and did not continue through the setup program. I then went to the speaker configuration menu and marked the SB speakers as "None." I then re-ran the program and it went through the entire program and gave an error message, "LS out of phase." Pretty cool, I would have never detected that...so I put the speaker in phase and ran the program again. The error was corrected, and different parameters were set for the out of phase speaker. Nicely done, Outlaw Audio! Sound is amazing...very clear, and the picture is outstanding...running THX Cinema on most sources (OTA Tivo; Apple TV; Fire TV; Blue-ray). Played a concert Blue-ray, Rolling Stones 1978 Tour of Some Girls...no speaker level adjustment needed, and sounded full and balanced.

I have been very happy with my 990 surround processer but as others I need HDMI switching for HDR displays(projector/flat screen TV.) I did not want to get into the full Dolby Atmos/DTSX. I was going to wait on the flagship Outlaw but I got impatient and purchased the Marantz 7704. My system is 5.1 so I knew the most I would be getting would be Dolby TruHD and DTS. That was ok because later I could expand if I wanted to. The plus heard playing the Marantz 7704 was much better details in the surround channels than the 990 as would be expected due to the newer surround modes. I expected this. The 990 has a warmer fuller sound with less swirling effects. I was playing John Wick 2. Since music is more important to me I next set both the Marantz 7704 and Outlaw 990 to play in their bypass modes (pure mode) is Marantz cleanest mode. I ran the 2 channel analog output of the Oppo 205 into both processors. Both units provided full bass management. All I had to was switch the analog inputs and the sub outs to compare. I played Redbook CD. The first CD I played was Al Di Meola, The Grande Passion. When I read reviews that seem to good to be true I have doubts. The differences heard were staggering. The Marantz sounded thin in the bass, dynamic range was greatly reduced and the highs getting pinched and hard. The lower midrange on the Marantz was smooth. Repeating this with the 990 the impact was like night and day. The sound had weight and meat on the bone. Details were naturally presented and the music would swell in dynamic range. I simply could not believe the difference. I had my wife listen who hates all the audio comparisons. She believes we fail to enjoy the music with so much time spent looking at all these differences. Ok Honey just listen. My wife said the Marantz 7704 sounded like a toy instrument. Before you ask I calibrated both processors to ensure their outputs were equal (manual calibration).
Results: Marantz wins if you want all the bells and whistles and elaborate room eq. It clearly is in another league in regards to surround modes. The 7704 also has outstanding upscaling capabilities and HDMI switching. It is a beautiful piece of gear to look at. If on the other hand audio is more important to you and you need basic switching I believe you will be better served with the Outlaw 976. I have returned the 7704 and ordered the 976.

Just ordered mine (late Xmas present)! Will be replacing my 990 which continues to perform flawlessly.