Okay. I am torn between two receivers, the Outlaw 1050 and the Sony STR-DA3ES. I have had a Sony ES receiver now for over 8 years and have been happy with it. I am driving an older pair of B&W 600 series speakers (the older i series) and am looking for any thoughts on why the Outlaw would be a good replacement over the new Sony. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

As far as features, I don't see a lot of difference either way (a little more I/O available on the Sony; the amp ratings are fairly different, but the 1050 is always complemented for having more power than the 65W rating suggests). The Sony ES receiver is from a familiar product line for you, but the Outlaw offers siginficant build quality. There was a similar question not too long ago here on this forum, and one of the answers (charlie's answer) listed five or six features/traits of the 1050 -- two of those features were "solid" and "did I mention it's solid?" The 1050 is a very well built, high quality piece of equipment, backed by some of the best customer service you can find. I think you would be quite happy with the 1050 - I've been enjoying mine for a year and a half now.

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Gonk

I was also debating an Outlaw and another reciever, the Marantz. I finally decided on the Outlaw. After ordering it, I had it in 5 business days (Canadian customer) which I thought was very fast for ground delivery.
I originally had a JVC 8000. The JVC was rated at 120Watts x 2 20-20,000Hz; and 100Watts x 5 (measured at 1Khz). I was concerned with power on the Outlaw being rated at 65Watts x 6 (power rating driven into 3 channels).
After hooking it up and throwing in the first CD I knew I made the right decision. The power concerns dissipated quickly. The sound I was hearing was clearer and more present with possibly a wider soundstage. Then I went to a DTS movie (Disney's Dinosaur) and the sound just seemed to envelop the room more completely. The bass was much more powerful and the surrounds were more active. This probably indicates better quality DACs, DSPs, DTS and DD decoders. I can say without a doubt this is far better than my JVC. My sons were over (Sony and Kenwood owners) and were blown away by the quality of the sound; their next reciever will probably be the Outlaw. Also with my old setup JVC and Toshiba DVD I used analog inputs for my CDs because the Tosh had the HDCD decoder which sounder better with CDs rather than going coaxial and using the JVCs DAP. With the Outlaw I went back to the coaxial connect for the CD playing and found the sound even better than before (first I used the analog inputs to compare). So I'm quite convinced the quality of the Outlaw is far better in that price range than any other unit on the shelf. Are there better recievers? Of course, if you want to spend the money (probably twice the amount before you surpass the Outlaw). Dollar for dollar I don't think the Outlaw can be beat.

I was also on the fence when it was time to replace my Onkyo. I was leaning towards a new Onkyo since I enjoyed my previous one so much. I had,however, seen so many good reviews about the 1050 and was impressed with what I had read about their customer service, that I figured I owed it to myself to at least try the Outlaw. It would only cost me $25 dollars(shipping) to send it back if I didn't like it.

After I set up the 1050, I knew right away I wasn't sending it back. I was able to understand what everyone was raving about. A few months later I also experienced how Outlaw's customer service works and what sets them apart from most other companies.

A friend of mine purchased a nice receiver from one of the local electronics stores. He was reluctant of buying anything online and wanted to buy something in town where he could take it back if he needed to. He had it a little over a month when it broke. Although it was still under warranty, it was more than 30 days after he purchased it, so his only option was to have the store send it to the manufacturer's repair facility. Six weeks later he received someone else's CD player that was mixed up with his receiver. It was another two weeks after that when he finally got his receiver back.

During the two months my friend was without his receiver, something went wrong with my 1050 which I had owned for about 4 months. I called Outlaw and spoke to a real person who helped me trouble shoot the problem. It was determined the unit should be sent back. I had a new 1050 at my door in less than 24 hours! My friend was sick with envy. He is still regretting not going with Outlaw, especially after hearing mine.