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#77923 - 11/04/07 06:44 PM Outlaw 7700 - End of the road
BloggingITGuy Offline
Desperado

Registered: 02/20/06
Posts: 446
Loc: Beaverton, Oregon
Well I finally did it and ordered a B-Stock Outlaw 7700 amp and the bundle of 7 balanced interconnects.

Also went to Magnolia's yesterday and got a B&K 200.7 clearance item, so I have something to audition the Outlaw against.

They had to get the 200.7 from another store so sent me home with a 200.5.

Interestingly the slight high frequency hiss (you have to put your head right next to the speakers to hear it) that is coming from all speakers is still there, which leads me to believe that it's an issue with the preamp and not the amp as I first thought.

So far the B&K is a small improvement over the old Kenwood. Even though wattage is rated at twice the Kenwood, it doesn't push out more DB (then again it's loud enough to be unbearable at reference level which is probably loud enough, methinks). It does seem to be less pinched, have higher bandwidth when played wide open.

Anyhow, better end this before my better half chops my head off. smile

More to come.

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#77924 - 11/06/07 05:39 PM Re: Outlaw 7700 - End of the road
BloggingITGuy Offline
Desperado

Registered: 02/20/06
Posts: 446
Loc: Beaverton, Oregon
Cool beans, the amp is coming from California and is scheduled to arrive on Thursday the 8th and the PCB balanced cables are set to arrive on Saturday.

Can't wait.

I also pick up the B&K 200.7 tonight.

Going to be fun to compare the two amps.

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#77925 - 11/08/07 04:20 AM Re: Outlaw 7700 - End of the road
bmplockmonster Offline
Deputy Gunslinger

Registered: 11/03/07
Posts: 2
please keep a post.i just bought a 7500 and was seriosly lookin at the b&k 200.5.i would greatly appreciate your feedback.i just hooked up the 7500 and didn't have much time to listen to it.im using my onkyo 805 as a preamp w/polk lsi15 and center w/ads surrounds(i cant afford the matching rears for awhile)thanks and have fun. Brian

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#77926 - 11/08/07 05:17 AM Re: Outlaw 7700 - End of the road
BloggingITGuy Offline
Desperado

Registered: 02/20/06
Posts: 446
Loc: Beaverton, Oregon
Will do. I saw that it made it to Portland so I should definitely have the amp tomorrow barring some issue.

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#77927 - 11/09/07 03:13 AM Re: Outlaw 7700 - End of the road
BloggingITGuy Offline
Desperado

Registered: 02/20/06
Posts: 446
Loc: Beaverton, Oregon
Well the amp came in around 3:00pm here today.

My girlfriend remarked that she's guessing that I'll be keeping the Outlaw as she has no idea how we'd ship it back as it's so heavy. smile

First impressions so far...it's heavy. It's put together very well. The pictures on the website don't do it justice. I think for contrast sake they make the units looks gray on the website so you can see the various details of the unit.

It's not gray however, but basic black, which is fine by me. I'd classify the looks of the piece as understated...Kind of like a secret service agent in a dark suit packing a concealed submachine gun is understated, hehe.

Oh and for all those worried about getting B stock items from the Outlaws, you don't have to worry. This item arrived fully boxed and as far as I can tell is in perfect "like new" condition. No scratches, nothing. No issues.

Terminals are top notch. My banana plugs and RCA connectors fit on them well. No complaints there.

The thing is heavy, so if you have to mount it on a shelf other than very bottom, you will need help to lift it. I just put it on the bottom right of my Salamander Triple Thirty and it fit perfectly into the space previously occupied by my old Kenwood amp.

One other thing about the appearance of the unit. Those big feet aren't just there for show. The amp has air openings on the top and bottom to allow for good airflow to cool the thing. Haven't seen how hot it gets yet, but you'd probably need a fan or something to move air around it if you put it in an enclosed rack or cabinet.

When I calibrated my preamp with the B&K 200.5, I didn't have to make huge changes to the levels on any of the channels. With the Outlaw 7700, I had to readjust all channels down like 6 or 7 db. I think this is just a matter of the gain they have the amp's input set to.

Noise floor with this amp seems to be comparable to the B&K. With preamp full on (+18db) and and a null input selected (input with nothing selected) both amps output about 67-68db of noise when measured from an inch away from the tweeter of all speakers.

I have the Radio Shack digital SPL meter and it doesn't go below 50, so I had to do the measurements that way. This is fine though as it is used for my own personal comparisons and the measurements are taken in a consistent way.

For reference, the Kenwood 6 x 100watt amp measures about 65 db using the same method.

At reference level all 3 amps measure below 50 so more detailed info there cannot be given.

As for how each amp sounds, all three are pretty much transparent as far as I can tell. They all pretty much present the sound as it's delivered to them, although I think the Outlaw and the B&K are better able to keep up when played at or near reference level when watching stuff like the Matrix lobby shooting spree scene.

Music wise I haven't really noticed much of a difference between either amps, although both of the new amps seem to have a bit better steering and separation of channels than the Kenwood, which is pretty much what you'd expect.

Oh one last thing. The Outlaw seems to have a bit softer of a startup than the B&K, although the Outlaw does make a buzzing noise for maybe the first 30 seconds that it is turned on. It's not very loud and as I said goes away. It also might have a slight hum when it is turned on, but it's very slight.

The B&K does not exhibit either issue but does start up a lot harder making the lights in the house dim a bit as a result.

I think that's it for now. Will have more to report when I get the balanced cable bundle on Saturday.

Cheers!

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#77928 - 11/09/07 05:55 PM Re: Outlaw 7700 - End of the road
BloggingITGuy Offline
Desperado

Registered: 02/20/06
Posts: 446
Loc: Beaverton, Oregon
One more thing to report.

The hum coming from the amp (this is not being imparted to the speakers but is humming noise coming from the amp itself) is a bit louder than the B&K and is always there, even when the system has warmed up a bit.

How loud is it? You can hear the hum even with the XBox 360 on (with no disk spinning).

Is it noticeable when the system is playing music or a movie? Not really, but it is there nonetheless.

Anyone else have a 7500 or 7700 that makes a noticeable humming noise?

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#77929 - 11/09/07 06:30 PM Re: Outlaw 7700 - End of the road
gonk Offline
Desperado

Registered: 03/21/01
Posts: 14054
Loc: Memphis, TN USA
My 7500 is in an enclosed cabinet, but I've not noticed it making any noise when I've got the cabinet door open. I'll give a closer listen this weekend.
_________________________
gonk
HT Basics | HDMI FAQ | Pics | Remote Files | Art Show
Reviews: Index | 990 | speakers | BDP-93

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#77930 - 11/09/07 06:32 PM Re: Outlaw 7700 - End of the road
BloggingITGuy Offline
Desperado

Registered: 02/20/06
Posts: 446
Loc: Beaverton, Oregon
Thanks Gonk.

Unfortunately, I do not have the budget at the moment to add the doors, sides and extended backs to my Salamander to enclose it.

Plus considering how much heat my prepro, amp and XBox 360 generates, I'm not sure it would be a good idea.

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#77931 - 11/09/07 09:05 PM Re: Outlaw 7700 - End of the road
Rick S Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 26
I have my 7700 in an open Salamander rack too. I haven't noticed any sound coming from it either. I'll check it out closer too.

Rick

Edit: I have balanced interconnects between the 990 & 7700 (if it matters).
_________________________
Outlaw Audio 990
Outlaw Audio 7700
OPPO BDP-83SE
Playstaion 3
Panamax M5400-PM
Sony VPL-VW60
Stewart110" FireHawk G3
North Creek Music Systems CM-7's
Dayton Titanic 15" MKIII subs (2)

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#77932 - 11/10/07 03:43 AM Re: Outlaw 7700 - End of the road
fm Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 04/25/06
Posts: 44
Loc: CA
Many times transformer buzz can be caused by a dirty AC power voltage. In many cases a filter (to remove DC components) can resolve this issue.

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