I am up early this morning, and Outlaw has just announced that the 997 Project has been aborted. After reading the Outlaw's reasoning, and the announcement of a the new 998 Project, I have to smile. I do like these Outlaws, and I feel satisfied that they did all they could to bring their customers a first rate processor, but sometimes, s**t happens.

I will be looking forward to hearing more about the 998 Project, and I hope there are others who share my trust that the Outlaws will do everything to get this one right.

Here is Outlaw's vision of the 998 ... Model 998 Rendering

Hope it is a grand slam ... Going, Going, Gone ...

i agree. im also excited for the other new products in the pipeline too. i have a good feeling that the albatross has been removed and 2010 is going to be good to be an Outlaw.

Good decision by Outlaw. After following the nightmare that the 972 was, it makes sense that Outlaw didn't want to have to deal with all those issues. I'm glad to see too that they are developing their own product and not rebadging another manufacturer's product. Disappointing for those waiting, but the promise of a product with today's cutting edge technology is a better choice than what the 997 was going to offer.

I agree, good decision by Outlaw.

I am still going to wait for an Outlaw pre\pro and look forward to watching this one come to market. I really like the fact that the Outlaw Team is building it!

Just wanted to say that I support Outlaw's decision!

Just saw the note from Outlaw about kicking the 997 to the curb. While quite a bit late, I agree that this is the right decision. This whole affair has been a distraction that has cost Outlaw substantial amounts of time, money, and (most importantly) a big hit to its existing customer base. Hopefully, the new 998 will arrive in a timely manner.

In spite of my sometimes sharp criticism, I wish Peter and the gang the best of luck in turning things around.

Best,

It's a shame that the Model 997 didn't pan out, but after reading the R-972 thread at AVS off and on for something like six months now, this feels like a good decision - it felt like stable firmware was a lot of months away, and even then it wasn't necessarily guaranteed. A Model 997 that came to market in December 2010 would have been very out of place, even with the potential that Trinnov offers.

The Model 998, on the other hand, certainly sounds promising. The design approach (with Outlaw having a more direct hand in the decision-making process) and feature set (with Trinnov, PLIIz, and HDMI v1.4) are reminiscent of the Model 950, which was among the first products to offer Pro Logic II and the "triple crossover" bass management. I also think it's cool that the front panel design gives a nice tip of the hat to the RR2150.

I had pretty much decided to pass on the 997. The 998,however,sound like a different story. I'll be excited to see further information.
In light of Peter's previous praise of height speakers, I'm suprised that there was no mention of 9.1.
Does anyone know anythind about Dolby PLIIZ?

While I can understand there will be a lot of disappointment about this decision, I think that the outlaws made the right call in cutting their losses. Perhaps around the time that the 998 comes around it will be time to replace my 990. (Which is still working like the day it came through the door BTW.)

Good call outlaws. Best luck on getting the 998 out to market.

sraber

They mention the $200 rebate for past Outlaw processor owners - ANY processor? (950 here) I remember it was only recent/current models for the 997.

I think it was $200 for 990 and 970 owners, and then later extended to offer $100 for 950 owners.