WOW I think you need to look around the HiFi market a bit and you would realize most f your ideas are already in use, or proven to be a bad idea.

as far as the size and looks of things, its all about the sound here, if you want pretty to the eye, Bose has your product.

If we're talking about design in general, I agree. And over the years, they've done that a number of times. The Model 1050 had an adjustable crossover when that was still unheard of. The ICBM-1 remains a unique entity that still sells on the used market for the original list price. The Model 950 had three separate adjustable crossovers and analog bass management for the multichannel analog input, both of which were new concepts. The RR2150's bass management is still rare for a stereo receiver. The BLS and LCR speakers have done some unique things with boundary compensation controls. Every product can't be a trend-setter, but they've had some moments of brilliance.

I was pointing out why the specific example didn't relate so well. A wireless HDMI implementation (which is not specific to LG - it's been a sort of industry "holy grail" for several years, in part because HDMI lifted its video spec from DVI, which was developed for computer monitors and has a pretty inconvenient maximum cable length of 15 meters) doesn't translate over to subs well because you still need the plate amp in there.


A sharp engineer could absolutely come up with a series of work-arounds that would provide a clean rear panel on a sub. You'd need to disguise the power connection. You'd need to disguise the plate amp (which needs breathing room for heat rejection). You'd need to disguise the inputs or do a wireless connection (which would involve deciding whether to make the wireless connection mandatory or to retain connections on the unit for all the folks who don't need and don't want to pay for the wireless). The result is a sub with significant cost added to allow all sides to be "pretty faces." The market for that is small, though. How many of us have subs located such that all sides are visible? The standard active subwoofer plate amp isn't perfect, but it's a solution that gets used over and over again because it's the most cost effective (and thus competitive) solution going.


I doubt that either an Amazon or eBay storefront would make a lot of sense, although they have sold some b-stock gear through eBay in the past. They already have an e-commerce site of their own, so they don't need either company to provide that service for them.

I am sure Amazon and ebay would do the service for free. I think the Outlaws are doing just fine where they are. Don't need another web store to jack up the price.

The issue is that it's not $150, maybe $500, because engineering/development for a low volume product is a significant cost issue. Outlaw is designed as a value brand, not money no object brand. There are so many things that can be done, but since Outlaw wants to do value as a primary goal, getting a highly functional product is a higher priority for them.

There are people that like glowing facades, but Outlaw is not the company making that kind of product. Outlaw is different from the crowd, as they offer products other people don't, even though others might offer "similar" products.

Like the guy from Australia, I am surprised he even gave Outlaw a second glance. Lots of criticisms from someone who within 3 minutes of plugging it in had 5 "suggestions", none of which has to do with performance of the sub. I especially liked that the sub is too big. The dimensions are clearly posted on the product page. What, he couldn't take out a ruler and measure the dimensions on one of those other big boxes he has laying around to see how huge the sub is?He even blames Outlaw for FEDEX delivering the sub earlier than he would have liked. What is it with this guy. He'll probably blame Outlaw for tightening the plate amp screws too much when he figures out where the kids ball is.

In Woohoo's defense, the LFM-1 Plus is his first sub - he's noted elsewhere that he's starting to upgrade from an old stereo setup to surround sound, and this is his first purchase in that process. If you stop and think about how much things have changed in just the last fifteen years, it's daunting. You are moving from an all stereo analog audio environment with just two speakers and no digital audio formats (coaxial, optical, and HDMI), signal processing (multichannel decoding, bass management, channel trims, distance settings, matrix processing, etc...), or video switching to worry with.

As for sub size, the LFM-1 Plus and EX are fairly middle-of-the road. There are a lot of larger ported subs on the market, but to get appreciably smaller you tend to move into either much lesser performance (small ported designs with -3dB points up into the mid-30Hz range) or higher cost (sealed designs like the ECS-10).

Thanks for the defense Gonk.

In a manufacturer forum called "Your Two Cents" why wouldn't I give my opinion on what I think would make a Outlaw a better company?

Thanks for the conversation guys. These boards need a little more life.

We can debate aesthetics, engineering, and system components in a different thread.

FWIW, I think some of the wiring issues could have been addressed by putting the wiring plate on the bottom of the sub, which would have necessitated raising the sub (not necessarily a bad thing for a device that is downward firing).

Not a bad idea - I've seen some down-firing passive subs that do this. There would be some extra cost (building a sub with a separate panel for these connections), but I think the biggest challenge would be how much extra height would be required. Unless you restricted users to only using 90° connectors for the audio and power, you'd need a significant gap under the sub for the cables to turn without crimping. My sub is at least a couple inches off the wall right now, and can't get any closer due to those bends.

One cable-hiding idea, that might not 'float' in the consumer market*, is a set of 'pigtails', leaving the connectors-on-cables you don't need retracted. That way only the power cord needs a right angle end connector. And, unless your kids are into furniture tipping, switches and knobs underneath keep the settings generally out of the way of little fingers.

* Consumers are taught what to expect and generally don't want to deviate even if the deviation is toward improvement. Then, again, we are Outlaws! If we hadn't deviated from the mainstream at least a little bit, we wouldn't be here :-D