"Yes, horns are much more efficient than direct radiators. Mine are 106db (!) efficient. BUT, all that means is that the preceeding stages must be squeaky clean from noise and distortion. It CAN be done. Like I have posted before, I have a vacuum tube preamp in line with my main left and right front speakers that has a fixed gain of 20db. It is dead quiet through my horns. Also, in home theatre enviornments, horns are really more common than in music only situations. Outlaw should have realized this and designed accordingly. There is no excuse for audible hiss from more than a couple feet from the speaker, no matter how efficient those speakers may be."

Well, yes and no. We're talking a mismatch in gain structures here. Unfortunately, you cannot optimize the gain structure to make everyone happy, and this thread attests to that. The gain structure of the Outlaw is optimized for typical HT speakers. THX certification specifies around 90db, so the 950 works great with those. Tube amps (particularly if they're old) were designed for horns. The Outlaw was not. Your 106db speakers are magnifying the hiss by 16db compared to the typical direct radiator!!!