I did the experiment to see if I have hiss that stays even when switching back to digital. First of all, I have pretty good power conditioning, but not a 'megabuck' unit. It consists of 3 stages of RFI/EMI filters in various stages throughout the system, the last stage being a TrippLite 'isobar' strip. Also, I have a very low level buzz that given the complexity of my system, is to be expected. I have large theatre horn seakers for the L,C,& R speakers. and direct radiators on the sides/back.

In a digital source, coming in 'Optical #1' the hiss is audible from about 1 foot from the horn. Switching to analog, the hiss is louder, audible from about 6 feet away. Switching back to digital, the hiss returns to the original level for the digital input, i.e. hiss audible from only 1 foot away. I tried this many times and the result was always the same. In analog, the hiss is volume control dependent, getting louder as the control is advanced. At "+10" the hiss is much louder, and I can hear bleed-through of the FM tuner. Of course at that level I would not want to be in the same room when playing source material, and it is an un-reasonable test for hiss level. In digital input, the volume control does not really increase the level of hiss as it is advanced.

So, do I have a 'hiss problem"? I don't think so. The Outlaw is about as hissy relatively as my Sony EP9ES I had previously. Under normal level control settings, I cannot hear the hiss from my listening position, which is 15 feet away.

What I CAN say, hower, is that the analog section of the Outlaw 950 could use some design re-thinking. In my opinion, it is relatively noisier than it needs to be, given the amount of gain it has to provide (not much). I haven't dug around in the innards of the 950, and have no desire to given the complexity of connecting it into my system, so I do not know how the analog section was implemented.

Maybe our Solid Stage Logic guy (ssltech) can provide some answers about the topology having been inside the beast?

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited September 20, 2002).]