It seems there is definately something amiss somewhere in your system! You might call Outlaw to confirm that you have a newer unit, but based on the serial number, I think you do.

First of all, the point of calibration to 75db is so that when the volume control is set at "00", you will be playing back DVD movies at the same level as they were originally mixed at in the dubbing theatre. If you have done this correctly, movies and CDs will be playing back very loud at "00".

You don't give specifics on how you calibrated your levels. Did you do the calibration with the sound level meter at your normal listening position? Was the meter set to "slow" response, and "C" weighting? Is your meter in good shape, not being dropped or some other damage?

The new 950 has about 8db more gain for the same setting on the volume control setting verses the old 950. The whole point is that you can set the volume control 8db lower for the same loudness, and correspondingly reduce the hiss by at least 8db because the volume of the hiss lowers as the volume knob is turned down. There were other improvements also, including the upgrading of some of the analog ICs to ones spec'd for lower noise. If you don't take into consideration this 8db difference and lower the volume control correspondingly, the new 950 will SEEM to have almost as much hiss as the old one. If you properly calibrate your levels and take advantage of this 8db of essentially "free" gain, the new 950 will hiss a lot less than the older one.

Do your power amps have input volume controls?

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited January 01, 2003).]