Dear SLL, Soundhound & Countrymen:
and Ricky...

I have enjoyed this topic thoroughly. I have laughed out loud, often cringed, and really learned a lot about the human traits of the "audiophile community."

When I read Ricky's review of the "Outlaw 950 vs Aragon Stage One (in the house!!) I was stuck by his perception of the weaknesses of the 950. Compared to the Aragon Stage One, the 950...
1) "sounded a little thin and was harsh at high volumes; the soundstage not as cohesive or big"
2) " soundstage was narrow and not as detailed. The female vocals were centered, but seem to dominate(d) the rest of the music"

The Aragon Stage One had the following qualities by comparison...
1) " better, more room filling bass, with superior resolution/detail and never sounded harsh. With the Aragon I notice people's breathing and lips moving. I did not notice this with the Outlaw"
2) "using the Parasound's dacs, the soundstage is deeper, wider, with clearer female vocals"
3) "the Aragon produced a much deeper, wider soundstage with clean, rich vocals, and more prominent bass

Well... If I had any of these sonic shortcomings on my system, I would be devastated. Thin, harsh, narrow soundstage, shallow soundstage, lack of detail, poor rendering of female vocals... any one of these words are dynamite, but together... these are truly Weapons of Mass Destruction.

But, I don't recognize any of these devastating afflictions in my system configuration, which includes the 950. In fact, these are the very qualities that I am so impressed with... so I began to wonder why? What could possibly explain such contrasting observations of sonic quality?

Maybe, I thought, if Ricky's personal observations were indeed unbiased (as much as can be expected of any of us), there might be something other than the Pre-Pro... that these observations were made using his system, and more specifically though his speakers. And JT, does he have the same speakers? I think he does...

Of all the links in the chain of a quality audio system, I have always believed that it was the speakers (including placement and room charactersitics), the actual vocal cords of the system, that were the beginning, and the end of how every other part of a system configuration must depend. This is why I have asked Soundhound and SLL about their speakers in such detail in past topic pages.

From her posts, I know that SLL has a passion for her new Vienna Acoustics 'Beethoven's mains, and seeks to augment these with more acoustically matched speakers when she has the time and resources available. From what I remember, Soundhound has custom modified Klipsch speakers that have been an evolution of his tastes, his knowledge, and a labor of love to optimize through the use of specialty amplification and a very clear signal path. Both SLL and Soundhound selected the 950 as part of their road to sonic nirvana.

I own B&W Nautilus 803 mains and B&W CDM NT center and surrounds, featuring a metal dome tweeter design. The N803's have a very unique midrange driver (Fixed Suspension Transducer) which transitions seamlessly to the Nautilus tweeter at 4000Hz. To enhance the lowest end, I have 2 Velodyne HGS 15 Series II subwoofers. I like organ music, and the lowest pedal frequency is down at 22Hz.

Well... you can't buy this stuff on the internet, unless it is used. Through my system, Emmylou Harris' voice is beyond description, and the same goes for any number of sopranos, mezzo sopranos, or alto women's vocals I have enjoyed. These speakers are critically acclaimed for their extremely well detailed, spatial and balanced sound reproduction. The soundstage, in terms of width, depth and location, is nothing short of phenomenal. Vocals (especially women's vocals) are breathtaking.

So... how much better could it be... perhaps with an Aragon Stage One, or my preference for a Lexicon MC12 ???? I just can't say. But I can say that with the 950 in the signal path, the terms of art "thin, harsh, narrow soundstage, shallow soundstage, lack of detail, poor rendering of female vocals"... do not apply. Not in the least.

Which brings me to make a suggestion to those who seek to confirm the Outlaw 950 is the weak link in the chain. This is not meant to be cruel or judgmental, but please consider some alternative speaker configurations before you leap to these conclusions.

It is interesting to note that you can point, click and buy the latest NHT's speakers over the internet in a similar fashion that an Outlaw might order a 950. Selling products on-line doesn't mean that they are necessarily of lesser quality, but you have got to do it right. Outlaw does it right.

Finally... I must confess that I am very biased. I could not trade my B&W's for a pair of NHT's, not even if the NHT's were free. Not even if someone paid me.


[This message has been edited by AGAssarsson (edited April 08, 2003).]