Well. I didn't get an email!


ATI called!!!!!


A marketing rep from ATI called this afternoon (am to him).

The first words out of his mouth after the courtesies was the disclaimer. "I cannot disclose any intricacies of the Outlaw amp, and, we have no ownership of Outlaw".

Then he sang the Outlaw's praises. "A great bargain." Very similar to the ATI 2005.

Then the comparison. "Ford makes the Expedition (7500)vs Lincoln's Navigator (ATI 2005). They both have the same frame and you upscale to get the other." "The ATI 2005 is like Outlaw 7500 on steroids." The basics of the two amps are the same. All you have to do is look at internal photos of each.

He told the story of ATI starting as SAE. He listed companies that ATI makes amps for including Onkyo, Integra, JBL, Creston and others. Most are designed by ATI to customer specs, but not all.

He said that the 2005 and 2007 had the same toroid amps. The 2007 adds modules for the additional channels. One main difference between the two was the ability to upgrade an ATI 2005 to a 2006/2007 by returning it to ATI. Using the larger toroid amps in the 2005 (7500), was overkill but necessary for the upgrade path to the 2007.

He said that while the MSRP was $900 higher for the ATI, the street price was $1900 or $400 higher than the Outlaw 7500. He said that there are authorized (he emphasized the importance of being authorized) dealers who sold for the street price. He said that Outlaw's internet sales and outsourced manufacturing make possible huge savings for the consumer.

We talked about the features of the ATI 2000 and 3000 series while I looked at an ATI brochure (link) on-line. We discussed the excellence of ATI design, engineering and manufacture used for all amps ATI produces. We discussed the differences you could see looking at photos of the 7500 and 2000/3000 series.

We discussed the fact that ATI and Outlaw products don't show up often, or stay long, on sites like Audiogon. He said that it would be hard to find an ATI 2005 on a dealer shelf. Most sales drop ship from the factory. Most audio boutiques keep lower end models on the floor. ATI is not sold through the big box stores. He said that there are a few dealers nationally authorized but in recent years contracts are written for local sales only.

I appreciated his call and his frankness. From what we dicussed I believe the 7500 is what he said, "A great bargain".