Originally Posted By: beyond 1000

Where do I begin to agree on this. Xenonman this is painful to read what you are saying but sadly TRUE. As I said subtly before, Outlaw needs to get the 978 out NOW. Where you say that even if they build it they won't recoup any losses is something that I'm now seeing for myself. As much as they are working on the 978 to get it right, I don't think the market will even care at that point. Slow off the starting line and you loose the race. If they do get the 978 out and selling how long will those sales last and what is their next project after that one? I forsee a few good reviews on it and then very mediocre sales and it will fizzle out into oblivion.

Outlaw should refreshen their line. Bring out a two channel amp, bring out an AVR, bring out a quality bluray player...but mostly bring out something.

The possibility of Outlaw scrapping the processor as to not falling into a deeper financial pit may be the very next move as Xenonman just pointed out.


Indeed they need to get it out now. But even if they've finished the design by now and they would want to get released earlier than they previously preferred to, with some minor issues, they probably have yet to complete the various certifications (Audyssey, Dolby, DTS, HDMI, FCC, UL, CSA, etc.).

Bringing out a two-channel amp is a feasible task for them. A quality Blu-ray player on the other hand where the mid-end is already solidly occupied by the likes of Oppo and Marantz would be suicidal at this point. The higher-end is again mostly owned by Oppo and others such as Denon, Marantz, Cambridge Audio, Ayre, etc..

Bringing out an AVR just opens up the same can of worms as the 978, which they've yet to release. It's the digital side of the design where most of the complexity lies. The AVR market is already over-saturated with offerings at every imaginable price-point by Denon, Onkyo, Integra, Marantz, NAD, Anthem, etc.

In light of the new receivers and the new rumored processors from Marantz, I'm also afraid that just like XenonMan said the 978 may become a lost cause. They should have designed the 978 in the US even if design costs would have ended being higher. Then they could have had the units made in China (sorry Ritz). In this way, I believe they would have made it sooner to market and that's often critical in this day and age.