I was also debating an Outlaw and another reciever, the Marantz. I finally decided on the Outlaw. After ordering it, I had it in 5 business days (Canadian customer) which I thought was very fast for ground delivery.
I originally had a JVC 8000. The JVC was rated at 120Watts x 2 20-20,000Hz; and 100Watts x 5 (measured at 1Khz). I was concerned with power on the Outlaw being rated at 65Watts x 6 (power rating driven into 3 channels).
After hooking it up and throwing in the first CD I knew I made the right decision. The power concerns dissipated quickly. The sound I was hearing was clearer and more present with possibly a wider soundstage. Then I went to a DTS movie (Disney's Dinosaur) and the sound just seemed to envelop the room more completely. The bass was much more powerful and the surrounds were more active. This probably indicates better quality DACs, DSPs, DTS and DD decoders. I can say without a doubt this is far better than my JVC. My sons were over (Sony and Kenwood owners) and were blown away by the quality of the sound; their next reciever will probably be the Outlaw. Also with my old setup JVC and Toshiba DVD I used analog inputs for my CDs because the Tosh had the HDCD decoder which sounder better with CDs rather than going coaxial and using the JVCs DAP. With the Outlaw I went back to the coaxial connect for the CD playing and found the sound even better than before (first I used the analog inputs to compare). So I'm quite convinced the quality of the Outlaw is far better in that price range than any other unit on the shelf. Are there better recievers? Of course, if you want to spend the money (probably twice the amount before you surpass the Outlaw). Dollar for dollar I don't think the Outlaw can be beat.