with the SR5005?

I have a old 1050 that I would love to replace. I am using the 1050 with an even older Parasound 2 channel power amp 205 wpc for the mains. I am trying to figure out, if I am better off getting another amp (e.g. a 7075 or Parasound 855) and used pre-amp (like the 990) or just using the SR5005 to replace the 1050 and staying with my current configuration.

Any advice?

It is likely to cost almost as much to go with the older equipment than it is to get the 5005 and all the upgraded capabilities. You could still use your Parasound for the mains if you like. At 100 WPC the Marantz has more power than the 7075 (at least in the advertizing.

I'm kind of like XenonMan - the SR5005 would probably be a good drop-in replacement for the Model 1050. The Parasound could continue to handle the fronts, and I suspect the SR5005 would handle the other speakers as well as the 1050 does. It would also offer some nice feature benefits over the 1050 or even the 990, such as Audyssey MultEQ.

Do you need a sub? If you (or anyone you know) would want an LFM-1 Compact, the current promotion would be a great fit for what you're talking about: $1000 for SR5005, LFM-1 Compact, and an OAW3 with free shipping.

I just picked up the SR5005 to replace my Outlaw 950 pre-amp. I had recently upgraded to to a blue ray player but because of lack of HDMI of the 950 I was using the 6 analog outs for the blue ray sound. Because I have a 7.1 system my rear speakers were silent.

I have to pick up a long HDMI cable (40 feet) so I can run the video signal to my front projector. When I get it set up I will return with my observations.

John

Gonk and XenonMan - Thank you for the feedback. I have decided to pick up a used Parasound HCA-855a amp off of ebay. In reviewing the specifications for the Marantz SRx005 line, I noticed that all of the amps had signficantly more noise, in terms of THD, than any of the Outlaw or Parasound equipment that I am currently using. While I don't know how important the differences are, I really didn't want to step back either.

While the Outlaw 978 will likely be out of my price range, I haven't completely excluded it or give up hope that Outlaw might return to the sub $1000 pre-pro market. In the interim, I will still keep an open mind about the SR5005 as a pre-pro (which as I recall how Outlaw marketed the SR5004).

Jefny - look forward to your posting your results.

I'm also still using my 1050 and love the sound, but it is getting a little long in the tooth from a decoding standpoint, plus since we've been adding flat panel TV's to our home, I'm in need of HDMI switching (I drive most of the TV's in the house from the main unit). Due to Outlaw's brief flirtation with Onkyo, I'm going to ask the question if the SR5005 is worth $400 more than an Onkyo TX-SR608? If the mod feels this is an inappropriate question, please remove my post. As you can see below, I'm not driving any large speakers and what I have is more than enough for my room (12'x17' dedicated). Any thoughts are appreciated.

My budget for HT is no longer in line with what Outlaw is providing for various reasons. One day I'm hoping to save for an Outlaw 7 channel amp, but the receiver is more of a priority at this point.

Thanks,
Todd

Receiver: Outlaw Audio 1050
TV: Philips Cineos 62" LCoS HD monitor
DSS: Dish Receiver 622 (HD and DVR)
HTPC/DVD: Dell Optiplex - Vista Home Premium
(Media Center running Media Browser)
Remote: Harmony 670

Speakers:
front: Jamo Classic 4
center: Definitive c100jr
Sub: Outlaw LFM-1
rear: Definitive BP1.2X
c.r.: Bose Model 100

I have an HT-RC260 which is very similar to the TX-SR608. It sounds great and it cost only 3 bills. I had to replace an old Sony which was having audio dropout issues. The new machine is a big step up for less than half of what the Sony cost 10 years ago.

Thanks for the advice XenonMan. In doing a little more research, it looks like I'd have to step up to the 708 in order to give myself amp flexibility for the future (or even if I wanted to continue to use the 1050 as the amp). The 608 has 4 Pre-Amp outs with two being for sub and two being for Zone 2. The 708 is halfway between the 608 and SR5005 in price.

That being said, due to cost, I could use the 608 as a stopgap and set up a savings account now for an Outlaw Pre-Pro and Amp as well as a projector. I have BIG dreams!

I finally tackled the job of replacing my 950 with the SR5005 and it was almost an all day marathon interspersed with calls to both Outlaw and Monoprice. I started by removing the cables from the 950 and literally placing the SR5005 where the 950 stood in the stack of gear (sitting on the 770 amp). I connected the SR5005 to my amp and ran the Audyssey setup using the included microphone. This seemed to go well and it indicated to me that my speakers were working with the amp and the SR5005

I next ran the 40 foot HDMI cable (AWG 22)from my Infocus X10 projector to the output on the SR5005 and then connected my Panasonic BD 85 blue ray player to input 1. I loaded a blue ray dvd into the player, turned on the SR5005 and fired up the projector. No picture and no sound.

I then reconnected the SR5005 to a flat screen TV with a 25 foot HDMI cable which worked and ran through the menus making sure that the blue ray was in sync with the SR5005 (HDMI was assigned to the BD player in the menu). Speaking of menus, there are too many of them and their functions could be made a little clearer. The Outlaw Manual gives the appearance of a bit of a rush job. It did appear clear to me that a 40 foot cable is too long. I did find in the manual that 35 feet should be the maximum length. This seemed to be supported by the fact that the 25 foot HDMI cable that I ran from my flat screen to the SR5005 seemed to work okay and the menus appeared. Strangely, when I ran the 40 foot HDMI cable directly to my Blue Ray player, the picture from the blue ray player suddenly appeared on the projector. A word of warning. AN AWG 22 cable is quite stiff and I had difficulty in securely plugging it into my overhead projector. The world of HDMI hardware has to do a better job of being able to securely plug cables into gear. They slip out too easily.

At this point I called Outlaw and got a very nice person who walked me through numerous tests but to no avail. His final suggestion was to use two HDMI cables with a repeater to boost the signal rather than one long one.

I then called Monoprice to complain to them that I originally wanted to add a 15 foot cable with a repeater to my 25 foot HDMI one and they strongly suggested that I go with one 40 foot run. In between calls I rechecked all connections to be sure the 40 foot cable was securely connected at both ends and low and behold everything worked (both sound and picture). I turned everything off but after a 30 minute break when I fired up everything there was no picture and no sound. When I pulled the 40 foot cable from the SR5005 I now got sound (of course no picture).

I began to curse both Outlaw and Monoprice but I then went to plan B. I plugged the 40 foot cable back into the blue ray player and I got a great picture (no sound of course). Afterwards I used the analog outs of the blue ray player to the analog ins of the SR5005 but there was still no sound. After going through the manual again (hey Outlaw, how about a good index at the back of your manual so I could find analog connections) I finally figured out that I would assign something called 7.1 to BD and it worked! I now had both picture (great) and high def sound (also great). Wonderful sound was coming from all my speakers. I next connected my TIVO which is hooked to the flat screen TV while connecting it to the SR5005 with an optical cable (again assigning 'TV" to optical 2). I repeated the same with an upscaling DVD player hooked to the flat screen via HDMI and to the SR5005 via coaxial (again assign DVD and coax) and now it all works. I played around with the different sound modes.

Sorry for the long and drawn out explanation but I almost had to get this out of my system. Outlaw could do a better job on their manual (no index) and the trouble shooting section is plainly inadequate I'm still not sure whether I should buy a 15 foot cable with a repeater to replace my 25 foot cable but I will continue to experience my new set up. I still have to decide whether it was worth replacing my 950 with the SR5005. I will get back in about a month.

John

To the above post I should have listed my system. My gear is as follows:

Outlaw 770 amp
Marantz SR5005
Pinnacle Gold speakers all around (2 tower mains, center, two smaller gold reference sides and 2 rears)
SVS Sub (cylinder)
Panasonic BD 85
Infocus X10 projector
Da-lite grey screen (110" diag)
TIVO HD
50" Panasonic plasma that sits under the screen for everyday TV)

The above is in a 14 foot by 21 foot family room.