Outlaw 950 Arriving today, What to expect? (1 Viewer)

[Kevin C Brown]

Peter- You want to drive up San Jose and hear my 950 hiss? You're invited...
BTW, I know of at least 2 people here in town who have rarely or not at all posted about their units either here or the Outlaw Saloon. Both returned them because of HISSSSSSS.

 

[Russell _T]

What Peter said except I think it's only three guys.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

RT-

Me, AppleJelly, Will, Soundhound, bbpj, Dawg, jpancake, chris3g, zakman, plus the 2 local dudes I know, etc...

 

[John.Meer]

Add me. Had an early one (before the hiss stoppage). Sold it. Found out the other day it failed. NOTE: The Outlaws shipped a replacement out right away, no questions asked. Can't beat that from a resale value standpoint.

[rant]Any way, I think they really plowed a furrow from a QC standpoint on this thing.[/rant]

Still love my 750.

 

[Erik_C]

Me too. Had two supposedly hiss-fixed 950s. Both had hiss that you could hear from 10 feet away. They went back. And I bought an Anthem AVM20 v.2.0 instead. Which sounds so much better it's not even funny. And no hiss.
-Erik

 

[Ellen]

I was on the 950 waiting list. And when they reported that the hiss problem was fixed and began shipping units again, I decided to take a chance and place an order. As soon as I powered the 950 up the first time, I heard the hiss immediately. I found it very bothersome. I could hear it from my listening position on quiet passages. Sent an email to Outlaw about it and the president of the company called me directly to talk about problem (I was very impressed with that). He shipped me a second unit in case the first was a lemon. Second unit sounded just like the first. I sent both of them back.

I say all of this not to complain about or bash the Outlaws, but to let readers of this thread know that the hiss problem is real (though it does seem to manifest itself more in some systems than others) and it is not just a few loud mouths running from forum to forum trying to stir up trouble.

 

[David S]

This comment is pretty funny

 

[David S]

"Which sounds so much better it's not even funny".
This comment is pretty funny

 

[Ken Stokes]

As a rule I don't make posts of a negative nature and bottom line this one won't be either. I ordered the 950 for a second system in our family room. Before the final install I put it in my main system just to see what it would do. My gear is not the best available but it is pretty good. The hiss was evident immediately and could be heard up to five feet away. While providing a tremendous amount of features for the money there is no way it could exist in my main system. In the secondary system (tv mostly) it seemed to take a long time (up to six seconds)to acquire the audio signal. I watch news programs in the mornings and some football on that system, I switch channels constantly. Between the hiss and the time delay I returned the unit and went back to using a Denon AVR-5600 as the pre-pro in that system. The only way to make the delay shorten was to lock it into one mode which I didn't want to do. Some broadcasts are stereo, some pro-logic, and a few 5 channel. Outlaw was more than helpful with my questions and accepted the return without question.

If it didn't have the hiss I would think it would be an unprecedented value in any system. There is always something better for more money but at that price I don't think there is another product that comes close. That said the cost wasn't a huge factor to me and the unit just didn't' satisfy.

The ability to purchase a unit offering this much for such a low price and the ability to easily return it should make for a great business model. I would think anyone in the market at this price range would be foolish not to try the unit. If you don't have the hiss and are using it for HT it's a great value.

Ken