Outlaw 950 Has Arrived!!!
Outlaw 950
Reviewed
Glimpse into the Heart and Soul of Outlaw Audio
by Steven Simon
4-15-2002
Pre/Pro setups have been a huge topic of conversation on Home Theater Forum for
some time now, and after a while, it started dawning on me that I should
probably finish off on what I set out to do; a full Separates system. My first
move was to have all the channels of amps ready to go. I now have a beefy 2
Channel Amp(Parasound HCA1500 205W) powering my Studio 100’s, and 5 Monoblock
Amps powering my Center Channel, and four surrounds speakers, including 2 side
surround speakers(Paradigm Studio ADP Diploes) and two back EX Speakers(Paradigm
Studio 20’s). My next step was choosing the brains behind the entire show, the
Sound Processor. My first choice was the Lexicon MC-1. You can read my review of
the MC-1 on this very Website. The Outlaw 950 Preamp is now at the helm of my
Sound Processing.
My feelings as far as Pre/Pros are concerned has not changed with moving over to the Outlaw 950. I still feel the Pre/Pro approach is the Ultimate in sound reproduction, and receivers just don't compare to separates. This has been debated by the likes of all man kind in the home theater industry, and in my experience, most receiver people that turn Pre/Pro never go back. The Outlaw 950 is loaded to the hilt with the most current sound formats, and DSP modes. It also contains a new Proprietary sound format called Cirrus Logic. Cirrus Logic derives a single back surround channel, and matrixes that into your two back surround speakers. . Build quality is top notch on the 950. It sits in a solid frame, and in my opinion has a sleek look. I think I may be one of the only HT dwellers that actually digs the Green button and theme behind Outlaw. (This has nothing to do with me being a Star Wars freak my entire Life ) Jumping right into the boxing ring, the Outlaw 950 stands toe to toe with the Lexicon MC-1 in my book. Sonics are so close, I feel some would have a hard time telling them apart in a A/B test. Some of my very first impressions of the audio reproduction were how transparent your speakers become with the 950. Localization literally disappears with this unit. Such comments are echoed in my MC-1 review. While seated in the sweet spot of your HT, one will soon forget that they have a set of speakers in front of them.
One of the biggest accolades I give this unit is it's ability to reproduce a monstrous and wide front soundstage. Music scores such as the Star Wars intro credits just engulf your listening area. Surround effect panning amongst your 5 or 7 channel speaker array is flawless in every respect. Such scenes as the light sabers twirling and swooshing around your theater in Star Wars, just light up your home theater. The 950 puts you right smack into the middle of the action. More so than most of the gear I have had in my HT career.
The LFE signal coming from the 950 is also precise, and detailed. I run twin SVS 20-39 CSi Subwoofers, and they (feel) better than ever. Bass just engulfs you with those heavy LFE soundtracks. Center channel dialogue is perfectly anchored, extremely detailed, and clear. Like I have said earlier, I find all of my speakers to be more and more transparent with this configuration, and the CC dialogue just seems to float from the Center Soundstage. I rarely notice the actual speaker doing it's job. As far as Sound formats, I have sampled a few of them, admittedly not all. I haven't done any ProLogic II demos, and will endeavor into music listening in the next few days. One has to understand, my large theater is used for Movies, and High Def material. What I have found is that I prefer the Cirrus Logic Engaged over 5.1 material. I have done several A/B tests on dvd sources, and find the Cirrus Logic does the most for the overall soundstage. Outlaw has packed a plethora of features into this unit to keep the tweekers busy for some time. OSD is simple, and intuitive at the same time. I had no problems with Digital assignments and speaker level calibrations. One neat feature the 950 has is it's ability to jump to any test tone of any particular speaker. On other preamps, you would have to sweep in a Clockwise direction around your theater. Kudos to Outlaw on this helpful, and insightful menu system. The remote packed with the 950 is straight forward, and simplistic in use. It has a blue backlight, and all buttons are clearly marked. The remote is powerful, and commands the 950 on every stroke of the keys. Back panel of the 950 is clearly marked with all inputs, and is well designed.
In closing, I find the 950 sonically close to the Lexicon MC-1. The 950 might not have Broadcast Video switching, or Logic7, but pound for pound, the 950 can box the Lex Dolby Digital to Dolby Digital, DTS to DTS any day of the week. After several hours on each unit, Logic7 is still in my mind; a nice enhancement to 5.1 audio (especially rear soundstage), but not the pinnacle of 5.1 audio. I think the 950 is a revolutionary product, considering other preamps of same quality sell for a minimum of 2 to 10 times the price. If you look at this unit on a Price/Performance standpoint, it can't be beat.
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