770 amp or other alternatives for 950? (1 Viewer)

[AntonS]

Does anybody know how good is going to be the Outlaw 770 amp? Am I right that nobody has seen/heard it yet? Are there any other good reasonably priced 7-channel amp alternatives?

 

[Dan Hitchman]

No one that I know of has heard it in an ideal situation since it's still in production (and CES is not the place to conduct critical listening tests). Most people do believe it is a derivative of ATI's amps (in fact they are building the 770 for the Outlaws in the USA). That said the ATI's in the past have been revealing amps. Not necessarily overly bright, but you wouldn't want to use them with already bright speakers.

Build quality should be quite high (ATI amps are like tanks-- I should know as I own one) and it will be one heavy SOB.

Not sure about inter-channel cross talk specs. and heat though. The reviews should be out soon after it is released.

Dan

 

[AntonS]

I have Paradigm setup with Studio 100 as fronts. They are not really bright, but I still would not use an amp that brightens sound with them.

For some reason after making a quick search I could not find any 7 channel amps from reliable manufacturers (Bryston, Parasound, Anthem, Rotel,etc) readily available. Hm... But I surely don't want to have two power amps in my stereo rack.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Hmmm, Paradigms with an ATI amp. That may indeed be a painful experience. But that's just my opinion. Luckily I have warmer speakers with silk tweeters to deal with. A good combo IMHO.

You may want to consider Parasound amps (although they only make up to 5 channel home theater amps right now). They are known for a warmer (rolled off) sound and a plump mid-range-- also good prices for what you get. Not necessarily neutral sounding either. They could easily match well with Paradigm speakers, however.

Dan