Outlaw 950 - already dated? (1 Viewer)

[Rob Curtis]

Razvan,

The firewire is only for DVD-A at this point so they will still need six analog inputs for SACD.

I think they are going to wait until SACD gets it's act together.

I don't think you will see an upgraded 950 until 2003.

 

[Ron Boster]

Razvan:

After re-reading several of your threads, I can't imagine you being happy with the 950, nor wanting to wait for the vaporware high-end unit. I would suggest buying the Integra Research RDC-7. I know that Burke from Houston has this unit and has posted his reviews/praises. I would contact him for his perspective.

Good Luck

Ron

 

[Matthew Anderson]

All this speculation about what Outlaw will or will not do seems a little crazy to me. For now, the 950 will suit me just fine. I am not really that concerned about DVD Audio because there are so many of the DVD Audio discs with DD or DTS 5.1 tracks included which sounds very good to me. Bring on the 950. That's just my 2cents worth.

 

[Kevin Webb]

I think everyone is getting ahead of themselves. DVD-A hasn't even been fully adopted by the music community (notice the lack of titles, especially new artist releases). Now we are talking about a new interface that probably will not see consumer acceptance until late 2002 at the earliest. I'm not fully jumping on the DVD-A bandwagon until the record companies start releasing music titles the way they release most movie titles (ie. VHS/DVD, CD/DVD-A).
Plus, audiophiles will probably argue that the analog cables will be the only way to experience the highest quality sound (but I'll save that for another flame war.)

 

[Tomoko Noguchi]

Firewire incapability is not the only thing against the 950. The 950 does not have D4 inputs or outputs which severely limit anyone wanting to connect to their HDTV. I am not going to buy a 950 because of this. I'm going with the new Yamaha receiver and using it as a preamp

 

[TomH]

There are several pre/pros on the market that lack some of the basic features but people are willing to pay $2000. to $3000. for them. In many cases the "upgrades" may never materialize or if they do they may cost nearly as much as the 950. The technology is changing so fast that pre/pros are sometimes feature deficient even before they ship. We all love to invest in high end, high quality components but just check Audiogon to see how fast they devalue. At $900 you can afford to upgrade.

 

[RAF]

People,
Let's try to keep everything here in perspective. One of the reasons that a person chooses to go with separates rather than an all-in-one receiver is because of the ability to upgrade a single component when new technologies become available without having to buy everything over again. As I look at some of the postings here I get a sense of some of you wanting your cake and eating it too.
HT technology is a moving target at best and no one component will be able to deliver everything out there and on the immediate horizon. But that's why we purchase pre-pro's instead of receivers. If the pre/pro's are capable of upgrades, that's icing on that cake, but even the upgrade path is a changing landscape so don't fault manufacturers for not being able to predict the topology of not yet released chips, connectors, etc.
If you spend too much time worrying about having the latest/greatest you'll never take the time to acquire and enjoy what's available to you right now or in the forseeable future. I keep getting an image in my mind of people who are still waiting for color television to be "perfected" before they buy one (now I'm really dating myself!!)
Stop and smell the roses. The beauty here is that nobody is forcing anyone to purchase a particular piece of equipment, and the choice of brands and options (especially in the world of separates) is wide enough to satisfy a wide range of tastes and budgets.
Happy New Year.

 

[Razvan V]

Larry,

I think that a "better" model is being discussed mostly because of the firewire news. I also think that the Outlaws will do their best to release a firewire ready model within a year. By the end of the year there will probably be several firewire ready and moderately priced preamps available from other manufacturers and the Outlaws will need a unit to compete against those. I think that the guys at B&K and Integra Research were very smart to include a firewire port in the B&K Ref 30 and the RDC-7. Imagine that the Outlaw 950 was firewire ready for a cost of $999. THAT would have been very hard to beat by any manufacturer.

About the sound of the 950: on the Outlaw website it's implied that the 950 sounds as good as or even better than units that cost 2 or even 3 times as much. If that turns out to be true then its sound might compensate for its lack of firewire compatibility. Let's hope that the 950 will live up to its hype.

Razvan

 

[Patrick R. Sklenar]

Larry,
Outlaw has been discussing a "higher-end" model ever since they first mentioned coming out with a pre/pro. They haven't been talking it up recently, but rather those folks who've followed the Outlaw's progress over the years are now talking it up.

 

[Will]

in time for Christmas 02

Let's hope by then there will be some pre/pro's costing
under $2000, besides the older classics and a new Outlaw 950.
I hear the new Sherwood Newcastle pre/pro may ship by fall
of 2002. We may hear more about it, and get some pre/pro
announcements from other manufacturers next week at CES.
Who knows, maybe Yamaha or Sony or Rotel. I'm just speculating
of course. Bring it on, CES!

 

[Larry B]

Kevin:

You stated

"Plus, audiophiles will probably argue that the analog cables will be the only way to experience the highest quality sound (but I'll save that for another flame war.)"

Actually, audiophiles want a digital out because that will enable us to use much higher processors than are/will be available in the DVD-A players.

Larry B (with a space)

 

[Evan S]

Larry, I'm not questioning you here, but simply confused at your comment. If you are sending a digital out of a DVD-A or SACD player, you would be using the DAC's in your pre-amp or reciever, not the ones in the DVD-A player, which you say are superior and which would be defeating the purpose, no?

Can somebody correct me if I'm wrong here.

 

[Will]

Even

Many audiophiles want the pre/pro to receive DVD-A digitally

so that the pre/pro could do any bass management and time

alignment digitally, before converting to analog.

 

[Will]

my Rotel dealer says April

My Rotel dealer says he won't know when the new Rotel
pre/pro will be out until next week, at CES. He says he
doesn't know its price, but thinks it's closer in price
to the Anthem pre/pro than the Outlaw pre/pro. He believes
it will cost a bit less than the Anthem. But he says
it's all speculation, and to wait for a week, until CES,
to be sure.

 

[Antoine Peltier]

Firewire incapability is not the only thing against the 950. The 950 does not have D4 inputs or outputs which severely limit anyone wanting to connect to their HDTV. I am not going to buy a 950 because of this. I'm going with the new Yamaha receiver and using it as a preamp

Sorry I'm new to the scene and don't know what these in/outs are for. I want to get the Outlaw and even more want to go HDTV soon, what does this imply? How does it "severely limit"?

 

[Kelly Scott Rickards]

Yeah, I curious about this too....

 

[Will]

I'll speculate, without any real information, that

D4 in/outs are used for HDTV connections in the

Japanese market.

 

[Will]

Maybe we'll be hearing more from CES about the forthcoming Rotel pre/pro. It could be the next cheapest DPL II pre/pro, after the Outlaw 950 when it comes out. I believe Rotel products can be purchased for less than their MSRP.

 

[Legairre]

Will,

My dealer will give 15% off all Rotel products. I've set my pre/pro budget at around $1300.00 max, so even a $1500.00 pre/pro from Rotel will be fine with me. Also there's the 30 day return policy if I don't like it. I won't be purchasing a pre/pro until summer. I just bought an amp and with all the talk of new pre/pros I've decided to upgrade my speakers now and wait until at least summer for the pre/pro. At least this will give me time to read some of the reviews before I even start to listen to any of the new units. If their not out by summer it won't kill me to wait a couple of months.

When Outlaw was the only game in town for an affordable pre/pro I was thinking about the 950. Now I've adjusted my plans and the speakers will come first and the pre/pro can wait. I was a 950 buyer, now I'm waiting to see what else comes out. Outlaw lost me on the amp purchase(I'd been waiting since March for the September release of the 770) when September turned into December I bought a competitors amp. Aslo originally Outlaw said the 770 would weight over 100 lbs. Now it's down to 86 pounds. And we all know an amps power supply means a LOT. Sounds a little light for seven channels at 200wpc. Now I'm going to be looking at their competitors pre/pros too.

Being a Sortware Developer I can FULLY appreciate not releasing a product until it is ready. BUT if you keep the customer hanging on to long. You may have the customer because your the only game in town, but as soon as someone else offers the same thing. The customer will definately check them out.

 

[Russell _T]

Legaire,

You know I WONDERED about that weight difference. I think the 750 weighs 62 lbs. So that's 24 more lbs for the extra two channels in the 770. That seems to be reasonable, but it is 60% more expensive. What's the rest of that money going to?

Russ