Outlaw 950 vs rotel rsp 1066 (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

I came across the double-bass problem (solved by flipping the switching on the back of my 950), and it's very much noticeable on the 5.1 audio input (via DVD-A that I was listening to at the time). You literally get way too much bass in the musical presentation of the material.

 

[Chriss M]

I tried both and ended up keeping the Rotel. I did like alot of features on the Outlaw (triple crossover, full menu navigation without OSD) but it hissed and was hideously ugly in my rack compared to the silver 1066
Also the price difference isn't quite as much as it seems, since $900 is the price you actually pay for the outlaw, whereas $1500 is just the MSRP on the Rotel.

 

[Philip Hamm]

$900 is the price you actually pay for the outlaw

not always .....cough.. "family discount" ...cough....

They're good to loyal customers.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

And some of us have local Rotel dealers that don't discount. (The dude was at least honest with me. He said, why should I sell one to you at a discount, when in 30 min someone else will stop by and pay full list? 'Course, with the economy the way it is now, maybe's he singing a different tune... )
Oh, another one: Outlaw's 5 year warranty's are transferrable. Are Rotel's?

 

[kevitra]

Technically Rotel's warranties are not transferrable, but I had a problem years ago with a 980 preamp I purchased used and it was fixed free of charge. I just had to pay shipping there (they paid it back to me).

 

[Lewis Besze]

Every Rotel dealer I know has a 30 day money back guarantee. I can't imagine a 'high end' store that didn't have that policy (I know there are a few, I just don't goto them).

You would be surprised!
As Kevin pointed out it largely depnds on the dealer,and it affects any brand.Many times they only offer "store credit" or choose something else which is pretty much the same,but hardly "money back".

 

[Mary M S]

The fact is Rotel has continued to tweak and improve this pre amp over the model year...all for free. There's a lot to be said when the VP of the company calls you up to chat about how they can make the product better for their users.

I SO agree due to Outlaw Customer Service Level and Supports I have received...Why I like to (and highly recommend) swinging support to all these smaller try hardest companies. Outlaw has had several posters who have talked to the President of Outlaw, Peter Tribeman, repeatedly, who has made countless calls personally to purchasers who received a hiss fixed unit as work thrus have been implemented or to discuss a unit as Outlaw tried to figure out if any system interactions are responisble.
Looooong story: I bought my husband a table saw years ago, then gave him a 60" GWI as a BD present and he’s out in the garage building a custom AV stand to hold all components to place the display on. He has a safety stick ‘kick back’ and gets hurt pretty badly. I was bemoaning my guilt out loud (and posting the gory details) on the Outlaw forum that it was MY fault for starting this whole road (rash of upgraditis) over one little subwoofer I was going to buy my husband a year ago (I think I called the thread "DEATH BY SUBWOOFER”). A few days later I get a packet with an Outlaw PDO 1.8 cable in the mail listed as overnight Priority Sat delivery …but no shipping slip in sight. I e-mail Outlaw stating "I think I got another customers emergency weekend cable delivery and what would they like me to do?"
I received a reply from Outlaw to the effect:
“The cable is for you! It was supposed to ship with a note. We wanted to reassure you that Home Theater is in fact safe, but in case of another emergency you could always use the PDO as a tourniquet!”
My husband and I could not believe it! He laughed his head off when I called and read him the e-mail from Outlaw……so we e-mailed back and told Outlaw many thanks for the ‘medical supplies’ they were really a well-rounded full-service company!
Don’t get any ideas out there about purchasing 950’s or ICBM etc and ‘accidentally’ bashing your thumbs with hammers to hopefully generate ‘get well’ shipments. Outlaw’s ‘heart’ and ‘spontaneity’ which is exhibited on occasion to Outlaw customers… simply amaze me. And I can tell you I fully expect the glaring difference between Customer Service levels of these companies to be very apparent this next week as I deal with UU and Sony on a GWII and a glitzy STB HD200.
Just don’t expect I will be getting that same warm cosy feeling when I deal with these Customer Service Reps at other locations if my past experiences are any indicator.
Need to go live at AVS to get some much needed work arounds or alternate replacement canidates for some purchases which have true issues. I am a firm believer in supporting companies like Outlaw and Rotel, when they are successful I feel it benefits us all, - by keeping the toes of the ‘big boys’ maybe a tad warm at the corporate campfire.

 

[DanaA]

Way to go Mary! This thread shouldn't be about Outlaw vs. Rotel, but Outlaw and Rotel, both being excellent companies that really go out of their way to meet the needs of their customers. What Outlaw did was for Mary was just outstanding. The efforts both companies have made to improve their products is outstanding. Neither is perfect, but both have improved significantly since their initial release. Personally, I've had the heads of two small companies and the editor of a lessor known audio publication contact me via email in the last couple of months. In each instance, they were both friendly, as well as trying to do something nice. I've owned fine products by mass market companies such as Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, Onkyo, etc., but never has a CEO contacted me before. Call me old fashioned, but that personal touch means a lot and I believe Outlaw and Rotel have been superb in this regard.
Off topic to Mary: I listened to the Beethovans for two hours last weekend and I want them sooooooooooo badly.

 

[Gianni]

Way to go Dana!

I have only dealt with Rotel but if Outlaw is also as responsive, then lets give them both credit.

Another company I would like to praise for their efforts is M&K. I have had very good luck with them. The fact that I do like these companies products combined with some good support will go a long way in keeping my A/V dollars floating their way. In today's world this is a refreshing change.

 

[Mary M S]

Just to point out the 1098 model is not a replacement for the 1066 is a completely new product that will be about twice the cost and is intended to compete with the likes of the Ref 50 etc's.
I apologize “Replacement” might have been a poor choice in wordage. But my point was really meant as illustrative of my own personal logic behind my purchases. (therefore not important to you as you will scale by your own methods) regarding the current (fast ramping) pace of changing technology in AV. I feel my Outlaws competes with room to spare with units costing much more already. When the 1098 comes out I would not have felt happy if I weighted upgradiblity alone as a tie-breaking factor during my purchase decision process, - when eventially any units top of the heap status is suddenly diminished.
I am NOT saying Outlaw won’t do the same thing (in fact I count on it for my next purchase consideration in this area, since I've been happy with Outlaw currently..…as Rotel has already announced). And your right I'm sure there will be an Outlaw XXX offered which costs twice as much ….cause it twice as good. And maybe it will sound twice the cost better, (it better). But why would I expect my old 950 to be upgradable to the sound of the twice as good (and twice the price new model)? Why would Outlaw bother to even put it out if I could get the same performance out of my old 950 with a 50 to 800 dollar upgrade pkg? In real terms how often does this happen? I’ll have to pay anyway (switching over to the new model) to get that twice as good sound and features.
My statement (which might appear ludicrous to some considering each brands respective location on the price scale chart alone for these two different categories on a low to high end price point basis) that I am more satisfied with my 950 and 770 than my Vienna Acoustic is true for me for the following personal reasons.
I hear huge differences in the personality of speakers. Even in peer price comparisons; low-ends to low-ends and mid-end to mid-end and so forth. Rule of thumb I’ve found (with several exceptions) is that the ones I have personally demoed will all definitively display a very easily noted increase in quality/ability for as little as a 200 dollars increase.
I also hear enormous difference (very loosely equating to) a marked diffrence if you spend in increaments of 500/1000/2000/5000 vs 10,000. On a speaker purchase.
(The 10K mark being pretty much my personal limit for what I would ever consider spending on any one item in AV) and I have no business going anywhere near that. So my constant search for value and quality for price. If it has that kind of sticker it better be a totally different (not slightly different) animal from the competition.
At the same time I have heard lots of prepro’s /receivers although not personally MOST of the very highest-end models, (separates only)…. I have heard pretty much all the ‘super’ receivers.
And to date nothing exceeds or beats the 950 in sound or user interface trade-offs, to any quantitative level (to me personally) unless I’m willing to bust that 10K figure.
Therefore my search for a prepro which sounds as good as, or better yet beats competition, has all the necessary (what I consider basic cutting edge) features, for the lowest price under 10K. The Outlaw was (for me) the only choice that fulfilled ALL of these personal requirements. For those that do weight upgradeability (alone...and we all have diffrent criteria) their process will be different. And I do look at that issue, but sometimes discard its weight when I feel it is unlikely to have a net positive gain for what I think might occur in the next few years regardless of its inclusion in a particular product.
I truly LOVE my Beethoven’s don’t get me wrong….I have always had a soft spot for Jaguars and I equate satisfaction with the Vienna Acoustic line to the same emotional response I can have to certain antique jags. The Beethoven’s are just more sexy, powerful and smooth, a very liquid performance, (I class these with certain other European products which in the past I felt displayed a level old world quality and refinement which can be difficult for others to best. Of course the speakers are much more reliable than the car mentioned , - when powered up! I just feel that there are still TOO many choices out there in speakers that I have not yet heard. And that right now and for the longest time (in speakers more than current pre-pro or receivers) there are such vast differences between brands/models on market. I just expect to find something else/some year/ that I ‘have to have’ more than the V’s. In the current technology offerings in the front end of my system I gave up trying to beat the 950, as I had not been able to, to date. So I am ‘completely’ satisfied and ‘at rest’ with the 950 purchase till technology settles dust over it. But I still can't get rid of the urge to hear ‘more’ speakers when possible since I have not heard as many speakers amongst the possible variations offered.
Off Topic: Robert I love the ‘sound’ as above stated, of the whole Vienna line. Personally I highly recommend and feel the Mozart’s are an excellent choice. I’m considering the Bachs (have not heard the ‘Waltz’ which is suggested for surround duties) all around the room, but have some very severe cabinet size restrictions going on in my room.
Dana….don’t listen for too long…..or like me you might end up suddenly starring at a needed retaining wall replacement project that magically transformed into 2 boxes in my HT.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Speaking of good customer service, Sherwood Newcastle did a pretty good job with my 9080 amp last year. Jeff emailed me specifically and Eugene was very helpful as well. Now Sherwood is the customer arm of a big manufacturing company so they're not a "little guy" like Rotel or Outlaw.