1. Sound Quality 2. 5/7ch stereo 3. base management for 6ch input 4. Adjustable Crossover for all main channels!!!

1. I wish the digital input select was in the setup menu not on the front panel. This is something that doesn’t need to be changed very often and it’s a great way for housemates to really screw things up. 2. When changing sound fields it’s a bit slow to pick up on the audio again. 3. I like direct access buttons to DVD, CD, Video 1. ect… Cycling though is a pain but a lot of preamps work this way. When using the remote it’s not a problem

I intend to be brief. I just want to say that this preamp is a great value. There is nothing else out there that comes close for the money. The sound quality is excellent. There has been some discussion of a hissing noise. I can hear it but only within a foot of the speakers so as far as I’m concerned it’s a non-issue. Many high-end receivers do the same thing, as far as I know it’s a pretty universal problem known as the noise floor. Both home theater and music are a huge step up on my old Marantz AV-560. The remote leaves something to be desired but I have a touch screen so I don’t really care.

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Marantz AV-560, B&K ref 30, Carver CT-29, Lexicon DC-2

See above.

See above.

Good sound, has DPL II, DD EX, DTS-ES, 5.1 analog passthrough with analog bass management, CES modes to expand 5.1 sources to 6.1/7.1. The remote is ergonomically challenged: "Power" button doesn't turn the 950 on, have to hit AUD before every pre/pro command if you've switched the source, if you've just watched a 5.1 DD/DTS movie and then switch to a CD source, it automatically puts it in 5.1 mode. Why? Should be stereo. If I set the phase to be correct between my mains and sub for digital and 2-channel analog inputs, the phase is then about 180 deg out on the 5.1 analog inputs. My unit hisses a little. I can hear it at the listening position if I turn the volume down low, and turn my head towards my rear center. Sometimes looses signal lock on CDs if there's too much of a gap between tracks. But I like the sound, and I like the triple crossover, and I have adjusted myself to the remote (should be the other way around). Good build quality. Runs cooler than my last pre/pro. If Outlaw comes through with a fix for the hiss (and yes, I have a "post summer hiss fixed unit"), I'll post a 5 to give an average of 4.5. Can't give a 5 just because of the remote, phase issue, etc. The value is there, just a little rough around the edges.

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Sony TA-E9000ES, Yamaha RX-V793 (as a pre/pro), Nakamichi CA-5 (analog preamp)

Price. Rugged. Prologic surround modes make even infomercials enjoyable. It's like you're in the audience. :) Even FM listening sounds great.

Remote is a little funky. Slight hiss when I unplug everything in the house put one finger in my ear while pressing the other against the tweeter and crank it to 10 while holding my breath.

This AV preamp kicks butt paired with the Outlaw 770 amp. I have Paradigm studio 100 mains, Paradigm studio cc and adp studio surrounds (back surrounds coming soon). The Outlaw and the Paradigms compliment each other unbelievably. Your ears will bleed before any distortion. I can't stop smiling every time I turn on my system. I am in the process of watching/listening to every cd and dvd I own over again because I am hearing things I've never heard before. I am a happy camper. My brother-in-law convinced me to get separates instead of the Denon 4802 I had my eye on and I have been thanking him every since. Do yourself a favor, for $2500 get the 950/770 combo instead of an avr for the same amount. Oh yeah, who cares about the damn remote. If it didn't come with a remote I would still be happy with it. With the money you save spring for a programmable lcd remote. You know you want one. :)

sound, processing modes, ease of use

none that matter to me (others find fault with the remote, the tuner, the sound, etc...but I am very happy with every ascpect of the 950 and would highly recommend it.

OK, I've had the 950 for about a month now. The sound is superb, both for music (I have always been a big 2-channel fan) and for surround processing. The unit is uncluttered and simple to use. The remote takes some getting used to, but is great once figured out. Mated with my Parasound amp, the 950 is a fantastic performer. I am very happy with everything about it, especially the price.

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always had mid-fi equipment. This is my first surround processor.

home theatre sound quality is superb music 2 channel sound is marginally coloured at times - sometimes feels like I am seeing more "forest" than the individual "trees"/instruments if that makes any sense :) solid construction you are not paying for the amount of "air" or "space" inside the chassis - you are paying for top-notch engineering my unit, at least, has been stealth-quiet - no hiss

ergonomics of remote aren't as intuitive as I would like at times, I think there are two many steps involved just for trimming the subwoofer as one example hardly a weakness.... but, uh... sometimes there are too many choices in parameters, settings, and options - therefore a temptation to tweak and tweak again *smile*

is there another recent audio/video product or processor that has provoked the extremes of opinions as this product? I've been very pleased with the 950, and even after the Canuck to USD exchange, there isn't another unit with it's inherent value on the market. driving high quality amplifiers, it really is a superb unit. the sound quality for home theatre is revealing, honest, and "solid" - I just relax and get into the medium of film or the performance of a concert, etc. and that's what it's all about - I don't sit there saying: "I wish it had more *this* or less *that*".

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a variety of digital and analog processors over the past 10 years. what has remained constant is my choice of amplification. a combo of Bryston, Crown, NAD and a Marantz monoblock for the center chann

High resolution, very transparent, top gun in movie play back

Requires excellent source & cables. Not a first rate remote. Display is too small from a 10ft distance.

This is a very transparent & analytical pre-amp. It will reflect your sources, interconnect and power cables. Some will complaint that it lacks musicality. Latest 24bit D/A & A/D chips were used, substantial heat sinks are used for voltage regulators along with selected electrolytic capacitors. Read this link for more details regarding its performance compared to other well known AV pre-amps: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=5f11048aec0497915c7813c0b1c76b0c&threadid=96123&perpage=30&display=&pagenumber=1 It brings goose bumps for all of the movies you already watched using other AV pre-amps.

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Panasonic RP-91 DVD player, three Classe 25 for amplification, Velodyne subs

price customer support after the sale sound

ergonomics double-bass sucky remote (especially when the buttons light up and display words unrelated to the function) global settings AM radio hiss

The unit is not bad, and the price is unbeatable. But it is a new product for this manufacturer and it has some problems. The ergonomics are tedious -- the remote is poor (it has a light so you can see the buttons at night but the words on the buttons is NOT what the function is, for many of the buttons -- cheap). Changing the bass volume is a multi-step process on the remote. Double-bass occurs in a few situations where there really should NOT be double bass (there are some pretty obvious design errors). Some settings that should be local to a mode are instead global so when you change a setting for one mode, it changes it for all other modes. It hisses in many people's set ups, but most people say the hiss is not noticable at normal listening volume. The AM in the AM/FM radio is very bad. (I listen to AM radio stometimes, like for weather/traffic/disasters.) No HDCD mode. On the plus side, the price is unbeatable. And the unit is not bad. Good customer support. A mixed bag.

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Great all around engineering design, simple, solid, quality.

None that I am aware of.

This is my second entry in this thread after 3 months use of this fine product. My best friend, and fellow modern day Puritan, uses a pair of tube amps to drive his Klipschorns. He choose tube amps because of there lack of harshness, compaired to electronic receivers, as detected through his very accurate speakers. After he listened to my 950/755 combo through my pair of Klipsch Heresy I, RC3 II & SB 3s, he commented on the lack of harshness which was suprising to him considering the electronic preamp/amp setup. He is now considering the the same preamp/amp setup when he builds his home theater. After my brother-in-law heard the James Taylor Live at the Beacon Theater DVD on my 5.1 system, he placed an order for the same combo. He did tell me that 950 orders have been temporarily halted to address the "hissing noise" problem, but he is willing to be put on the wait list. After hearing this, I just wanted to post these comments to encourage those considering this product but intimidated by the possible wait, that the 950 is well worth the wait. I waited 6 months for mine and would do it again, especially considering the cause for the delay, mandated quality control and concern for customer base. The only problem I have with this product is that I listen to my system so much, I have neglected my reading and personal study. Finally, when your system arrives, you might want to consider your initial listening with both Bela Fleck & The Flecktones Live at The Quick and Pat Metheny Group Imaginary Day Live DVDs. Very good production. I hope you find this helpful if you are on the fence.

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None

Performance, build quality, simple easily laid out design, price! Surround modes, 5 channel stereo. Ability to set the crossover for mains, center and rears.

Like someone else mentioned below I wish you could set the mains to large in stereo mode and still have the ability to have the subs kickin.

Hello all. Well after all the waiting it finally arrived! This is my first true preamp and it replaces the mighty Denon AVR4800 in this regard.?xD;?xA;?xD;?xA;Setup was pretty simple and straightforward which is always nice. Got everything setup, connected, calibrated and ready to go. Popped in Diana Krall''''s "Stepping Out" and sat down for the critical listen. I noticed the cd sounded more transparent and lively at the same time. I use Dynaudio speakers, and I don''''t miss anything as far as subtle details. I use the Diana cd as my reference disc so I know it inside out. I wasn''''t sure I''''d hear an audible difference when switching from the Denon to the Outlaw, but I noticed overall improvements right away. Everything had more zest and snap to it. Although my system sounded great before the 950, it is now that much better. Dvd''''s have really come alive, and with the different surround modes the 950 provides, I have had a blast just switching through to hear the differences between them. I really enjoy the PLII Music mode with cd''''s. But the real key with the 950 is the 5 channel stereo mode. This is a must in my book, and although the 950 looked great, if it didn''''t have 5 channel stereo, I wouldn''''t have bit on it. What I like best about the 950 is its simplicity. Everything is laid out and spelled out so even the most technically challenged can figure it out (not that I fall into this category :). Although it doesn''''t have that wow factor in the looks dept, I think it more than makes up for this in the areas where it counts most. Too many people are hung up on how the product looks rather than how it performs, I''''d rather they spent the $$$ on the parts inside.?xD;?xA;?xD;?xA;I have only been using the 950 since Friday, so I''''ll post a more in depth review after some more usage, but so far it seems to be everything as advertised, and more. I know I now have the final piece to the puzzle now with the Outlaw teaming up with my Rotel amp and Dynaudio speaks to put me in audio heaven. ?xD;?xA;?xD;?xA;1 last question - what''''s up with those Outlaw cables they supplied as freebies for thos of us who have waited so long for the 950? They appear to be great cables, but I can''''t get them connected with the adaptor heads on. They don''''t fit and lock in unless I take the heads off. Anyone else have this problem? I would like to use them as

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Been using the Denon AVR4800 as my preamp. This is my first true preamp.

Sonic detail in movies and music,# of surround modes available, ease of use, great value, DTS ES performance

6.1(EX mode) performance with movies(this may not be the fault of the 950),having to set speakers on small for sub to activate on tuner and 2channel music

Here are my first impressions of the Outlaw 950 that I received on Monday. I hope to post additional comments once I have gone through more of the surround modes and some additional dvds and music. My system consists of the following: Fronts-Paradigm Ref. 20''s-v2 Center-Paradigm Studio CC Surrounds-Paradigm Ref. 20''s-v1 Back Surrounds-Paradigm Mini Monitors Amplification-Outlaw 750 and ATI 1502 Sub-Paradigm PS-1000 DVD-Pioneer DV-414 VCR-Proscan TV-Proscan 27" Cables-DH Labs Silver Sonic T-14 and BL-1 series II -Outlaw IC''s for back surrounds Old receiver-Yamaha RX-V795 First of all, I have been waiting a long time like so many others for this component to come out and I was very excited to finally receive it. Well the sound is just simply incredible. After going through the setup and deciding on the speaker size(small with fronts crossed at 40HZ and center and surround crossed at 60Hz), I put in a DTS demo disc and played Seal''s "Prayer For the Dying." I was floored to say the least. The 950 had no problem reproducing the dynamics and detail in this song. I even had to turn my sub level down from where I had it with my old receiver. The tuner works fine and 2 channel music from cds sounds very robust and smooth. I had to use the small setting on my speakers to get the sub to activate with tuner and 2 channel music. I also like the Dolby Pro Logic2-cinema when watching TV. The Phantom Menace was on TV Thursday night and I was really impressed at how great it sounded with DPL2. My first dvd to watch was Dark City and the level of detail I heard was amazing. Other 950 owners have mentioned about how much more detail they are hearing in movies and I can attest to that with Dark City. This is one of my favorite dvds and ambient sounds came through like never before. Well those are some of the positives. Here is one of the negatives. The primary reason I wanted the 950 was for the new 6.1 format for dvds. In my first tests of this surround mode I have been somewhat disappointed. It may not be the fault to the 950, but I just simply don''t hear much information coming from the center surround speakers. It may also be that I was just expecting too much in the way of more surround info in this format. I have tried Toy Story 2, Atlantis and Phantom Menace. Of these three, PM sounds the best to me in 6.1 mode. When I toggle back and forth betwe

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Yamaha RX-V795