Outlaw and B&W

[Adespota]

Hi there. I am looking at HT components and have pretty much decided on the B&W 704 floorstanding speakers for fronts and bookshelves for rears.

However, I am considering the Outlaw 990 receiver or the Anthem AVM (30 or 40) to drive this and wanted to hear back from others who have these kinds of setups and any suggestions in that budget range would be great.

Many thanks in advance

[Pookie007]

I have never heard the combination you described but have heard he Outlaw 990 pre-amp and the Anthem AVM 50. I assume the AVM 30 is similar in sound to the 50. There is a huge price difference between these two units. The Outlaw is $1200 ad the Anthem is $3000.

At $1200 I was very impressed with the Outlaw. It provides features you won’t see anywhere else without paying twice the price. The biggest advantage is the balanced output. The only questionable choice was the DVI switching instead of HDMI. You can get cables that go from HDMI to DVI and resolve this issue, but it requires a second cable for audio.

If you can swing the Anthem it is a great choice, but I don’t think it is worth 3 times the money. You also get a stripped down version in the 30 compared to the 50. It doesn’t have a lot of the video features of the Outlaw.

I think the amplifier would do more for your sound quality. There are differences in these pre-amps, but I think the amp is a more important choice. What amp do you plan on using? This might help decide what processor is required for a balanced system.

Personally, I would go with the Outlaw and invest the extra $2000 in a amplifier and cable upgrade.

[LikeCoiledSteel]

I have the B&W CDM7nt's, the model right before the 704's and are almost the same. I use a 3 year old Outlaw 950 preamp for HT use. I think the Outlaw is great. I had listened to higher end preamps for HT use like the Anthem and a Krell, and I do not think there was enough of a difference to spend the extra $. For 2 channel, I do use a Krell amp and Krell pre amp, along with the Outlaw pre, Outlaw m200 and Adcom 535. In 2 channel, there is more of a difference in the sound.

I would also recommend getting the Outlaw over the Anthem and putting the extra $ into the amps.
Steel

[WI Rotel]

Why buy outlaw when you can buy rotel? I have to confess I haven't heard outlaw and probably never will since they sell only on the internet, but the build quality looks pretty down rent. Furthermore I tried to google some reviews and found none. Sounds pretty fly by night operation to me!

[Pookie007]

Outlaw is a legit company. They are following the model started by companies like Dell. They eliminate a level of markup by removing the distributors. They have been reviewed by a lot of the magazines. I know the next response will be how those reviews are tainted due to advertiser dollars. But at the price point it performs.

Rotel’s current line doesn’t support HDMI or DVI switching. I heard next year will add HDMI, but this is a big issue for people in a lot of systems. The Rotel also doesn’t have balance outputs. I would look at the Arcam if I was looking for an alternative.

[LikeCoiledSteel]

Why buy outlaw when you can buy rotel? I have to confess I haven't heard outlaw and probably never will since they sell only on the internet, but the build quality looks pretty down rent. Furthermore I tried to google some reviews and found none. Sounds pretty fly by night operation to me!

Rotel has been at it longer and is geared better for music, while Outlaw focuses on HT. Outlaw recently released a 2 channel only receiver that has been getting great reviews and looks cool also. As far as build quality, very very good. The latest line adds balanced connections. Outlaw customer service is the best in the industry bar none, a pleasure to deal with. 5-year warranty on everything. Rotels quality of late has not been stellar, Outlaw may have the edge there. So far, I have had no problems with any Outlaw product I have used, Can't say that about the Krell's I have though.
Fly by night they are not. They share manufacturing with ATI and Sherwood. I have no affiliation w/Outlaw, I just like to see credit go where its due.
Steel

[greggz]

Peter Tribeman

Outlaw is a legit operation. It was founded by Peter Tribeman (and others) who also owns Atlantic Technologies speakers.

I have no familiarity with the 990, but when the 950 first came out there were lots of comparisons between it and the Rotel RSP-1066. The 950 was frequently described as bright and the 1066 as warmer. Given that B&W speakers can accentuate bright, you might be better served with warmer sounding gear.

I think Outlaw used to have a 30 day money back guarantee. If they still have it, you have very little to lose (except maybe shipping) by buying the 990 and trying it out.

[WI Rotel]

Outlaw is a legit operation. It was founded by Peter Tribeman (and others) who also owns Atlantic Technologies speakers.

I have no familiarity with the 990, but when the 950 first came out there were lots of comparisons between it and the Rotel RSP-1066. The 950 was frequently described as bright and the 1066 as warmer. Given that B&W speakers can accentuate bright, you might be better served with warmer sounding gear.

I think Outlaw used to have a 30 day money back guarantee. If they still have it, you have very little to lose (except maybe shipping) by buying the 990 and trying it out.

Thanks for the info, I had heard about it on the forums, but I found little info on the net aside from their site, given that I was a little worried.

[earwit]

Hello there,

I have used the Outlaw 990 for about a year now, and for the price
you can't beat it... I must confess that I almost exclusively use it
in a bypass mode, so basically the Pre-amp acts like a switcher.
If I go thru the pre-amp I found with the 802's sound becomes colored ,
and no longer clean..

The Anthem AVM series are about 3 times the price of the Outlaw.
The Anthem preamps have multiple D/A convertors built in and to
my ears greatly improve on the digital sound with the B&W"S


Bob

[Adespota]

OUtlaw and B&W update

So we ended up buying a Linn Unidisk SC pre/pro and CD/SACD combo and are now looking at amps. From a speaker perspective I am debating between 805s and 703s. Any thoughts on that? Still figuring out the HT amp - we sort of went about this the wrong way but we got a great deal on the Linn so did not want to wait on it. Even with our old crappy system it sounds awesome.

So ideas on 703 vs 805 and amps would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a heap

:lol:

[fauzigarib]

Go full range!

Adespota,

Hi there... I'm so glad you liked your Linn.. .I'm a big fan, and learning more and more about it each day.

Regarding your speaker choice, I would go for the 703, no questions asked. I guess, to each his own, but it makes more sense to me to get a full range speaker of a lower line, rather than a bookshelf from the 800 series. Plus, the 703's look really really nice!

Now, if you somehow had to evaluate between the 703 and the 802... well, i'd be singing a whooooole different tune then!!!

Good luck, and let us know what happens!

Fauzi

[Adespota]

OUtlaw and B&W

Lol - if I had the money for 802Ds I would indeed be very very happy!

That said - thanks for the tips and advice

Cheers