The SEPARATES vs. AVR Thread

[AcuDefTechGuy]

This $900 Outlaw pre-pro has XLR outputs.

 

[Verdinut]

I’m intrigued about the possibility of a company willing to get rid of hdmi, but ya probably would end up worse.

The HDMI connector is a great mistake. It should have been designed on a similar basis as the XLR connector with a locking feature for a more secure contact.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The HDMI connector is a great mistake. It should have been designed on a similar basis as the XLR connector with a locking feature for a more secure contact.

Locking HDMI connector would have been so awesome!

I wonder if they could still make these HDMI locking somehow?

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

The Yamaha RX-A3080 has a phono input too.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The Yamaha RX-A3080 has a phono input too.

I didn't realize the Rotel doesn't have Phono.

It wouldn't affect guys like me who use basically all digital media, but it would affect the vinyl people.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

My music playback these days is discs (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray), media files (mp3, m4a, flac, alac, dff),vinyl and online streaming (Internet Radio, Spotify, Pandora).

When it comes to music playback, this is the most choice I have ever had in my life. I love it.

I grew up on records only, that's all we had.

 

[M Code]

Locking HDMI connector would have been so awesome!

I wonder if they could still make these HDMI locking somehow?

The mounting of an XLR vs. HDMI connector are very different, the XLR has a flange but the HDMI is a hole through design. The biggest issue we have found with the HDMI is not having cable being pulled out, but rather significant physical pressure put on the HDMI connector by either; out-of-spec HDMI connector and/or heavy HDMI connector/ cable. Actually a couple of generations back on Onkyo/Integra products the HDMI connector on certain Monster cables were too large, putting excessive stress on the internal contact terminals of the HDMI jack into the PCB frequently breaking them causing intermittents... After this was brought to the attention of Monster, and they then revised it...

Just my $0.02...

 

[Verdinut]

The mounting of an XLR vs. HDMI connector are very different, the XLR has a flange but the HDMI is a hole through design. The biggest issue we have found with the HDMI is not having cable being pulled out, but rather significant physical pressure put on the HDMI connector by either; out-of-spec HDMI connector and/or heavy HDMI connector/ cable. Actually a couple of generations back on Onkyo/Integra products the HDMI connector on certain Monster cables were too large, putting excessive stress on the internal contact terminals of the HDMI jack into the PCB frequently breaking them causing intermittents... After this was brought to the attention of Monster, and they then revised it...

Just my $0.02...

A while ago, I was conversing with someone on this site about HDMI jacks and connectors. He posted a picture of some old HDMI connectors that featured a screw that was designed to secure the cable to a preamp or an AVR chassis. That attached screw design was later abandoned.

I tried to find the post but to no avail. Maybe we will hear about it soon possibly from the member who had supplied the photo of such cable connector.

 

[M Code]

A while ago, I was conversing with someone on this site about HDMI jacks and connectors. He posted a picture of some old HDMI connectors that featured a screw that was designed to secure the cable to a preamp or an AVR chassis. That attached screw design was later abandoned.

I tried to find the post but to no avail. Maybe we will hear about it soon possibly from the member who had supplied the photo of such cable connector.

Hmmm.. I am not aware of that part.. I will review some of my contacts to see if this is available..
1 alternative is that now certain HDMI cables have a built-in LED that illuminates to verify connection..

Just my $0.02...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I remember the screws for the DVI and DVI-to-HDMI converters.

 

[M Code]

I did a little research into my Far East sources and did find a couple of HDMI connectors that have a screw type mounting flange. Though it has (2) disadvantages, the 1st is cost about 3X higher, 2nd is wider taking more physical space....
Just my $0.02...

 

[John Clement]

I owned the $7500 Denon AVP-A1HDCI, $5500 Denon AVR-5308 flagships, and the Denon X3100.

Flagships really isn’t the key.

The key is in the setup.

Try more settings.

Increase the subwoofer level to your preference. This is important.

Try Audyssey Bypass L/R + Dynamic EQ.

You can even increase Dynamic EQ effect by manually increasing all Channel Levels by 5dB.

Key is to try different settings.

im having same issue.. almost like there is no amp or no power pushing my speakers,, Have you had any luck resolving issues? What settings? Thanks,John

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

im having same issue.. almost like there is no amp or no power pushing my speakers,, Have you had any luck resolving issues? What settings? Thanks,John

You manually increased all the Speaker Channel Levels?

If you have already done that and the volume is still too low, then your AVR or AVP might be defective like my $7500 Denon AVP-A1HDCI (I could increase all the Speaker Channel Levels +12.0dB and still couldn’t get volume, amp is 300WPC AT3005).

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Looks like Separates 2Ch Analog Preamp + 2Ch Amp combo from ADCOM doesn't have to be expensive.

Adcom GFA-555ms 125x2 Amp:

Adcom GFP-815 Preamp:

 

[KEW]

This $900 Outlaw pre-pro has XLR outputs.

WTF!
This unit has me baffled!
At 4-5/8" tall, it seems it would be crowded as hell inside, but it is actually fairly open inside (considering it is an AV pre/pro).
But what is really blowing my mind is looking at the photos on Outlaw's website, it is fully enclosed - there are absolutely no apparent vents for airflow!
The only experience I have had with an AV pre-pro is the Integra DHC-80.2 which gets as hot as any of my AVR's. I had hoped it would run cooler (although running cool is not Onkyo's strong suite) since there are not amps generating heat, but I ended up with a couple of cooling fans on top of it!
How does the Outlaw not overheat? Having no vents seems insane! Past Outlaw gear always seemed to be well designed without any reputation of premature failure. I have to believe they know what they are doing!
Of course, we all know that a standard analog pre does not generate much heat; but, I thought the AV processing (especially the video processing) were major sources of heat! This unit may not have the full complement of codecs a Denon or Yamaha might, but it still has all of the major ones!

So,
How do they "get away" with that?
Are there other AV pre-pros with no ventilation?
Did they make a deal with the Devil?

 

[KEW]

im having same issue.. almost like there is no amp or no power pushing my speakers,, Have you had any luck resolving issues? What settings? Thanks,John

I don't know anything about your setup, but I had that issue recently when I did a reset of my AVR.
First thing to do is switch to pure direct. This will by-pass most of the processing and help isolate the issue.

If you still have a "weak amp" in PD, there are only a few places to look:

• Double check all connections
• Perform a Factory reset - It is possible that the settings assigned for level matching and time delay (which I think PD retains) were somehow corrupted
• The source may be faulty - try another source
• Cables may be faulty, but it seems unlikely this would affect both channels.
• Your unit is defective.

If the PD setting gets you back "strong amplification", Then you know the setup is the culprit. Troubleshooting the setup is not a trivial task - there are too many "knooks and crannies" for the problem to hide in, so I always go for a Factory Reset.
A factory reset is always a good way to get your setting back to "ground zero" and start over!

In my case, the problem arose when I did the Factory Reset!
The problem was that I only had L&R speakers connected and the reset defaulted to a setting which assumed (and sent much of the signal to) a center speaker (that did not exist). As soon as I told (reconfigured) the AVR that I did not have a center speaker, everything was back to normal!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

WTF!
This unit has me baffled!
At 4-5/8" tall, it seems it would be crowded as hell inside, but it is actually fairly open inside (considering it is an AV pre/pro).
But what is really blowing my mind is looking at the photos on Outlaw's website, it is fully enclosed - there are absolutely no apparent vents for airflow!
The only experience I have had with an AV pre-pro is the Integra DHC-80.2 which gets as hot as any of my AVR's. I had hoped it would run cooler (although running cool is not Onkyo's strong suite) since there are not amps generating heat, but I ended up with a couple of cooling fans on top of it!
How does the Outlaw not overheat? Having no vents seems insane! Past Outlaw gear always seemed to be well designed without any reputation of premature failure. I have to believe they know what they are doing!
Of course, we all know that a standard analog pre does not generate much heat; but, I thought the AV processing (especially the video processing) were major sources of heat! This unit may not have the full complement of codecs a Denon or Yamaha might, but it still has all of the major ones!

So,
How do they "get away" with that?
Are there other AV pre-pros with no ventilation?
Did they make a deal with the Devil?

Vent holes are on the sides.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Outlaw+Model+976&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG26eez-rdAhVIMawKHfs8AUAQ_AUIDygC&biw=1134&bih=566#imgrc=6k-xIQAkQW4bJM:

 

[TechHDS]

That’s a clean looking unit!!

Mije

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

That’s a clean looking unit!!

Mike

Yep. Adcom aesthetics have always been very clean. I used to own a couple of the Adcom speaker selectors back in the crazy days of owning all those speakers.

Whether it's speaker selectors, preamps, or amps, they have always been clean looking. No cheese here.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

WTF!
This unit has me baffled!
At 4-5/8" tall, it seems it would be crowded as hell inside, but it is actually fairly open inside (considering it is an AV pre/pro).
But what is really blowing my mind is looking at the photos on Outlaw's website, it is fully enclosed - there are absolutely no apparent vents for airflow!
The only experience I have had with an AV pre-pro is the Integra DHC-80.2 which gets as hot as any of my AVR's. I had hoped it would run cooler (although running cool is not Onkyo's strong suite) since there are not amps generating heat, but I ended up with a couple of cooling fans on top of it!
How does the Outlaw not overheat? Having no vents seems insane! Past Outlaw gear always seemed to be well designed without any reputation of premature failure. I have to believe they know what they are doing!
Of course, we all know that a standard analog pre does not generate much heat; but, I thought the AV processing (especially the video processing) were major sources of heat! This unit may not have the full complement of codecs a Denon or Yamaha might, but it still has all of the major ones!

So,
How do they "get away" with that?
Are there other AV pre-pros with no ventilation?
Did they make a deal with the Devil?

Lots of crooked caps in there. I know it's still functional, but psychologically, it still bugs me.