Outlaw-990 or Rotel-1068

[Jack Dotson]

Any of you have experience with these processors. Both look pretty good, so I was hoping to get some opinions about which you guys prefer and why.

Thanks

 

[ZoFo]

Both are very nice

I cannot speak for the Rotel but I have the Outlaw 990 and I love it; tried the 970 for a month but it was missing some features I really wanted so I traded up for the 990.

There is a guy on the Outlaw board who has put together a really nice chart comparing the various Pre/Pro's out there, this may help you make up your mind:

http://www.prillaman.net/950_chart.html

 

[Jack Dotson]

Thanks for the link very helpful. I've been an outlaw fan for awhile now, but looks like the guys at AV123 have some good stuff as well.

 

[Josuah]

The competitive products between AV123's Emotiva line and the Outlaw line appear to be:

Emotiva LMC-1 = Outlaw 970
Emotiva LPA-1 = Outlaw 7125
Nothing = Outlaw 990
Emotiva DMC-1 = Nothing
Emotiva MPS-1 = Outlaw 7700

At the low end, I think the LMC-1 + LPA-1 bundle is more attractive because it saves several hundred dollars to the 970/7125 bundle, without much loss in feature set, especially since the LMC-1 can add digital video switching for $100. Unfortunately, the Emotiva UL gear is not shipping yet.

Midrange, The Outlaw 990/7125 bundle is quite nice, and there isn't an Emotiva combo to compete with it. But you might need more watts. So the 990/7700 combo is also good. But, at that point, you're also closer to the Emotiva Big Dogs combination.

So at the top-end, I think there's a trade-off between the Emotiva Big Dogs DMC-1 + MPS-1 and the Outlaw 990/7700. The DMC-1 might be considered to have better processing, being based on the Sunfire platform versus the 990's Sherwood platform, but it doesn't have the DVI switching or microphone calibration that the 990 does (I don't think it does mic auto-calibration). The MPS-1 can also be purchased with less channels and then expanded to more if you need to. And right now, AV123 is also having a bit of a sale, so the price differential decreases further.

So I don't know which way I would go at the top-end. And since the high-def format wars are going to continue for a while, but probably be worked out by end of next year, I might not be interested in a top-end system right now.

 

[Doug917]

I have been thrilled with the 990. Excellent performance with both movies and music. Also love the price and the five-year warranty. Outlaw is second to none when it comes to customer support as well.

 

[treetownal]

Another very satisfied Outlaw 990 customer here. Customer support has been fantastic and the performance of the unit (w/7125) is just remarkable.

 

[ZoFo]

Are you guys going to trade up your 7125?

They will be shipping their new balanced 200W 5 & 7 Channel Amps next week, are any of you going to swap your 7125 for the new Amp?

I really like the 7125 and it has more power than I will ever need but a 200W Balanced Amp will last me forever - should never need to upgrade regardless of the speakers I get in the future. I don't know if being a balanced amp and another 75W is worth double the price of the 7125 though?

 

[treetownal]

Tough call zofo. The extra $900 or so to upgrade is proabably too much to justify since I live in a highrise building with neighbors above, below and to one side of me. My 990/7125 is very new and it is plenty of power for my system so for me, there is probably other equipment on which the money is better spent or saved for like a blu-ray disk player, PS3 or a music server. My speakers are reasonably efficient and given space and noise considerations I'm not going to go with new speakers anytime soon.

If I lived in a house in the burbs or a massive loft, I think I'd drop the cash and live that 200W balanced dream.

 

[ZoFo]

I hear you treetownal!

Tough call zofo. The extra $900 or so to upgrade is proabably too much to justify since I live in a highrise building with neighbors above, below and to one side of me. My 990/7125 is very new and it is plenty of power for my system so for me, there is probably other equipment on which the money is better spent or saved for like a blu-ray disk player, PS3 or a music server. My speakers are reasonably efficient and given space and noise considerations I'm not going to go with new speakers anytime soon.

If I lived in a house in the burbs or a massive loft, I think I'd drop the cash and live that 200W balanced dream.

One of the reasons I moved into a house two years ago was because I had a real bi*ch of a downstairs neighbor who used to call the POLICE on me! I even used to invite the PD into my Condo to let them listen if it was too loud; the agreed that it was not but most likely was my subwoofer. This girl worked for the District Attorney's office as a lowly clerk but thought she high & mighty. One morning I had frigging CNN playing while I was in the shower and she came up and started kicking in my door; I jumped out of the shower and grabbed my Glock .40 thinking someone was trying to break in. I was yelling back at her when she looked down and saw the pistol in my hand (never pointed it anywhere near her of course) and she freaked out and of course called the Police on me once again, and of course they took my side – I live in Texas after all. I never heard much from her after that but she did call the Police on my neighbor when he was installing a new floor in his Condo on a Saturday afternoon!

So anyway, I am going to pull the plug and get the balanced 200W and have some fun without involving the local authorities this time.