Outlaw model 1070

[Wirehed]

So my friend bought the Outlaw Audio Model 1070, and since his speakers won't be here for another month or so he had it delivered to my house so I could play with it.

Yesterday afternoon, with much anticipation I replaced my Yamaha DSP A-1 with it. Source for all tests was my Denon 3910 DVD player.

I've only had one day with it, and I haven't really watched a whole movie yet, so I'll add to my impressions later.

The 1070 looks fantastic; it's heavy and appears to be well built. It's a very attactive, if industrial looking. The blue LCD display is quite impressive and gives it a high end look. It really does look like a much more expensive piece of equipment than it is.

The first thing I noticed was that the 1070 feels underpowered when compared to my Yamaha. Volume has to be cranked up quite a bit to the point where upper frequencies sound harsh in order to have a "full" sounding mid and low range. And even then it doesn't sound nearly as "full" as my old Yamaha.

Soundstage and imaging seems much improved though, regardless of running from Digital or Analog via the DVD player. Bass is tighter and feels more controled in digital. (Note: digital means we're using the DACs in the 1070, where as Analog uses the DACs in the DVD player)

The sound is much warmer sounding in analog mode, this is to be expected coming from the outstanding Denon 3910. But I was still quite impressed with the sound quality from the model 1070. I'm guessing it will work better at lower volume, properly calibrated with smaller speakers (or at least more efficient speakers in my friend's smallish room.

[Iguana Man]

Cool! When you get time, could you comment on it's bass management?

I notice it's 65wpc @ 8ohms, and 80wpc @ 6ohms. What speakers are you using again? Just curious.

[Wirehed]

NHT 2.5is.

What do you want to know about the bass management?



My friend's speakers showed up today, so I'm probably going to bring it back to his house and install it in his room. I'm not overly impressed with the Outlaw 1070, though I would love to do a side-by-side with something in the same price range, like a new Denon or Marantz reciever.


One of the main annoyances with the 1070 right now is in order to play a CD from the DVD player you have to fiddle with a bunch of settings in order to get it to play 2 channel stereo.

We'll see how it sounds later today with my friend's B&W 602s.

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by Seamonkey

NHT 2.5is.

What do you want to know about the bass management?

I guess I'd like to know if it adds alot in being able to control the sound and if it helps control room nodes.

[Wirehed]

Originally Posted by Iguana Man

I guess I'd like to know if it adds alot in being able to control the sound and if it helps control room nodes.

It has pretty standard control modes, nothing too out of the ordinary I guess.

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by Seamonkey

It has pretty standard control modes, nothing too out of the ordinary I guess.

That was a lame question on my part. How did it sound with your buds B&W's?

[Taxi]

Wow, I can't believe I missed this thread. (I was kinda busy.)

Anyway, I guess I'm a little surprised that the 1070 didn't stack up to the DSP A-1, although that A-1 *is* a pretty kick ass receiver. (I had to settle for the Yamaha 2095, but I have been extremely happy with that choice.) Still, the Outlaw is often touted as "high end" for the "normal man"s budget, so I would have expected more from the newer receiver.

So, how did it sound with the B&Ws?

[Wirehed]

Yeah, I was suprised at it's performance too Taxi. I thought it was be an improvement...I actually hoped it would be a large improvement.


With my friend's system it sounded about the same. At least I felt it was suffering from the same shortcomings I mentioned before.

We did learn that all the inputs work like macros, so you can have the same physical input (for say your DVD player) configured as both a digital 7.1 source AND if you click on "CD" the same physical input you can configure 2.0 for listening to standard CDs. This was a pretty neat feature not really specifically pointed out in the manual.


I wasn't able to side-by-side compare, but my gut tells me a $1200 new Denon reciever is probably better...but that's a pretty big statement to make, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Iguana Man]

Could it be the Outlaw was underpowered? Just a guess here based on your comments concerning how hard you had to push it and the resulting 'harsh' sound.

[Taxi]

Yeah, that's a good point. I wonder if they figure that most people are going to pair that up with a 7700, and thus have underpowered it a bit.