OUTLAW AUDIO
Outlaw Audio is one of a new breed of manufacturers that sells directly to consumers over the Internet. By cutting out the dealer markup, there’s no doubt that you’ll get more hardware for your buck, but you might think you’ll lose the guidance and experience of a retailer to help you choose and ultimately install your new gear. Outlaw does give you a 30-day satisfaction guarantee (you pay the shipping), and though there’s no dealer to do the installation, the company has highly regarded full-time customer service reps to answer questions and e-mails about integrating the product into your system. Besides, most surround receivers are sold over the counter without installation, and the Outlaw manuals are definitely easier to decipher than most typical Japanese receiver manuals.
The Outlaw 950 processor has a feature set similar to the Onkyo 701’s, albeit with a few important differences and some minor ones. You get the same five video inputs, although only one has an output and they’re all on the back panel. You also gain two audio inputs but you lose the phono stage, so I guess you’ll have to break down and get that CD copy of Wish You Were Here. Where you really gain ground, though, is in digital inputs, with four optical and two coaxial, all of which can be assigned to any input.
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| Outlaw Audio is named for how it does business: direct-to-consumer sales via www.outlawaudio.com. This helps keep down the cost of gear like the model 950
preamp-processor and the model 770 amplifier. |
