Outlaw Audio 990 or 970?

danger boy
danger boy Posts: 15,722
edited March 2006 in Electronics
Ok. I'm looking for a new pre amp.. and both of these fit into my budget.... anyone have any experience with either pre? I've read a few bad things about the 970 the it's video switching and digital hiccups.

Let me know if you can recommend either one over the other. I understand they are very different beasts from each ohter.
PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
Post edited by danger boy on

Comments

  • McLoki
    McLoki Posts: 5,231
    edited March 2006
    Danger,

    Here is a review someone did on the Outlaw forum between the 990, 970 and a Yamaha AVR. Personally I would go with the 990 if it will work with your budget and rack. (the 990 is really large)

    Michael
    Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
    Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
    Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
    Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
    Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
    Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2006
    Michael, thanks for the link. that's what i was looking for...
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2006
    :D well, i took the leap and ordered the 990 pre amp. After reading up on it over and over again.. I think i'll be dang happy with it. :)
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • McLoki
    McLoki Posts: 5,231
    edited March 2006
    danger boy wrote:
    :D well, i took the leap and ordered the 990 pre amp. After reading up on it over and over again.. I think i'll be dang happy with it. :)
    I will be VERY interested to hear what your impressions of it are. What amp and speakers will you be running with it?

    Thanks,

    Michael
    Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
    Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
    Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
    Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
    Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
    Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
  • kenhiltz
    kenhiltz Posts: 5
    edited March 2006
    McLoki;
    Also read your review as I'm planning to buy the 990/w7500 amp to run my LSI speakers. The 990 is set up for 7.1 and I only have 5.1 set up?? Any problems with that???
  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited March 2006
    WTG Al! I will also be looking forward to hearing your impressions!
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2006
    McLoki wrote:
    I will be VERY interested to hear what your impressions of it are. What amp and speakers will you be running with it?

    Thanks,

    Michael


    my HT is in transition right now.. i've got Marantz MA500 mono blocks in the HT already. speakers are Monitor 7B's. After this.. new fronts will be the ordered, later in the year or next.

    I got a confirmation email for the Outlaw Audio 990 pre
    Ship date Mar 6, 2006
    Estimated delivery Mar 11, 2006 :D:D
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • McLoki
    McLoki Posts: 5,231
    edited March 2006
    danger boy wrote:
    I got a confirmation email for the Outlaw Audio 990 pre
    Ship date Mar 6, 2006
    Estimated delivery Mar 11, 2006 :D:D
    Sweet, so you will be rockin' this weekend. :)

    Take time to enjoy it this weekend, but when the work week starts again next week, we want a review damn it.... :D

    Michael
    Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
    Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
    Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
    Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
    Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
    Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
  • mrmusicman
    mrmusicman Posts: 303
    edited March 2006
    danger boy,
    I purchaced a 990 to up-grade from my h/k 310 and turned out to be a better improvment than I anticipated,more detail and clarity.Set up was pretty simple,you have to have it connected to a tv or monitor for the menu.I couldn't get the ez mic.to work correct for speaker settings,thats one of the bugs from what I understand,so I just used an spl meter.Have fun and happy listening you made an excellant choice.:D
    Outlaw 990 Processor
    Outlaw 755 Amp
    Denon 2900 dvd-sacd
    Dishnetwork HD-Dvr
    55" Sony LCD RPTV
    Lsi 9-fronts
    Lsic-center
    Rt55i- surrounds
    Velodyne cht-10 sub

    2007 Dodge Quad cab
    Kenwood Excelon KDC-X891
    JL Audio 300/V2
    Polk Audio SR 6500 - Fronts
    Polk Audio DB651 - Rear
    2 -10" Treo Subs
    Interfire IB 2600C sub amp
    Sirius Sat radio
    Ipod connection
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited March 2006
    DB - Nice piece of audio ****, have fun with it.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2006
    well it's been several years since I upgraded the heart of the home theater.. so after reading for days on this pre.. i figured i'd try it out.. besides Outlaw gives you 30 days to demo it in your home. I honestly don't think i'll hate it. given the great reviews it's gotten.

    If it arrives on Sat. i'll spend the rest of the day hooking it up, and setting it up. Can't wait to hear something different in my home.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2006
    mrmusicman wrote:
    danger boy,
    I purchaced a 990 to up-grade from my h/k 310 and turned out to be a better improvment than I anticipated,more detail and clarity.Set up was pretty simple,you have to have it connected to a tv or monitor for the menu.I couldn't get the ez mic.to work correct for speaker settings,thats one of the bugs from what I understand,so I just used an spl meter.Have fun and happy listening you made an excellant choice.:D


    I think Outlaw may have released a software fix for that.. check their website to be sure. BUt yeah, very pumped up here.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • jrlouie
    jrlouie Posts: 462
    edited March 2006
    Just got the 990 yesterday. It is hooked up, but I haven't had the time to do serious listening. It is definitely deep. I thought I had a deep rack but once you add the extra space needed for cabling, it is protruding just a little from the front of the rack.
    Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to do some stuff with it and can write up more thoughts. Maybe post some pics.
    I think they are working on a software update for the 990, but I'm not aware that it is out yet. I wish they'd convert the "bypass" setting to turn off the sub. I liked the easy capability to turn off my sub for 2-channel by using bypass on my previous AVR.
    One initial thing that I'm not used to is that on the first push of the volume button, my TV exhibits a really quick white flash. Then subsequent button pushes on the remote don't. It's almost like the 990 is turning on its OSD, and it does that, but once it is on, it stops. But, I have a really old TV. I don't know if that's part of the reason. Plus I'm only using composite connections to the TV. I just know my Onkyo didn't do that.
    Took me a little bit to figure out you don't push the power button to turn it on. That is only to turn it off. To turn it on you push CD, DVD, or Aux, etc.
    The upsampling setting for CD audio seems to sound great and I like the auto-setup. Although it set all of my Lsi's to large, I just manually changed them back. Just goes to show the Lsi's can dig deep ;)
    Anyway, that's about it for the few hours I've had it.
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2006
    very nice jrlouie, i'd be interested in more of your findings and likes and dislikes.. what sold you on the 990 pre?

    I've been reading up on it... and it seems to have a lot of setting available for tweaks.. something i've never had on my current receiver. I love tweaks. ha ha
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited March 2006
    Al disappears from Polk forum to spend all his time tweaking!:eek: :D

    You can't do that Al, I need my fix of cute hunks on the Joy thread!:) ;):D
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2006
    Dum, dee, dee dee dum, dee dee.... whistling.... waiting.... should arrive today.. Fedex web site says it's out for delivery. :D

    I'm currently tearing down and unwiring the Marantz receiver... cleaning, dusting, then i'll pull all the cables, wires, etc and clean them too. once the new pre gets here. it'll take a few hours to rewire everything back up.. should be up and running later tonight. Hope to have enough time to play around with it and maybe watch a movie. :)
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited March 2006
    Cool! I'm psyched for you!!!!
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2006
    Holy Mamma! this thing is big.. 8" tall. 18" deep.. a whole 3" deeper than my Marantz. :eek:

    Luckily it won't be going in a audio cab.. will sit on top of the audio rack.

    * sorry for the poor pic quailty... my cam phone isn't the best.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • peteran
    peteran Posts: 141
    edited March 2006
    Danger Boy, we are all eagerly awaiting your thoughts for the new setup of yours, please compare it with your previous one.
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2006
    peteran wrote:
    Danger Boy, we are all eagerly awaiting your thoughts for the new setup of yours, please compare it with your previous one.


    me too.. ha ha ha. i'll write up a mini review later tonight after work. so far I am loving 2 ch music again with this pre in the HT. ;)
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • Skynut
    Skynut Posts: 2,967
    edited March 2006
    You replaced an Onkyo with this?
    Which Onkyo?
    I just replaced my TX-DS787 with a Sunfire Theater Grand II. I hooked it up yesterday and with all the cleaning of everything I ran out of time so I only sampled scenes from the Mummy and I think I noticed a big difference.
    So far I have high hopes, can't wait till tonights Zathura showing.
    Skynut
    SOPA® Founder
    The system Almost there
    DVD Onkyo DV-SP802
    Sunfire Theater Grand II
    Sherbourn 7/2100
    Panamax 5510 power conditioner (for electronics)
    2 PSAudio UPC-200 power conditioners (for amps)
    Front L/R RT3000p (Bi-Wired)
    Center CS1000p (Bi-Wired) (under the television)
    Center RT2000p's (Bi-Wired) (on each side of the television)
    Sur FX1000
    SVS ultra plus 2

    www.ShadetreesMachineShop.com
    Thanks for looking
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2006
    Skynut wrote:
    You replaced an Onkyo with this?
    Which Onkyo?
    I just replaced my TX-DS787 with a Sunfire Theater Grand II. I hooked it up yesterday and with all the cleaning of everything I ran out of time so I only sampled scenes from the Mummy and I think I noticed a big difference.
    So far I have high hopes, can't wait till tonights Zathura showing.

    I didn't replace an Onkyo.... I replaced a 7 yr old Marantz receiver. more to follow in a few days. to busy right now to explain and write review.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2006
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin: