New Outlaw Receiver!

Lots of brands are contract manufactured by 3rd parties. Thats neither good nor bad. I'm trying to figure out if Outlaw is a rebadged something or if they have their designs manufactured by a 3rd party. There's a significant difference. Regardless, that is a good looking receiver - nice reinterpretation of the look.
 
Obsession over THD specs never ceases to amaze me. :rolleyes:

To be clear what distortion is - a 1000 Hz signal coming out of a component as 1010 Hz or 990 Hz - that is 1%.

That's pretty difficult to hear in a pure test tone; impossible in complex signals of thousands of frequencies simultaneously.

While "noise" can be expressed as a distortion spec, it is the noise floor for the purposes of the S/N spec.

Then there are thousands of ways for distortion to appear in the reproduction chain. From the microphone, the mixer, processor, mastering equipment, not to mention the acoustics of the studio. That's just the recording end of the chain and there's probably other 50 things I forgot. Speakers with under 1% THD or less? There probably aren't 10. Then factor in room acoustics - how many of us live in anchechoic chambers? No? Guess what then...

All this is only one IOTA of the hi fi equation.

Anyone who thinks the entire hi fi experience hinges on the rock of one single spec of a single component of a couple of hundreths, tenths or even whole percents THD one way or the other, has a lot to learn.
 
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I believe Outlaw has designed and built the RR 2150 (and 60) from the ground up. I'm a fan and I had a 2150 for a while until I REALLY wanted a CR 2020 and sold it. Now I miss it and all the modern amenities. It's a true stereo receiver with a great phono sage and an enthusiast's attention to superior tuner performance like they used to do in the 70's. That's great or irrelevant depending on where you live. For me in Miami, with the worst radio stations in the world, it didn't matter. It also has the ability to be used as a preamp.

For the money, it's a great value. Personally, I didn't like the look of it, but you can't argue with the sound quality. I rolled a lot of speakers through in the search for a good match. Thiel 04a, Horneshoppe "The Horn", Yamaha 690ii, (a great match), Definitive Technologies BP2002 (a great match), but the winners were a pair of Boston Acoustic A70 speakers that absolutely rocked the house like they hadn't with any other amp. I was floored at the sound quality of the combination.

I will most likely get another one in the next year or two because I know I'll want one.
 
I picked up an RR2160 and it has been great. The sound is very well balanced with what sounds like a slight emphasis on the highs. It provides a very detailed image. Things like the sleep timer, remote, and internet radio are all things that I can't picture doing without now. I tend to throw the internet radio on, with the sleep timer, and leave it playing before I hit the sack. When you open up the RR2160 ( caution: the cover wasn't the easiest to get off and I almost marred the unit doing it) you can very easily see the dual monoblock design. From the previous picture of the RR2150, which I remember reading about in Stereophile recommend components, the RR2160 looks like a much better design. From my perspective if I ever need to service the unit down the road and don't want to send it in, the dual monoblock layout should make it much easier to check the other channel and trouble shoot.

In terms of reliability, I've only had the unit for a month or so, but I actually had the suppressor cap fail on my old Dual 1219 and it put out a nasty turn on pop right through the phono pre-amp of the RR2160. After, the left channel on my RR2160 would not play audio through the phono and only reproduced some noise. I turned the unit off and had it sit over the next day and a half, I fired it up again and the RR2160 was playing just fine with a friend's Pro-Ject TT! That beats having to try and smooth talk Outlaw for a replacement receiver! As the dual's motor went up in smoke not too long after I replaced the cap, I've now picked up a Denon DP300F, and will run it through the phono stage of the RR2160. I am sure you will hear from me on the DP300F thread once I get it.

P.S. In terms of noise, the unit is quite quiet. Djcoolray, THD has nothing to do with noise floor. Total Harmonic Distortion is better thought of as a measurement for how accurate an audio signal is reproduced. Think of it as the amount of harmonic content that is added to the original signal. .05%THD is inaudible and as 62caddy said, your speakers will be higher than this. A better specification for noise floor would be SNR at 1watt.
 
Is this more or less a re-badged Sherwood, as Outlaw has done in the past?

This is not a true statement at all. I called Outlaw and talked to them in length about their new R2160 as well as their connection w/ Sherwood. They said they only partnered w/ Sherwood on one item years ago and it was not manufactured by Sherwood, only partnered with Sherwood on the design of the 990. The new Outlaw receiver is designed in house and manufactured in China for them.

I was about to purchase the new Outlaw R2160 and after much deliberation decided to purchase a use high-end analogue integrated amp and add a DAC as this is a changing technology. I ended up w/ a Consonance C-100 which is a Hegel integrated amp w/ Consonance faceplate and name badge. It has balance xlr inputs so I'll be adding a DAC or Blu-Ray player w/ balanced output, most likely the new Yamaha A1060 Universal Blu-Ray player w/ advance audio board and balance outputs.
 
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This is not a true statement at all. I called Outlaw and talked to them in length about their new R2160 as well as their connection w/ Sherwood. They said they only partnered w/ Sherwood on one item years ago and it was not manufactured by Sherwood, only partnered with Sherwood on the design of the 990. The new Outlaw receiver is designed in house and manufactured in China for them.

I was about to purchase the new Outlaw R2160 and after much deliberation decided to purchase a use high-end analogue integrated amp and add a DAC as this is a changing technology. I ended up w/ a Consonance C-100 which is a Hegel integrated amp w/ Consonance faceplate and name badge. It has balance xlr inputs so I'll be adding a DAC or Blu-Ray player w/ balanced output, most likely the new Yamaha A1060 Universal Blu-Ray player w/ advance audio board and balance outputs.

I'm flattered you went to such lengths in an attempt just to prove me wrong. I haven't given their products much attention in a while. Thanks for letting us know that the new receivers are made in China; I can now put Outlaw on my "ignore" list. Myself, and many other AK members, like to steer clear of the made in China junk.
 
I'm flattered you went to such lengths in an attempt just to prove me wrong. I haven't given their products much attention in a while. Thanks for letting us know that the new receivers are made in China; I can now put Outlaw on my "ignore" list. Myself, and many other AK members, like to steer clear of the made in China junk.
That only makes you sound dumber.
 
Yeah, I wouldn't hesitate to look at Outlaw. I owned their multi channel amp, the 7125 for a couple of years. It was a great amp, superior to the monster Onkyo receiver I had at the time. But in the end, with Audyssey and my easy to drive speakers, I sold it and the Onkyo and bought a Denon 4520. But if one needs a multi channel amp, I found Outlaw superior to the Emotiva XPA amp I owned at the same time.

For me it's a trust thing. I know I can trust that Outlaw puts out good quality gear for the money. It's their whole business model in a nutshell.
 
Brother. Do you own a computer? Cell phone? TV? Car? Recent AVR? They all are either made in China, or have tons of Chinese made components in them. It's nice to buy domestic when you can, but let's be realistic.
 
Mmmmk......and you're a genius, eh? Keep buying the made in China stuff.

That's just silly. The RR2150 I had was a beast with top-quality construction. I bought mine a couple of years ago after the original owner had it since around 2006. I called Outlaw to ask if it would be worth sending in, and they said there had been some updates to the digital something or other so I sent it in. A week later they did all sorts of updates, changed out a board (because they had a newer version) and generally gave it a going over for the princely sum of $125. It came back, frankly sounding pretty much the same as it did when it went away, but it's an amazing value for what you get.

Stop being silly.
 
That's just silly. The RR2150 I had was a beast with top-quality construction. I bought mine a couple of years ago after the original owner had it since around 2006. I called Outlaw to ask if it would be worth sending in, and they said there had been some updates to the digital something or other so I sent it in. A week later they did all sorts of updates, changed out a board (because they had a newer version) and generally gave it a going over for the princely sum of $125. It came back, frankly sounding pretty much the same as it did when it went away, but it's an amazing value for what you get.

Stop being silly.

Maybe stop being angry or picking a fight.

You're happy with their products and I have no problem with that.
 
That's just silly. The RR2150 I had was a beast with top-quality construction. I bought mine a couple of years ago after the original owner had it since around 2006. I called Outlaw to ask if it would be worth sending in, and they said there had been some updates to the digital something or other so I sent it in. A week later they did all sorts of updates, changed out a board (because they had a newer version) and generally gave it a going over for the princely sum of $125. It came back, frankly sounding pretty much the same as it did when it went away, but it's an amazing value for what you get.

Stop being silly.
The RR2150 has been out for about 12 years, iirc, and has a history of great reviews and happy customers. I'm sure the new model will as well.
 
Maybe look in the mirror and take your own advice .

But you continue to reply.....

PM me if you want to continue this back and forth exchange. I'd rather not derail and or trash this thread.
 
I'm flattered you went to such lengths in an attempt just to prove me wrong. I haven't given their products much attention in a while. Thanks for letting us know that the new receivers are made in China; I can now put Outlaw on my "ignore" list. Myself, and many other AK members, like to steer clear of the made in China junk.

Don't think that's true, Pilgrim. I have gone through a number of made-in-China integrated Jolida amps and I'm a huge fan of their sound.
Had no technical probs with any of them, I just kept upgrading for more power and features. China-Made is NOT the kiss of death anymore.

TechGuy - you need to start your OWN thread - on "Don't Buy Chinese" - and bail from the discussion here ...
please ...
 
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But you continue to reply.....

PM me if you want to continue this back and forth exchange. I'd rather not derail and or trash this thread.

Hmmmmm. Seems to me you're the one that's been derailing and trashing and then acuse those that try to stop the derailing and trashing of what you have already done.

Now you want to "step outside and exchange blows" do you? I will not. However, if you want to stay here and make out a little I might be up for that. :)
 
Boy, has this tread derailed off the track for someone considering the virtues of the new Outlaw Retro receiver and if it's right for them. I really hope anyone interested can sort through all the rubble to find some truth here. It would be nice if this thread to continues with more upbeat and positive comments, plus personal experiences on the new Outlaw R2160.
 
Boy, has this tread derailed off the track for someone considering the virtues of the new Outlaw Retro receiver and if it's right for them. I really hope anyone interested can sort through all the rubble to find some truth here. It would be nice if this thread to continues with more upbeat and positive comments, plus personal experiences on the new Outlaw R2160.

You're right... sorry about that.

If it's anything like the 2150, as I said earlier in the thread, I'll be getting one eventually. The only reason I sold the 2150 was to get a Yamaha CR 2020. This one seems to have an even better amp section and as an Outlaw 750 (5 channel HT amp) owner, I can't wait to hear it.
 
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