Stereophile reviews the Outlaw RR2160
- Thread starter sanford12
- Start date
MannyE
Exterminate!
I had the 2150 for a few years and it was very good. The cool thing about it is, and they don't really talk about this as much as they should, is that when my 2150 was about 10 years old, I called up Outlaw and asked them if I could send it in to get looked at and make sure that everything was still running on all cylinders. They received it at the factory and then called me up to tell me they were going to do this and that, I don't really remember what minor things they found, but in addition, they told me they were replacing the USB board and a few other components in order to give me the latest firmware and an improved USB connection or bluetooth connection, I don't really remember, but the point was, that for $125, they essentially updated my 10 year old 2150 to the 2015 level.
That's unheard of unless you're in Krell or Theta territory.
EDIT... the styling is meh. But the thing is so good it doesn't matter. And in person, the thing just exudes quality. Not a plastic thing in sight.
That's unheard of unless you're in Krell or Theta territory.
EDIT... the styling is meh. But the thing is so good it doesn't matter. And in person, the thing just exudes quality. Not a plastic thing in sight.
darkblue94
The Devil made me do it.
Highly unlikely.I will probably buy it, but I will just be embarrassed when my friends look at it and say "WTF!?"
I will apologize for it's retarded looks, and tell them "but... it works really good!!".
With all the money, time, and resources spent in designing the style of a new product, this was a MASSIVE missed opportunity to totally dominate an entire segment of the Audio marketplace!If Kenwood, Yamaha, Pioneer. or Marantz came out with a cool looking retro Silver-era styled receiver with the Outlaw's specs for less than $1,000, then all of the other receiver manufactures would be put out of business...
Is it one of those "infinity" volume knobs that keep turning and turning ?
I think a lot of the low power Pioneers look and feel cheap.The few I've had didn't have the sound I was looking for either. I'm used to the toggle switches on a Luxman that are quite a bit higher quality
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I think after you get it you'll find it may have a Ford body but it's a Lincoln underneath. I think if they went with the 70's silver face receiver look it would be phony on their part. They're carving their own path with this styling. Love it or hate it you notice itI will probably buy it, but I will just be embarrassed when my friends look at it and say "WTF!?"
I will apologize for it's retarded looks, and tell them "but... it works really good!!".
With all the money, time, and resources spent in designing the style of a new product, this was a MASSIVE missed opportunity to totally dominate an entire segment of the Audio marketplace!
Except for the headphone level they all are.
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Man that is ugly.
Ironic coming from a person who owns two MCS 3125 which many consider ugly as well.
It does have plenty of power, good enough specs, and a favorable review from Stereophile, wonder if any of the "big names" could put out a comparable product both performance and price wise now days. Hat's off to Outlaw for producing the RR2160.
Being a dinosaur, I don't download, stream or whatever names are used for computer driven audio sources.
No cell phone so that's not a music source for me either.
Still plenty of local radio stations where I am so I like the fact the Outlaw has a tuner.
Your right they are. The RR2160 will feel right at home and will be the best looking of the 3.
You'd like the tuner then and if you have HD stations that's icing on the cake
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MannyE
Exterminate!
Likewise! I shouldn't have sold the 2150 I had. I miss it now, although if I do get a new one of these I'll have to find a shelf behind a door. The thing feels like quality through and through and if I were blind, I would probably enjoy it more. It also has a pretty kickass phono section which when the original came out 11 or 12 years ago, was truly a valuable asset. Now that vinyl is back (for the moment) everything has a phono input. But not necessarily a good one like in the 2160.
I been using the headphones tonight Sennheiser HD 202. Definitely entry level phones but good ones. So far I've found that cranking the headphone level all the way to the right and use the volume control, sounds better and you can use the remote to control the volume. Listening to Alligator radio on Tune-in. Sounds great
just dave
vintage rules!
Well la de da.What time shall we meet at the polo grounds? Where did you get your facts for this statement?
WaynerN
Addicted Member
No, it's a real volume control (motorized for remote use). I think they use an Alps volume control. At any rate, mine is not a digital volume control.
IPADave
Turning a whiter shade of pale.
Hey, careful with those Carver comments.
I'll say this about the style of the RR2160: at least it has style whatever you may think of it. Outlaw didn't do the "me too" cookie cutter thing and I applaud them for that.
-Dave
Doesn't look that bad to me. You need to consider, that the measurement values just refer to 1 W @ 8 Ohm and not to nominal power. So at nominal power you could expect the values to be roundabout 20 dB higher, which then would be roundabout 100 dB (20 Hz to 20 kHz), which to me would rather seem pretty good for a modern receiver.
Greetings from Munich!
Manfred / lini
darkblue94
The Devil made me do it.
Pretty much different animals there and vastly different price range as well. I don't think it would be a fair comparison but I'd like to be able to do it. Word is the Outlaw punches way above it's weight class plus it has all kinds of flexibility that the Bel Canto lacks.
goldwax
dozy ming-mong
Yeah, the Bel Canto goes for used what the Outlaw is new. Started out as a $3k amp, but that was getting on 15 years ago. I guess i’m just wondering if things have progressed enough that the Outlaw would be an upgrade or not.
WaynerN
Addicted Member
My first receiver was a "POS" Kenwood (I think KR-2120) with a whopping 20 watts per channel (maybe not even RMS watts). People buy what they can afford, and those receivers do fill in a void. $275,000 speakers are not going to end up at my house, even if I was a multi-millionaire.
