Outlaw AV Receivers Atlanta GA

   

I grew up with the idea that, where high-end audio was concerned, simple was best. My father, who was a true audiophile of his day, had a McIntosh amp custom built (he said) to Navy specifications and, when I started listening, a single but extremely massive Electrovoice Patrician loudspeaker. That minimalist setup served as my musical education until I began playing the cello at the age of ten and, a few years later, putting together my own system. Until then, I spent whatever free time I could steal from studying or playing baseball at the park, and whenever the living room was free, lying in front of the Patrician listening in total rapture to my father's record collection until I knew it all by heart.

My dad was slow to adopt to stereo (hey, he was slow to adapt to color television, too; on the other hand, he did have one of the first Porsches on the West Coast) but eventually he managed to fit a second Patrician into our living room together plus an Electrovoice center speaker. Those horn-loaded Patricians sure could go loud without much strain!

Following the family heritage, once I reached my maturity, I used amps that rarely if ever had tone controls, and looked on the graphic equalizer with haughty condescension. When the various attempts at surround sound came onto the market, and went, I turned up my ears at them. Finally, however, about coincident with the dawning of the new millennium, I began acknowledging surround sound and the fact that I was increasingly having to use friends' high-end systems to review multichannel CDs and DVDs.

Still, it was with a great deal of apprehension that I approached Outlaw's Model 1070 7.1 Channel Surround Sound Receiver. Could I figure out the complicated setup instructions? Could I hear any difference? Would my conventional CD listening be compromised?

As it has turned out, after more than two months of living with the Outlaw, and the high-end home theater system from Premier Acoustics that it runs, I admit that I have been converted. If it's classical and it's on DVD, that's likely to be my first choice. And, with the selection of classical material on DVD still surging, I am becoming a very happy classical music reviewer.

The truth is, I had been hearing about the Outlaw for quite some time, especially with a stack of DVDs and Super Audio CDs that had to be reviewed, and the 1070 was at such a good price that I figured I could even afford to buy it if I liked it. As it turned out, the combined sound quality and price was so attractive that liking it was not the problem. Convincing my wife was, and it was - but not for long. In fact, the first time she walked into the room after the ...