I've owned the Outlaw for almost a year and recommend it over the Denon 3800 and NAD 760 (?). It's much better on 2 channel audio than either in terms of image and timbre. It has all the goodies for setting levels and has the middle surround channel, 6.1. You can also by-pass the DSP's for 2 channel. Like all the others, the speaker terminals are painfully close together and the tuner is weak. I also went through 3 of them before i got one that worked properly but in each case, after a fone call, I had the replacement and a return shipping label the next day. Can't beat it for $600.
Any mid-priced Receivers Worthwhile???
I auditioned an Onkyo Integra DTR-5.1 receiver today, driving small Paradigm satellites with an M&K subwoofer. The system sounded quite good spacially and in terms of its frequency range, but it had a little too much lower-treble presence for my liking. I'd like to take the plunge into surround sound, but so far, all the low and mid-priced receivers I've heard have exhibited this flaw to varying degrees. Right now I have good 2-channel sound using the venerable NAD 3020 integrated amp. I don't want to regret going to 5-channel surround. Perhaps the treble zing was in the speakers and not the Integra, I can't say for sure. So, my question is: are there any mid-priced receivers that won't bore holes through my skull during the length of a 2-hour flick, or can I only achieve natural sounding HT with high-priced gear?? Thanks in advance for any and all insight!