Outlaw Audio Unveils Home Theater Speakers and 2100 Watt Amplifier
By Chris Boylan
In an effort to appease power-hungry home theater lovers and audiophiles, Outlaw Audio introduced a new power amplifier last week at the Home Entertainment Expo in New York City. Its power rating? A mere 300 Watts/channel into 7 channels (8 ohm load). If faced with a 4 ohm load the amp's power jumps by half to 450 watts/channel.
The new Model 7900 amp features a fully balanced design as well as two independent detachable wall plugs. For best performance, it is recommended that you plug these cords into separate 15 Amp circuits. The amp measures in at 9.5" x 17.2" x 19.5" (HxWxD) and tips the scale at a whopping 125 pounds. The list price is $3499 but they're being offered at a special introductory price of $2999 if you pre-order before their early June ship date.
The model 790 features a fully balanced design, with both RCA and XLR inputs.
And in case you need something to power with this behemoth of an amp, Outlaw has also just announced its first loudspeaker models: the Outlaw BLS bookshelf loudspeaker ($999-$1099 depending on finish, available now) and the Outlaw LCR home theater speaker ($700 each, available in September). The BLS features boundary compensation switches to optimize the speaker's response for different placement locations. The LCR speaker comes with a crossover switch, so you can select a different crossover when using the LCR as a center channel. This minimizes the "lobing" effect and can also correct for non-standard speaker placement.
Peter Tribeman from Outlaw holds up the new LCR home theater loudspeaker.
And last but not least, showing they're not afraid to try to make a good thing even better, Outlaw has again updated the venerable
LFM-1 subwoofer, which we liked so much in its initial version. Two new variations of the LFM-1 are being introduced: the LFM-1EX ($649, July) and the LFM-1 Compact ($399). With its larger cabinet and more powerful 350 Watt BASH amp, the LFM-1 EX is aimed at the audiophile/enthusiast market - those who want LOUD and LOW. The new sub is reportedly able to go down to 22 Hz at 118 dB output, or 16 Hz at a slightly lower output level. Meanwhile the LFM-1 Compact comes in a smaller cabinet (16.5" x 13" x 19"), and features a 225 Watt BASH amp. Even so, the LFM-1C can put out 112 dB sound pressure levels at 25 Hz which is more than enough bass for most systems in smaller to medium-sized rooms.
The only less-than-exciting news from the Outlaws this year was that they still have no firm date for HDMI support in an Outlaw receiver or preamp/processor. As HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disc players become more prevalent (with their next generation digital video and audio formats carried over HDMI), the inclusion of HDMI audio/video processing and switching is becoming less of an option and more of a necessity. Let's hope we see an HDMI-switching Outlaw receiver (or processor) sooner rather than later.
You can always count on the Outlaws to put on a good demo, usually with a bad movie. Last year it was the stinker "The Core" and this year it was a clip from the only slightly better "Vertical Limit" featuring ice slides, inadvertant nitro explosions, and other mountain-climbing hijinx. Most noticeable was the deep, extended bass (courtesy of the LFM-1 EX subs) but the dialog, music and other effects were conveyed well by the Atlantic Technology System 8200e loudspeakers they also had on display. At around $10,000 (list) for the Atlantic Technology speaker system, they should have sounded good (and they did).
On the Web:
www.outlawaudio.com
