Hi guys! Been reading this forum for quite a while and wasn’t sure someone could help me make a decision. I was strongly considering the 2160 but I’m also considering the McIntosh 4100 and 5100. I know this is apples and oranges but I want the best sound and do not necessarily need the Outlaw Dac or other modern features. I’m only using this set up for a turntable. Any guidance? Thanks.
An undoubtedly newbie question: in applying the three steps in the speaker Eq settings, 55/65/80, am I going to get more bass as I go higher in the settings, or less, or how does it work? Sorry if this is terribly simplistic...educate me a little. Thanks!
I doubt you will need it with those sweet speakers. The lower the number (frequency) the deeper the bass. Be careful at high volumes. Play around with it for poor recordings with weak bass and defeat it for good sounding ones. Trust your ears...
Thank you for the quick response, and your help--and the nice words about the speakers. I do love them--I bought them 40 years ago, when I really couldn't afford them, and I have been glad I did ever since. The new 2160 has replaced an old Sony ES series receiver, and it sounds great to me. Cheers.
Mostly classical and some jazz. 1. A Sonos Connect (Optical 1) 2. A Technics DVD-A10, which is built like a tank and is used just for CD's (coax 1) 3. A Yamaha 5 CD changer (Optical 2) 4. A Philips turntable, of the same vintage as the speakers, fitted with an Ortofon cartridge and stylus. --There's also an Oppo 103 in the closet, when one of the others croaks... I play some vinyl from time to time, but I made the switch to CDs big time when they came in, and the vinyl Renaissance is sort of lost on me...
Yep. Good question and I asked myself that very thing this morning. Looking at both. Love the Outlaws CAT5. Love the Yamaha's reputation.
Your post is a year old, but it presents a common problem that people still have to deal with: Stereo or 5.1? One must decide which is most important: surround and multi-channel video, or great music? I have to have 5.1 for video. I have to have stereo for great music reproduction. A multi-channel AVR can deliver very good music IF it is designed with a priority to deliver great music. FEW are built that way. So, it seems to me the solution is to select a "guaranteed to function as intended" name-brand used AVR off ebay and connect some merely acceptable speakers to it on four corners and an adequate sub. That will give you plenty of fun times watching Mad Max Fury Road. Just get that done and enjoy it. Then, you will have something to listen to and watch movies with while you sort out the real prize: Killer 2 Channel. Selecting components is fun and challenging. There are several great sounding integrateds available that have dac's built in. Sounds good, but... external dac's are going to give you more flexibility and a better upgrade path. You can't swap out internal parts, nor can you sell them to offset new parts cost. And tubes, A/B or D-class? That has to be decided on, too. Another thing - there are some outstanding ACTIVE speakers available, which requires a re-think on amplification. Plus (it never ends, and this is just the core components) - despite claims to the contrary, there is indeed a difference in sound among amplifiers. Hell, Paul McGowan even proved that there is a difference in sound caused by the power coming out of the electric outlet, and he sells a widely acclaimed solution for that. So, after many years of marriage I am back into audio and I bought a used Yamaha AVR (RX-v461) for only $80 off ebay, some Daytons for the back, some ELAC Debut 2 B6.2's for the front and a Polk sub and center and movies are a ton of fun. The real chore is 2 Channel. Not because finding good parts is hard, but because there is plenty of very good hardware out there and I am looking for a very specific listening experience. Plus, I got burned on a Nakamachi AV1 years back. a High-dollar AVR that I ended up giving away. The Outlaw seems like an excellent component, but you really need to determine what speakers you like first, because you might love some low-impedence, highly efficient jewel of a speaker and not need all the muscle of the Outlaw. If that happens, you might be able to snag a decent, highly regarded tube amp for the same money, or a beautifully engineered lower power A/B-class amp and a magic dac. Keeping things as simple as you can, with the sound being always first in priority, will get you where you want to go. Since you have probably already bought a solution, I will see if I can find it below. But others who have the same questions as you do might find this information helpful. One last note: Impedance - mixing ohms can be safely done but keep the volume lower. A 6 ohm speaker will suck up more power than an 8 ohm speaker because the impedance is less on the 6. Fours are even more absorptive of power, which is why its easy to run hot powering some 4 ohm speakers. It will probably be impossible to get the volume adjusted properly if you mix resistance, as one will possibly be louder than the other at a given equal volume setting. Unless the efficiency of the lower-ohm speaker can offset the difference by being less efficient than the higher-ohm'd speaker. Have fun with that, friend.
I'm looking for some suggestions about the best way to run a feed from Qobuz through my Outlaw 2160 and into my two nice ADS speakers. Right now, I have a Sonos Connect plugged in to the Outlaw and can listen to Qobuz controlling it through the Sonos app on my phone. I think I'd like to be able instead to run the music via the Qobuz app on the phone without the Sonos intermediary. Right now I am paying for the $20 per month "CD quality" feed from Qobuz. Sounds real nice to me...but I am open to suggestions. Connect a Bluetooth receiver to the Outlaw? Which one? Or connect the Outlaw via CAT5 to my network? Then what? Any suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.
I would never recommend going Bluetooth as you would downgrade the quality of even subscribing to Qobuz. I would recommend either Chromecast Audio with Toslink cable or a Bluesound Node connected to your Outlaw. I run both. Chromecast will do 24/96 audio while the Bluesound Node will do 24/192. Chromecast Audio would work naively to your Qobuz app while the Bluesound app integrates with Qubuz on the back end. Some people would recommend Roon but I think that is overkill imho.
I have owned the RR2150 and the RR2160 and thought I would add a brief comparison of the two. I initially decided to move to the 2160 for the digital inputs and volume control. These are both much appreciated as I wanted the optical input for chromecast audio and I did not like to clunky bursts of volume on the remote of the 2150. What I didnt expect was the improvement in sound detail. I typically had the treble on max gain on the 2150 to achieve the open but not shrill sound I enjoyed. With the 2160 I am usually between 0 and +2 treble but the detail in the mids and high end is clearer. I also enjoy being able to go beyond to say +6 to +9 treble gain for sports and TV where the 2150 sounded muffled. The 2150 was a nice step up from the AVRs that I came from but the 2160 is definitely a step up in clarity and detail. I have also used the receiver with my NHT superzeros with positive results. Associated equipment: Rega P1 Chromecast Audio w/ Toslink Cambridge Audio Aero 6 Floorstanders Cambridge Aero 9 Subwoofer
Thank you very much for the quick response and the great advice. Chromecast Audio and mini to toslink cable are now on order from NewEgg. Wish I had done this a few months ago when they were easier to find, and a little less expensive! How did I miss this little hockey puck? Looking forward to having a new toy to fiddle with. Cheers.
My Bluesound Node arrived today, and sounds terrific streaming the Qobuz Hi-Res files at 24/96 and up! I tried the Chromecast Audio, but discovered that the firmware seems to have a problem with consistent dropouts at 24/96 and above--something that has generated a lot of comment on the Net, but which I didn't see until I started using it. Oh, well...a good excuse to go for the Node--this one is a Crutchfield "scratch and dent" (there weren't any) outlet store Gen 1 model, got it for a great price. Odd looking bit of kit, but works a treat. I am streaming Qobuz Hi-Res from the Node out the analog jacks and into the analog jacks of the 2160, so as to use the Node's DAC, which like the 2160's is a Brown-Burr--for all I know they are the same model, but I thought it best to let the Node change the bits into sounds...no special reason to let the 2160 do the converting, would you agree? Thanks again for the suggestion.
If you are running the original Bluesound Node N100, that has a 24/192 Cirrus Logic DAC. The Node2 and Node2i both run the Burr Brown PCM5122 DAC which is more similar to what is in our RR2160. As far as the Chromecast is concerned, I purchased the optional ethernet cable dongle just so to improve any issues that wifi may present. Can't say I have had any issues in the past with this setup, but now that I have the Bluesound Node2 with local hi-res flac and Tidal streaming, I prefer just to run that instead of the Chromecast for the most part.
Great set up harvard. I had the 2160 with the node 2i and made several comparisons with analogue and coax inputs, level matched with an iphone spl meter (i know its not the best, but good enough). My takeaway - it was soooo close. I would go back an forth on trying to hear differences that at end of listening session my ears would be ringing a bit from trying to hear the differences. Without measurements, I would say the Outlaw DAC offers slightly better detail but the differences are subtle.
Thank you Mr. New- and Mr. Non- (I'm assuming it's "Mr" for both...shame on me, right?) for your responses and thoughts. The Node, which is indeed an N100, and I are in our second week together and getting along very well. I've come a long long way from my KLH Model 11W, a million years ago! Cheers
Howdy all. I know it has been quite a while since I chimed in here but I'm finally going to try a sub in my system. Have an SVS SB-1000 OTW and will report back after testing with my 2160 and Wharfedale Diamond 225 and Denton 80th. Looking forward to both trying to integrate this thing into my system and making it meet the WAF standards.
One concern I have about the Outlaw is it has HD radio, and it is not possible to turn off this feature. Doesn't an HD signal sound worse than a regular, analogue FM signal?
The HD signal does not sound any worse than the FM channels on the 2160, at least to my ears; if anything, HD sounds perhaps a little better. Does the mere presence of the HD capability in the unit have a detrimental impact on the sound quality from the other feeds on the 2160? That's not something I have ever heard before.... Or could you just not listen to the HD?
I found the fm and hd signals vary quite a bit depending on some upstream factors but the tuner is quite good. Some hd stations sounding cd quality. Same story for internet radio.
Hi All, I have been going over these helpful posts for quite some time now, finally I got my hands on Outlaw RR2160 (B-stock) recently. Thank you all for helping me deciding on 2160. Just like some other members, I was torn between 2160 and A-S801, but then finally settled on 2160 as Bass Management was really important to me for my current set of speakers (LRS). And I will use the phono (mm) extensively (was using Mani before). Along with that, I'm also using Chromecast Audio (optical). It does sound really nice and I could not be happier, but I have a quick question for you all experienced members out here and pardon me for this silly newbie question (new to this hobby and learning everyday). What is the average volume you guys are listening to? I know it depends on speakers and source. And I know Magnepans are not easy to drive. I have to crank it up to almost around -22db for phono and -30db for digital for more serious listening. Do you think that I'm putting extra strain on 2160 or it does not even matter as long as it does not sound distorted? Thanks
