What do you think of Outlaw audio and Emotiva pre/power amps?

I've been looking at them both but I can't demo them because I can't find a retailer in Ottawa Canada... They are similar in price except for the higher end Outlaw power amp. I was just wondering what you guys thought?

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Originally Posted by moves

I've been looking at them both but I can't demo them because I can't find a retailer in Ottawa Canada... They are similar in price except for the higher end Outlaw power amp. I was just wondering what you guys thought?

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No retailers for Outlaw, Emotiva, as far as I know. I believe both they only sell direct via Internet.

Outlaw has been around much longer than Emotiva and has a pretty solid rep; this might or might not be an important criterion for you.

RR-6 must be busy I thought he would have been all over this thread by now. :)

Several members have Emotiva amps and like them. Kex says he feels they are better than a Rotel or NAD he owned and they are a good bang for the buck. One member I know of has an Outlaw preamp but I don't think the matching amp. I'm not sure how long he has had the preamp but it was recently in for repair. Our resident Emotiva fanboy, should be along to give the Emotiva spill before long. I'm just giving him a hard time, we all have products that we feel strongly about. So Emotiva has a stronger showing amongst members on this site if that counts for anything.

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Originally Posted by moves

I've been looking at them both but I can't demo them because I can't find a retailer in Ottawa Canada... They are similar in price except for the higher end Outlaw power amp. I was just wondering what you guys thought?

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I bought the Emotiva LPA-1 after listening to a friend's. I was pretty impressed at the value, and it has replaced some Adcom/Rotel amps in my rig. I have an old thread here somewhere comparing the amp to some of my other NAD and Rotel integrateds - not exactly an apples and apples thing but again it exceeded expectations. Considerably better performance overall. You're not getting Bryston or Conrad Johnson level stuff here by any stretch of the imagination, but will get a very well designed amp with lots of real power, no corners cut and good sound.

In the past I've spent some significant time with Outlaw's old M-blocks and thought highly of them. I do not like their last generation receiver, but their amps have usually been a good buy for a while now. With Outlaw's stuff, you may be able to find some used on Audiogon?

The trouble with both is you'll have to gamble when purchasing. What my ears like might not be what yours like. Shipping, duty, taxes, to Canada aren't negligible either.

I have no experience with pre-amps from either, and minimal with an Emotiva processor - not fair for me to comment on them. As with any online retailer piece, at some point you'l have to decide to order or not, unless you can find someone in Ottawa willing to give you a demo. Could try visiting each company's respective forum.

true visiting their forums would be a good idea... I went to Macintosh' website and looked up some of their speakers and wow I had no idea of how expensive they really are. Insane...

So far Emotiva sounds like the better of the two. I like their aesthetics better than outlaws that's for sure.

oh god... that Conrad Johnson and the Bryston stuff are super sexy to :(

I've just received my Emotiva XPA-5 yesterday. I haven't had a chance for a full evaluation, but first impressions are very good. I currently have it setup on the three front channels of my main 7.1 system. The surround sides and back are still on my Sony STR-D5300ES receiver. I was only able to listen to my Dish HD receiver, but it's really made a difference.

The sound is clearer, better defined, effortless. Dialog was great. I currently have my mains bi-amped, so really can't tell any difference in the low-end. I plan to re-install the jumpers and see how it sounds.

I don't think you can beat the deal they have. I wanted to make sure I bought one before they get too popular and the price goes up. For $800 you get a five mono amp configuration with balanced and RCA inputs, 1% resisters, 1.2KVA transformer, glass epoxy boards, 200W/ch 8ohms/350W/ch 4ohm (these are the specs I saw online, the specs with my amp state 250W/ch 8ohm/440W/ch 4ohm). I only complaint so far is their documentation is inconsistent. At 88.9lbs shipping weight even the cost/lb is pretty good. Emotiva only charges $25 to ship.

I've always drooled over the McIntosh, Brystons and Conrad Johnson amps, but couldn't justify the cost. That's no problem with the Emotiva. I'll provide a better review once I've had time to thoroughly evaluate.

Ever heard of Axiom speakers? I went to a gathering put together by the L.A. Audio Society in 2007 and Axiom speakers were the special guests. They demoed their speakers that day for everyone to hear. They were using Outlaw Amps for everything. Just throwing that out there for whatever it's worth.

I own 5 Axiom Audio speakers, an Outlaw Audio sub and from Emotiva an amp and CD player.

My experiences with Axiom were outstanding both product wise and for customer service.

My experiences were Outlaw were only so-so. I am very pleased with the sub but it came with some cosmtetic flaws. Trying to get a resolution (I finally got a credit off the original price) was not a good experience. There customer service for me was very disappointing.

My experiences so far with Emotiva have been outstanding. I am extremely pleased with my XPA-5 amp and ERC-1 CD player. I am waiting for the release later this year of the XMC-1 pre-pro. I have one of their small speakers being shipped to me now to test against my small Axioms. From what I have seen and read so far I expect the Emotiva speaker to be superior. I don't think anyone can currently match Emotiva's amps, pre/pro's, CD player and speakers in the same class at Emotiva's prices. The products from all three companies look great. Emotiva is currently introducing some very intersting 2 channel amps and pre's at amazing prices. They are soon coming out with a new flagship class H amp with 400 watts per each of 7 channels.

sounds good to me.... now i just need to save some money