Outlaw 1050 vs. Onkyo SR600

foreverhifi: All of the specs that i posted were from actual testing, not from the manufacturer's specs. All of the units mentioned DID go up in power ( by various amounts except for the JVC ) at 6 ohms but took a major nose-dive below that. Pick a receiver that i mentioned and i'll tell you what it did at 6 ohms.

As far as your comments go, i would basically agree with them from a "common sense" point of view and what i would expect. However, it appears that what we expect and think to be "normal" is NOT what many manufacturers are delivering to us. Once again, let the buyer beware and do their homework PRIOR to buying. Sean
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Sean, I was just curious if you new how these tests were performed? Or did you perform them yourself.The reason I ask is because I have noticed that a few test labs have released bad info due to improper test procedures,like test equipment used doesn't have the proper frequency response or the labs were just plain biased toward one product.As for Jarujammer, If you can't actually listen to each with YOUR system,I would read as many reviews as you can and take from them what you can.I have heard more than one outstanding system with not so outstanding spec's.

Yeah, I'd like to look into the 4ohm rating thing! Still, experience suggests to me, that even with the BIG "MUSCLE RECEIVERS"(if there's such a thing), like the Denon 5800's and the likes, I've found from first hand experience that the power from them can't compete with even modest(often lesser wattage) dedicated power amps! But even if the power in these receivers was competetive with separate power amps, I still find that running power through a passive speaker usually has it's limitations, and the designs dictate cutting em off as "small" or at least "smaller"! Powered active subs have far more control over the bass drivers, and proper bass management offers TREMENDOUS dynamic advantages(unless using powered speakers that crossover internally to ACTIVE DRIVERS!).
So, for me, with most passive speakers, I'm going to always recommend people enlist the help of bass managment and powered woofers, etc...even if they're using dedicated separates.
Good luck

Believe it or not, those figures were taken from a Consumer Reports buying guide that i ran across. They bought off the shelf units and put them through their paces. Since they don't have a clue about sound quality, they are only good for such things as measuring specs, which is what they primarily go by ( along with cost and features ).

Having said all of that, my brother bought a brand new "100 wpc" receiver a few years back. It was such a gutless wonder that i made him take it back. I found him an older used receiver that cost $30 more and sounded WAY better and had way more "balls". This was his first real introduction into just how different electronics could sound. He had already learned his lesson about speakers shortly before that. Sean
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I had one recommendation for jarujammer.I recently purchased a used harmon kardon avr-510($400used$1100new:80w x 5) over the onkyo tx-797($1000:100w x 6) just because it had much cleaner,more powerful audio.before this I had convinced myself I needed component video switching(which the 510 has but not hdtv bandwith) which from a purist's point of view was just plain stupid;i.e.-more stuff = more artifacts.Also I didn't need the 6th channel... for that matter I don't use a center channel either because I feel that it is destructive to the stereo image,yes there's a few of us out there.Good luck with your search but make sure you only get what you really need and it doesn't hurt to look at good used gear that has dropped to your price level; this is particularly true with cables because they're already broke in for you.