Outlaw 2160

[Aliza Pointon]

Ournew, reinvigorated interpretation of a classic stereo receiver: the RR2160MkII provides clean, neutral, and accurate playback. As a fan of classics, we'll begin and end this in a similar way as we did when we released our RR2150, over a decade ago: The RR2160MkII delivers solid, no-compromise two-channel performance.

As a product designed for music listening, even the most demanding musical peaks are not a problem thanks to ample filter capacitor reserves. We built this receiver for those who still love sitting back and watching a record spin; for the Outlaws who enjoy the album art and listening to a record from start to finish; for the enthusiast who has bins full of compact discs; for the working class Joe who wants to kick up his feet and listen to radio stations from all over the world.

The features set is pretty comprehensive with HD Radio; a moving magnet/moving coil turntable input; four stereo analog inputs; 192 kHz/24 bit digital audio with two optical, two coaxial and two USB inputs; an Ethernet port; preamp outputs; a headphone jack with its own volume control; speaker A and B outputs; and dual subwoofer outputs. Sure, every AV receiver has bass management, but the RR 2160 is only the second stereo receiver I've tested that can direct low frequency bass signals to the subwoofer. The RR 2160 also has bass and treble controls, plus a Speaker EQ feature that boosts low frequencies for smaller speakers.

The remote control also deserves special mention. Its backlit buttons aren't something you see on many stereo components' remotes, and it's an all-metal design. Ergonomically, the remote is only so-so, though, as the volume buttons are crowded in with all the other tiny buttons.

To start listening, I hitched the RR 2160 to a set of KEF LS50 speakers, and that combination came to life with Beck's "Morning Phase" album. The lush string orchestrations, dense arrangements for guitars, percussion and overdubbed vocals positively bloomed over the LS50s. For comparison sake, I switched over to the Onkyo TX 8270 stereo receiver and that one scaled back Beck's opulence a notch or two. The RR 2160 made the LS50 sound like it's supposed to.

And with Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson's "VH-1 Storytellers" album the sound was so perfect I was speechless, I was simply in the presence of the two legends, singing and playing their acoustic guitars. The sheer believability of the music totally sucked me in.

Then I moved on to another Magnepan, the $650 per pair MMGi, which offered more weight and substance to the sound, more body than what I got from the TX 8270 receiver. Frankly, it was no contest. The RR 2160 sounded like a bona fide high-end component and the TX 8270 didn't cut it with the MMGi.

I checked out the RR 2160's bass management skills with the "House of Flying Daggers" DVD's circle of drums scene, listening with MMGis and a subwoofer, my old PSB Alpha SubZero i. The drums impacts were deep and powerful, transients were visceral. The MMGis were fine with home theater bombast taken at a moderate volume; with the .7 speakers I could play movies louder without the panels running out of steam. A pair of towers like ELAC Debut F5s would deliver a lot more home theater muscle, but they're less transparent than the .7 Magnepans.

The MMGi can sound too lean at times, but they responded well to the RR 2160's Speaker EQ bass boost feature, which did a great job filling out the bass when I wasn't using a subwoofer. The sound wasn't thicker or muffled, and the Speaker EQ supplied just the right amount of heft to the MMGi's sound.

I was having such a good time I also hooked up my Zu Druid V speakers, and they were more dynamic than the KEFs and Magnepans, so even when I cranked up rock music nice and loud the RR 2160 was absolutely coasting. Music from Morphine -- a three-piece band with a rather unusual lineup of two-string electric bass, baritone sax and drums -- was a "test" of a different sort. I love their music, but with the three instruments playing in the bass range only a great receiver and speakers let me really hear and feel the string bass's meaty texture, the baritone's menacing growl, and the bass drum's thunder. The RR 2160/Druid V combo was making all the right moves.

If you'll be listening to more movies and TV than music the Onkyo TX 8270 stereo receiver might be a better choice, because it has HDMI, Bluetooth, and a bunch of other features the RR 2160 lacks, and it sells for $300 less than the RR 2160. If, on the other hand, you're going to play more music than movies and sound quality is the top priority the RR 2160 is well worth the extra cost. It currently sells for $799 on the Outlaw Audio website.

Stereo receivers took a back seat in the heyday of surround sound, but have since made a comeback. Numerous companies, Marantz and Pioneer included, now sell them to listeners who feel that two channels are plenty, thanks, for playing LPs and streaming from Spotify. One company, Outlaw Audio, was an early leader of the stereo-receiver revival. It released its first model, the RR2150, over ten years ago; now Outlaw sells the second version, the RR2160, direct from its online store for $799.

Myfirst system review for the HifiAudio.Guru was my first venture into acomplete HiFi system review in over 15 years. Selecting new componentsfor this review was exciting and brought back memories of when I had a dedicatedlistening room.

When my middle daughter moved out to attend medicalschool, I saw the opportunity to maximize utility and use the room onthe second floor for our new dedicated listening room. The room, measuring14.5' x 20', is perfect for listening to music. Soundtreatment consisting of one GIK room acoustic panel and a nice Monet tapestryon the rear wall helped in achieving great room acoustics. The use of vinylwindow treatments and heavy curtains provided an excellent venue for me to listencritically and socially. After the room was painted and furnished with an Eikon 84inch reclining leather sofa and matching chair to the left, I was alsoable to set up a nice headphone listening station in the room using the Eikon reclinerfor use with headphones.

Components

Selecting components for this review I had two goals I wantedto achieve. I wanted to keep the cost affordable and get the best performancefrom the system for under $6000. Many headphone enthusiasts spendmore on a headphones system, but I was also eager to get a system inplace that could be exciting, dynamic and offer the listener the experienceof what is now available in high-quality high-end components in the newworld of streaming music and creating the ultimate experiencewhile listening to music.

Starting with the components that were going tobe able to drive speakers and included outputs forsubwoofers, I also wanted a good powerful receiver that had a built-in phonostage and tuner and I wanted it to have bass management. I selected the OutlawRR2160 Receiver.

The Outlaw RR2160 Retro Receiver $849

The Outlaw RR2160 has 110 Watts of Class A/Bpower into 8 Ohms and is rated at 165 Watts per channel into 4 Ohms. Thereceiver is loaded with features and comes in one color,silver. The FM tuner included is an excellent feature for people wholisten to FM music and desire a high-quality tuner.

The bass management built into the OutlawRR2160 has outputs to handle two subwoofers with internal bass managementand allows you to bypass the sub's internal crossovers and integrates easily witha wide variety of different brand subwoofers to make the listening seamless.The control set integrates the crossover seamlessly and the RR2160has full control of the subwoofers being used for volume control aswell as bass management.

A USB B input allows for high-resolution musicfrom computers and a USB A port is included to connect thumbdrives directly to the receiver. The built-in 24-bit/96kHz DAC givesthe listener a choice of using the internal DAC or bypassing it and using aseparate source component. Furthermore, the RR2160 is equipped with two coaxialdigital inputs and two optical digital inputs allowing for easyconnectivity.

A bass boost feature, designed for using bookshelfspeakers, allows for selectable frequency setting (55Hz, 65Hz, and 80z) to boost6 dB of bass to provide satisfactory bass performance from smallerspeakers.

The Outlaw RR2160 also has a built-in phonostage that can handle both moving magnet and moving coil cartridges for people who maywant to add a turntable to this system. For Personal Audio fans, aheadphone amplifier is built-in and has separate volume control foreasy listening.

Outlaw's RR2160 has a tone control defeat switch and ABspeaker output allowing for multiple speaker connections. The volume control isprecision and includes a remote control that can select and control all of thereceiver's features. The design is built with a heavy retroaluminum chassis and is well thought out and is future proof.

Bluesound NODE 2i $549

The Bluesound NODE 2i is a wireless music server that canstream music to multiple rooms. Connectable to any AV receiver orpowered device it makes music listening easy to control withany computer, phone or tablet.

At its heart Bluesound's NODE 2i has a 24-bit/192kHzDAC built-in with an MQA decoder and makes listening easy using thewell thought out BluOS app that can be downloaded from theinternet. The Bluesound NODE 2i also works with apple play and other Bluetooth devices.The streaming is easy while using Roon as a library and offers otheroptions including radio, Spotify, and the high-resolution formatsof Tidal and Qobuz.

A high-quality headphone amplifier is included in BluesoundNODE 2i and also allows for using other speakers throughout yourhome or office with selectable zones and works seamlessly with WiFi tostream music to different room zones all at once. The high-quality soundof the NODE 2i is excellent and works seamlessly once installed into the system.

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