Outlaw 2220 Review (Monoblock Amplifier)

[iraweiss]

Someone asked about the gain. It is always in the dashboard:

As you see, it is 27.6 dB which is a bit lower than nominal 29 dB.

The 27.642 gain of the 2220 is nearly identical to the 27.859 gain of the 2200.

 

[amirm]

Assuming the same designer did both, it would reason that they would take a similar approach. Or they are the same, I don't know. If they are the same, it seems odd to redesign it in a larger box.

 

[iraweiss]

The 2220 is made in China. The 2200 was made in Taiwan. It could have to do with parts availability. I remember reading somewhere that Outlaw increased the height by an inch to leave more room for the transformer.

The rear panels are also different. The voltage selector was deleted between models and an XLR/RCA switch was added.

 

[amirm]

Redesign for part availability certainly makes sense.

 

[H-RYCAJ]

Buy 2 and save $99. Buy 3 and save $198.

I have to stop writing stuff before my first coffee of the day.

Thanks for the correction

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Yes, IMO it's worth comparing the Outlaw with Hypex-based amps from Audiophonics in particular. Apart from performance, efficiency also needs considering these days. We've got huge energy price rises coming our way on top of a need to reduce our carbon footprint.
<https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/amplifier-audiophonics-workshop-c-6421.html>

Brother.

 

[Boxker]

It would be cool if we could, somehow, get a review of Outlaws RR2160 MKII receiver.

 

[NoGoodPoints]

I feel this review personifies Outlaw, just really solid in most things they produce.

 

[Xyrium]

I'm romanticizing, so I chose "Great".

However, I'd probably just go Class D at this point.

 

[Chrispy]

Yes but no cross talk, better cooling @ high power, can be located closer to the speakers, and they look cool.

When was crosstalk an actual issue ? I can't imagine putting an amp near each speaker, that would look like one of those silly "audiophile" rooms with little stands for each amp and massive cables on little risers and all that....

 

[amirm]

It would be cool if we could, somehow, get a review of Outlaws RR2160 MKII receiver.

Drop them a note to see if they would send one in for review.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Monoprice about same price per channel.

 

[Madlop26]

Good results here. I would love to see the Outlaw RR2160 stereo reciever tested. I've been looking at one for a long time now. Good review on Stereophile, I'd like to see what the test here show.

same wish here

 

[iraweiss]

Monoprice about same price per channel.

The reason I went for three Outlaws rather than a Monoprice was simple: Weight. After hernia surgeries its much easier for me to lift three Outlaws into position on my rack than risk it lifting a 57 pound box into position. Also the three Outlaws cost $999, the three channel Monoprice $1,299. Both before shipping. It would be interesting to test one of their Monolith amps to see how they do.

 

[SEKLEM]

It has a music setting for auto-on as well.

I have a Linn C4400 and Niles SI-275 that works this way. Selectivity varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Thankfully the Linn, despite having no 12V trigger has a very sensitive signal sense and soft power on. You don't even notice it, no relays clicking or audio pop. The Niles on the other hand has relay noise, but otherwise a smooth operator. If the Outlaw signal sense behaves within the envelope of either of those they should be fine despite no power switch on the front of the unit.

 

[peng]

Found where I read about the rail switching time. That was for the very old M200, first gen I assume.

Product Review

Outlaw Audio represents a trend that someday will be the way most companies sell products. The people who run it sell amplifiers through regular channels (dealers), but they are other brands.

hometheaterhifi.com

The circuit uses 6 stages. Up to 80 watts, it is Class A/B, and above 80 watts, the amplifier switches (in 2 microseconds) to Class G (digital switching amplification). The combination of Class A/B and Class G in one amplifier is a little out of the ordinary.

2 microseconds was fast, that's 19 years ago, I would think that Outlaw has improved on that since.

 

[peng]

I am not an EE, so I'll defer.

Do you agree that the 5 watt multi-tone test is not going to expose the harmonic distortions that may be occurring when the amp switches rails?

- Rich

Sorry I misunderstood your point earlier. I don't know if I agree actually, because from what I can see, that anomaly (in terms of a jump in distortion, and then settled back down) shouldn't be related to the output level. But again, not really 100% sure..

 

[JimWeir]

I wonder how long it takes for the rails to settle after switching? If longer than the sweep's dwell time, that large spike might go down after a short time. However, this highlights one of the big issues with class G, what happens during the transition. That said, while it looks ugly, in reality 100+ W at >10 kHz will probably be inaudible because (a) we are less sensitive that high, (b) it is very unlikely any real source would require full-power output that high, and (c) if it was required, most likely any tweeter fed 100+ W would be destroyed, leading to no distortion (or anything else) being heard.

Since with normal music dynamics, the RMS power is rarely above 5watts broadband.
Looking at High Freq content only (pretend you are high passing this signal and sending the output from the amp to a super tweeter), the RMS levels would be likely <0.05 watts.
Yes, no reason to to use a 500 watt amplifier to drive the tweeter

 

[KxDx]

I have a Linn C4400 and Niles SI-275 that works this way. Selectivity varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Thankfully the Linn, despite having no 12V trigger has a very sensitive signal sense and soft power on. You don't even notice it, no relays clicking or audio pop. The Niles on the other hand has relay noise, but otherwise a smooth operator. If the Outlaw signal sense behaves within the envelope of either of those they should be fine despite no power switch on the front of the unit.

The Outlaw 2200 (previous model) and the Niles were about the same, as are the Parasound amps I've owned. Light "click" and then sound a second later.

My Sonance 100-2 amps on the other hand, make you wait 10-12 seconds from when you hear the relay to when actual sound starts. I have no idea why they programmed the delay this much. I know it's a first world problem though...

 

[SEKLEM]

The Outlaw 2200 (previous model) and the Niles were about the same, as are the Parasound amps I've owned. Light "click" and then sound a second later.

My Sonance 100-2 amps on the other hand, make you wait 10-12 seconds from when you hear the relay to when actual sound starts. I have no idea why they programmed the delay this much. I know it's a first world problem though...

I'm quite fond of the Linn's soft start feature. If I start playing music it doesn't miss anything. It wakes up immediately. When I first bought it I didn't realize it had this feature.