Outlaw 2220 Review (Monoblock Amplifier)

[iraweiss]

About hum...

One day I started getting a hum between my receiver and the 2220 amps. They are connected by XLR.

As Outlaw suggests in their manual, I inserted this Ground Loop Isolator I got from Amazon between the cable and my cable box.

The only hum I hear is from analog sources if I put my ear right next to the speaker. Digital sources are dead silent.

Hope this tip is helpful to any of you with a hum issue.

 

[Toroid]

2 Hypex NC400 monoblocks for ~1300 or 2 of these Outlaws for $800?

I wonder if the better Measurements of the Hypex would be noticible to justify spending the extra $?

What would you guys do?

 

[peng]

2 Hypex NC400 monoblocks for ~1300 or 2 of these Outlaws for $800?

I wonder if the better Measurements of the Hypex would be noticible to justify spending the extra $?

What would you guys do?

I have the M2200, I think the better measurements would only be noticeable if your room is exceptionally quiet and you sit closer than a few feet from the amps. I would probably still take the NC400 (based on experience with my NC502MP) for the better specs/measurements and the smaller foot print.

 

[iraweiss]

2 Hypex NC400 monoblocks for ~1300 or 2 of these Outlaws for $800?

I wonder if the better Measurements of the Hypex would be noticible to justify spending the extra $?

What would you guys do?

How about $700 for the Outlaws plus shipping... https://outlawaudio.com/shop/power_amplifiers/45-model-2220.html

Check out the measurements for the Outlaws and compare them to those of the Hypex. Distortion is lower in the Hypex but unless I'm seeing things wrong power is higher in the Outlaw. Noise is lower on the Hypex but is the noise of either audible in a typical room with ambient noise?

Can people hear a difference between the two?

 

[Shazb0t]

2 Hypex NC400 monoblocks for ~1300 or 2 of these Outlaws for $800?

I wonder if the better Measurements of the Hypex would be noticible to justify spending the extra $?

What would you guys do?

How about $700 for the Outlaws plus shipping... https://outlawaudio.com/shop/power_amplifiers/45-model-2220.html

Check out the measurements for the Outlaws and compare them to those of the Hypex. Distortion is lower in the Hypex but unless I'm seeing things wrong power is higher in the Outlaw. Noise is lower on the Hypex but is the noise of either audible in a typical room with ambient noise?

Can people hear a difference between the two?

$700 for the bundle price of the two Outlaw 2220 amplifiers is a pretty sweet deal!

 

[Toroid]

$700 for the bundle price of the two Outlaw 2220 amplifiers is a pretty sweet deal!

That is very very tempting...

 

[iraweiss]

About hum...

One day I started getting a hum between my receiver and the 2220 amps. They are connected by XLR.

As Outlaw suggests in their manual, I inserted this Ground Loop Isolator I got from Amazon between the cable and my cable box.

The only hum I hear is from analog sources if I put my ear right next to the speaker. Digital sources are dead silent.

Hope this tip is helpful to any of you with a hum issue.

I noticed something about the minor hum on analog sources: It disappears if I hit "mute" on the receiver remote. That tells me that the hum on analog sources is happening upstream of the power amp section. Does anyone have suggestions on how this can be eradicated?

 

[Shazb0t]

I noticed something about the minor hum on analog sources: It disappears if I hit "mute" on the receiver remote. That tells me that the hum on analog sources is happening upstream of the power amp section. Does anyone have suggestions on how this can be eradicated?

You have to investigate what's causing it by removing items from your chain one at a time until you can determine which one is causing the hum. Then you have to look into that specific item to determine if it's an expected behavior, a fault with the unit, grounding issue, or some sort of interferece. It's a ton of fun!

 

[MaxBuck]

You have to investigate what's causing it be removing items from your chain one at a time until you can determine which one is causing the hum. Then you have to look into that specific item to determine if it's an expected behavior, a fault with the unit, grounding issue, or some sort of interferece. It's a ton of fun!

Researching ground loops. The plumbing analogue would be troubleshooting why the toilet tank keeps leaking even after you've replaced the float mechanism.

Twice.

 

[iraweiss]

Researching ground loops. The plumbing analogue would be troubleshooting why the toilet tank keeps leaking even after you've replaced the float mechanism.

Twice.

Thanks to you both. I guess. It's a minor hum and first I will unplug the cable box as I have the feeling it's breaking though the ground fault isolator.

 

[timtt]

Topping pa5 or two of these?(for small room)(I might also upgrade my dac to topping E50)
Is pa5(class D)really sounds thinner (compare to 2220)?
My speakers are css audio 1tdx, they are 8 ohm, 87 db

 

[Shazb0t]

Topping pa5 or two of these?(for small room)(I might also upgrade my dac to topping E50)
Is pa5(class D) really sounds thin?

It depends on what you're planning to use them for. Different use case amps with the power differential.

 

[Head_Unit]

class D amps with toroidal linear type power supply, I believe ATI does that

You are correct! Ding! Winner winner chicken dinner! We have a 525NC and really like it. https://ati-amp.com/class-d-amplifiers/

 

[John Galt]

Would be really cool if someone posted good pics of the interior of the 2220 like I did here for the 2200: https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...00-m-block-amplifier-review.11403/post-409403

 

[Dukey]

Can someone advise if the 2220 will have difficulty taking on speaker loads that dip below 4 ohms? Thanks.

 

[pjug]

Can someone advise if the 2220 will have difficulty taking on speaker loads that dip below 4 ohms? Thanks.

I don't have anything too concrete but they should be OK. The M2200 manual says this:

Most modern speakers are rated at four to eight ohms nominal impedance, but within some frequency ranges, the impedance may drop to two ohms. The Outlaw is designed with ample power reserves to protect you from experiencing any problems at these low impedances unless you demand excessively high volume levels.

http://pdf.outlawaudio.com/outlaw/docs/2200manual.pdf

 

[Dukey]

Thanks pjug. Unfortunately, I learned the input impedance is only 10k, which knocks it out of my short list.

 

[iraweiss]

It would be great if Amir could test the new Emotiva A1 so we could compare it to the Outlaw 2220. The specs are very similar. The Emotiva is a little heavier and costs $50.00 more and doesn't seem to offer a quantity discount if you purchase two or three like Outlaw does with the 2220. It also only has an RCA input, no XLR. Andrew Robinson reviewed the A1 on YouTube

and mentioned the 2220 but said he had not heard it.

 

[MadMaxx]

It would be great if Amir could test the new Emotiva A1 so we could compare it to the Outlaw 2220. The specs are very similar. The Emotiva is a little heavier and costs $50.00 more and doesn't seem to offer a quantity discount if you purchase two or three like Outlaw does with the 2220. It also only has an RCA input, no XLR. Andrew Robinson reviewed the A1 on YouTube

and mentioned the 2220 but said he had not heard it.

I tried these along with a pair of Outlaw M2220 monoblocks. I didn't do any fancy measurements, just listened to a bunch of music, streamed video and PC games with both setups. I thought the Outlaws were punchier, if that makes any sense. Overall, however, they sounded pretty identical. My other gear is an FiiO K9 Pro ESS dac, KEF LS50 Metas, and SVS 3000 Micro sub. It's for my PC gaming/music rig. I ended up returning both pairs because neither sounded any better than my Crown XLS 2502. I just wanted to find out if going with monoblocks offered any improvement over the Crown. The Emotivas won the best looking amps category, to be sure.

 

[banana]

How concerned to I need to be about overloading speakers with these? I've got a pair of the DBR-62s which are rated for 120W and the manual says nothing about overload protection.