Sunfire TGA5200 Vs. Outlaw Audio Model 7500

[TennesseeOutlaw]

Any comments? Recommendations? Feelings?

[cfrizz]

If I had to choose I would go with the Sunfire, mainly because it weighs a lot less than the Outlaw. Both will get the job done in spades!

I got the Sunfire I have because it was the only one that I could physically manage to lift into its spot. All other 5 channel amps including the Outlaw is more than I can handle.

[PolkWannabie]

TO,

As should be obvious I'm partial to the Sunfires ... I've heard the Outlaws and they're good but imho there's really no comparison ...

I'd give used SERIOUS consideration for the reasons I listed in your other thread ... If for no other reason then you should be able to buy a used amp ... Use it for a year or two and resell it for more or less what you bought it for ... This allows one to try different gear without having to constantly be dropping money ...

Cathy,

This is of course not a comment about Sunfire's because obvious I like their products ... but you need to have a friend to help "man" ( scuse me ) handle amps and eventually towers like the LSi15's.

[cfrizz]

LOL I agree with you Rick, but I don't want to have to depend on a friend to do things for me. I just get what meets my requirements that I can handle.

[PolkWannabie]

Hey ... NO Prob .. The SRT's are anything but lightweight and frankly I had my wife help put the sats on top of the subs ... not because of the weight ( 70+ Pounds ) really but because you can't see where the bottom of them are going while you are holding them and they have spikes on the bottom to fit into recepticles on the tops of the subs. Without someone to help guide them ( as the manual suggests ) you'll be scraping the hell out of the top of the subs to get them properly positioned.

[doug lang]

I love my Sunfires and although outlaw is a great bargin for the money I would not change. One thing i like is that the Sunfires run real cool. In Florida thats a plus.

[cfrizz]

Yup cool as a cumcumber & relatively light weight. Can't ask for a better combination!

[TennesseeOutlaw]

If I had to choose I would go with the Sunfire, mainly because it weighs a lot less than the Outlaw. Both will get the job done in spades!

I got the Sunfire I have because it was the only one that I could physically manage to lift into its spot. All other 5 channel amps including the Outlaw is more than I can handle.

Well the weight of the unit is of no concern to me. Actually, there is an unwritten rule in the audio realm (home/car) that heavy means "better". This being the weight of an amplifier, weight of a enclosure, weight of a subwoofer magnet, etc. etc.

I cant find a store locally that carries the Sunfire, so it seems that I will have to go on the opinions of the fellow furom members. Same is to be said of the Outlaw, being that is an internet only based company.

Thanks for all the input.

Josh

[TennesseeOutlaw]

I love my Sunfires and although outlaw is a great bargin for the money I would not change. One thing i like is that the Sunfires run real cool. In Florida thats a plus.

I have had a plethora of ppl tell me that the Outlaw's run really cool as well, so if that is your only concern I take it that you would suggest the Outlaw in my case? Might as well go with the bargain?

[danger boy]

buy the Outlaw.. try it out for a couple weeks.. if it's not your cup of tea.. all you're out is shipping.. so like $40 or $50 bucks for an in home demo. Also.. check their B stock for even better bargins.

Do you have an Adcom amp by chance? Adcom will let you trade in any of their amps towards the price of a new one.. that would also save you some bucks.

[TennesseeOutlaw]

buy the Outlaw.. try it out for a couple weeks.. if it's not your cup of tea.. all you're out is shipping.. so like $40 or $50 bucks for an in home demo. Also.. check their B stock for even better bargins.

Do you have an Adcom amp by chance? Adcom will let you trade in any of their amps towards the price of a new one.. that would also save you some bucks.

That's a relly good idea.. But, I am buying my new speakers at a latter date.. This year is (tax time) I am buying a pre/pro and an amplifier(s). So doing a home demo isnt gonna be exactly valid. I have a nice speakers already (Infinity Beta 50 System), but thats two different speakers.

I dont have any Adcom. Unfortunately, this will be my first home theater in seperates.

Thanks,

Josh

[TennesseeOutlaw]

And you would consider buying "B" stock? What does that mean exactly? If I am going to spend that much money I want the best product available.

[McLoki]

And you would consider buying "B" stock? What does that mean exactly? If I am going to spend that much money I want the best product available.
b-stock is an item that has been purchased by someone - returned to outlaw for whatever reason and outlaw goes over the product, makes sure it still works correctly and lists the product as b-stock. Same warrantee (and sometimes free shipping) as new.

I would do b-stock in a sec, but then again, I would also purchase used.

Michael

Link to outlaw b-stock (https://www.outlawaudio.com/mofcart/bstock.html)

Also don't foget you can get combo pricing (https://www.outlawaudio.com/mofcart/combos.html) It will make the price a little cheaper than purchasing bstock.

[TennesseeOutlaw]

Thanks.. I would have never considered that..

[wingnut4772]

I have had a plethora of ppl tell me that the Outlaw's run really cool as well, so if that is your only concern I take it that you would suggest the Outlaw in my case? Might as well go with the bargain?
The Outlaws do not run that cool with LSIs.... But I don't think that they get too hot to worry about them.

[Holydoc]

The Outlaws do not run that cool with LSIs.... But I don't think that they get too hot to worry about them.

I am going to agree with Wingnut here. I am not sure what your definition of cool is, but you can definitely feel the heat coming off the Outlaw. Outlaws utilize heat sinks instead of fans to keep them cool. This makes them very quiet but they do produce some heat. However I have never had it get more than very warm to the touch, not hot. I have the 7x200watt version of their amp and have had no problems with it ever getting too hot even when ran nearly 24 hours at "Party" levels. My Outlaw sits inside my cabinet with approximately 4 inches of space between the Outlaw and the shelf above. I have attached a picture so that you could see my setup. The Outlaw amp is in the bottom right corner of the cabinet. Notice the space above it to give it plenty of room to breath. I should mention that the doors on each end of the cabinet are glass. So to make doubly sure that all my components are cool when the doors are shut (which is all the time) I have exhaust fans built into the back of this cabinet. Here is the picture:

http://members.cox.net/holydoc/stereo/Front%20View%20Open%20Plasma.jpg

Just so I can show off some... here is a closed view (aka Operational view) of the cabinet.

http://members.cox.net/holydoc/stereo/Plasma/Front%20View%20Closed%20Plasma.jpg

[TennesseeOutlaw]

Thanks for the pics.. That is very similiar to the set-up that I have.. Im almost decided on the Outlaw amp just due to the sheer value of the buy.. Plus I know that I can live with this for several years to come.. I also prefer to buy new and this would be the cheapest route.. The fact the I havent heard a lot of negative things said about them, makes me want to give um a shot for sure.. Of course, you can get better, but it sounds like they do a damn good job for the price! Not to mention, it will easily blow anything that I have had previously away!

[Holydoc]

Thanks for the pics.. That is very similiar to the set-up that I have.. Im almost decided on the Outlaw amp just due to the sheer value of the buy.. Plus I know that I can live with this for several years to come.. I also prefer to buy new and this would be the cheapest route.. The fact the I havent heard a lot of negative things said about them, makes me want to give um a shot for sure.. Of course, you can get better, but it sounds like they do a damn good job for the price! Not to mention, it will easily blow anything that I have had previously away!

That was the same way I felt when I purchased it. I have not heard anything bad about these amps, and I needed something powerful. Marry that with the excellent customer service from Outlaw Audio, and this was the ticket!

The other nice thing about an amp is that compared to the speakers, transport, and receiver the colorization of the sound is negligible enough (notice I said "compared to" before everyone jumps on me) to give you time to upgrade the other components long before you will be looking at upgrading the amp. By that time you will be looking at the more high end amps to finesse your system.

[AndyGwis]

Your setup looks really nice, Holydoc. Looks like you have a dragon/bird of prey fetish thing going, but to each his/her own :)

[Holydoc]

Your setup looks really nice, Holydoc. Looks like you have a dragon/bird of prey fetish thing going, but to each his/her own :)

More of an Angeline Jolie fetish, but I can afford the dragons. :D

[freeride]

The other nice thing about an amp is that compared to the speakers, transport, and receiver the colorization of the sound is negligible enough (notice I said "compared to" before everyone jumps on me) to give you time to upgrade the other components long before you will be looking at upgrading the amp. By that time you will be looking at the more high end amps to finesse your system.

Holydoc, I have the exact same speaker setup, except my sub is smaller. Did you evaluate the Polks before you bought the Outlaw? I'm running all my speakers off my H/K 330 (55W per channel) and trying to decide if I will "hear" a difference at equivalent SPL levels between my receiver versus adding an Outlaw 7500.

[cfrizz]

Welcome Freeride!

It is not the loudness that will blow you away. It will be the increase in clarity, fullness, bass, vocals, instruments, etc. that will make you fall in love with separate amplification!

And it will have all the above, at a lower volume to boot! So get that Outlaw & enjoy!

[Grimster74]

I have to agree with the comments about Outlaw, in my opinion, one of the best bang for the buck amplifiers out there. I currently own the Outlaw 7700 (200x7 @ 8ohms) and I have to say that it weighs a ton (108lbs shipped). I should be receiving mine back this Friday, sent in for repair on a side surround channel that went bad and Outlaws customer service is probaly one of the best out there in my opinion (I'm sure someone will have something to say about this). What ever decision you make, adding an external amplifier will definately bring life to your speakers.

[Sherardp]

I have to agree with the comments about Outlaw, in my opinion, one of the best bang for the buck amplifiers out there. I currently own the Outlaw 7700 (200x7 @ 8ohms) and I have to say that it weighs a ton (108lbs shipped). What ever decision you make, adding an external amplifier will definately bring life to your speakers.


+1 on this, Outlaw offers very good stuff. The Sunfire is a beast though and they too have great product. You cant go wrong with either. Pick one.

[lanion]

My 7900 kicks my LSi speakers butts. Can't imagine needing more power. It does get warm (never hot). I had a channel go out on my B-stock unit and they sent me a brand new unit before I returned my original one. It was kind of cool having serial #002, but I will live! Customer service is awesome. Outlaw is awesome.

I upgraded to the 7900 from the 7125, and before that I was using an H/K Dpr1001 reciever. Each time the sound quality, at any volume, has increased dramatically


Although I still have some deep muscle pain in my hand from getting the 140lbs amp out of the packaging without any help... holding it with one hand was not a good idea!

[mrmusicman]

Holydoc, I have the exact same speaker setup, except my sub is smaller. Did you evaluate the Polks before you bought the Outlaw? I'm running all my speakers off my H/K 330 (55W per channel) and trying to decide if I will "hear" a difference at equivalent SPL levels between my receiver versus adding an Outlaw 7500.

freeride,
I was in the same boat as you with your reciever,but i had a H/k 310.I added the Outlaw 755 (5x 200wpc),for the same reasons as you.It didn't really give me any better soundquality,just more headroom...I was kinda dissapointed after spending $1,300 and not really noticing a big improvment that I was looking for.About a year and a half later I pulled the trigger on the Outlaw 990,and to me that was a much better up-grade than adding the amp to the h/k,thats when i got all dynamics and soundstage I was looking for...my system really came alive.:D

[mrmusicman]

Double Post