Until we actually have some feedback on how the 2150 sounds in comparison to the 3480, it's hard to say. Nonetheless, I'll venture out into the land of the theoretical... Both offer a phono input (but we don't know how the two phono pre-amp sections compare), both offer rather comparable power output at 90W for the 2150 and 120W for the 3480 (but we don't know how the two amp sections sound), both offer some sort of front input, both offer headphone jacks, both offer subwoofer outputs (although for the life of me I couldn't figure out what sort of bass management the 3480 might be using to generate that subwoofer signal, leaving me to wonder about how that works), both offer an AM/FM tuner (although, again, we can't yet compare performance between the two). The 2150 offers a USB audio input similar to the 990's, while the 3480 offers composite video switching. The 3480's manual mentions some processing (VMAx), which makes me wonder if it isn't converting the analog signals to digital internally - something that runs counter to the concept of a purely analog stereo receiver, and that would probably not appeal to someone investing in source components specifically to get good analog source signals (vinyl as well as assorted CD players - I imagine all sorts of source components will tend to end up upstream of the 2150, from turntables to tubed as well as conventional CD players to media servers to iPods and beyond). The RR2150 will have either a two-year warranty (the warranty length for the 1050 and 1070) or a five-year warranty (the warranty length for the 950, 990, and amps). I couldn't find any information on the 3480's warranty.

If I had to guess on the differences between the two, I would suspect that the 2150 will have a better analog design (including analog bass management that I would expect to be capable of being enabled or disabled), most likely better amp section (which is likely a contributing factor to the added cost), phono pre-amp and headphone amp sections that may be superior, and the benefit of being backed by Outlaw's customer service.