Now I've done it. Ordered a 950/7100 combo and not much to use with them. Wondering where to start and what I can throw together. Any assistance and ideas are welcome.
My current "HT setup" (if you can call it that), is a 30" Toshiba TV, a pair of NHT 2.9's, a Carver C-1 pre-amp, a Hafler P3000 power amp, a Sony S7000 DVD player, an old HK tape deck, and a relatively modern Toshiba SD-V391 VCR/DVD combo, which I really bought to replace a VHS deck but thought it would be nice to have a modern DVD unit as well that could handle DTS, MP3, etc. playback. The Sony will remain, as for one, it's a great CD player (the Toshiba can't touch it in this category) and was in fact mainly purchased for this purpose although it threw me into the DVD early adopter status (what's another few hundred to get DVD support as well? - was my thinking at the time).
So clearly my setup is centered around stereo listening, the speakers and pre-amp were freebies and they do their current job just fine. And I do think that 2 good channels (the 950 stereo bypass mode makes this a go for me) are better than 5 or even 7 mediocre ones.
So with the new Outlaw gear I'm looking to get some more flexibility (be nice to change the volume without getting out of the chair!), plus DTS and surround support.
What I can add immediately is a pair of NHT Super Zeroes I have laying around (I have some mini M00s as well, but these are powered and heck, I'll have a 7 channel amp), plus I have some old rock band gear such as a big cabinet with nice 15" EV in it, and a smaller one with a 12" EV. I know they aren't ideal and I would certainly like any affordable suggestions for subs, surrounds, and center speakers. Would it worth a try to hook up the big 15" as a sub? And the 12" as a center? Or should I just use the Super Zeroes in conjunction with the 2.9's for a 4 channel system in the meantime?
Regarding the Hafler vs. the 7100, will my 2 channel sound suffer from 50W difference? Can I expect the 7100 to sound as good (or even better) than the Hafler?

Thanks to all and any who have been through this rat's nest of marrying gear from different era's before.

Chris