I have a Denon 3801 that I have been using with my B&W 9NTs. It didn't seem to have enough power, so I tried hooking up the Fidek from my subwoofer. The Fidek sounds much better.

I'm thinking about ordering a 950/7100 combo, but I'm not sure the 7100 will have enough power. Has anyone tried this combo?

Thanks.

B&W speakers are notoriously power-hungry. While the 7100 may be enough to power them, I'd strongly consider the 770 instead. Just my gut feeling, though, and has nothing to do with any specs or inside knowledge.

Jeff

The 9NTs are considered 8 Ohm speakers, but they drop to under 4 Ohms at low frequencies. I was hoping that the higher current output of the 7100 would help.

Here are the ratings for the 3801 for comparison.

Rated power:
105W into 8 Ohms 20Hz - 20kHz 0.05% THD
140W into 6 Ohms 1kHz 0.7% THD
Dynamic power:
140Wx2 into 8 Ohms
210Wx2 into 4 Ohms
240Wx2 into 2 Ohms

If I remember correctly, the 3801 actually outputs something like 45W per channel if all 7 channels are used.

Ryan,

I'm more concerned with the sensitivity of the speakers. Less sensitive speakers need more power to drive them, and if I recall, B&W speakers tend to have pretty low sensitivities.

Jeff

They are rated at 89db, so they aren't that low. I could always bi-amp them since I don't have room for rear surrounds at the moment.

I have about a month's of experience with my 950/7100 combo and am running it with B&W 603 fronts, CC6 center,DS6 surround, and 302 rear surrounds, as well as a Soliloquy subwoofer. Granted, I have a subwoofer in the system, which relieves the 603s from the bass load, but I have been extremely happy with my Outlaw combo. When I fired up the system after switching from my Denon receiver, my wife thought I had gotten new speakers! In my listening room (~25x15x8), the 7100 is throwing forth more than enough power to satisfy my needs.