I just upgraded to the 950/7100 pair. Got the system yesterday, and had a chance to listen for a couple of hours before we lost power due to the storm Isabell .

Initial thoughts:

If your room is large and you like to listen even at relatively loud levels, then I'd say the 750 or 755 is a better choice. I have a relative large room (18 x 48 x 9 + 20 x 20 x 9) in the basement.

After the quick frantic set up in between the power outages, I listend to music at moderate levels (to me) and watched a few DVD scenes (Matrix kungfu fight between Neo and Morphius, U571 depth charge scene, Monster Inc).

The 7100 got pretty hot. Very hot, in fact. Hotter than my old Sony STR- DE925(rated 110W/ch, .8% THD at rated output, much lower at 60W or so), which is known to get hot as well.

I have them in an open cabinet with plenty of room on the sides, and especially on the top. The 7100 is sitting on top of 950, and there is about a foot of clearance on top of 7100. Front and back sides are open.

If I put my hand on the top of the unit for a few seconds and take it off, my hand felt like, er, burnt. I did not like it. So I guess I better listen at lower levels (or get the 755). Just before this, I bought and returned a NAD T762 receiver, also rated 100W/ch. The NAD did not get nowhere as hot, but it did not get no where near as loud either.

If you are going to take the plunge, I'd say it's worth it to spend the extra $$ and get the 750 or 755. I have to make a decision myself here whether to go for that or not. But, the system is all set up now, and it is such a chore to rip things out, mail back, order a new one, wait some more, put things back... Arrrr...

Sonic impression:

Nice clean sound. Even at loud volume (gets a little thin and harsh beyond 0 dB volume setting). Both the Outlaw and NAD sounded good playing music, but NAD performed *very* poorly with movies. While sounding clean, it had very little bottom end. I felt my $500 Sony (then price) sounded better than the NAD, although NAD was cleaner and tighter with music. At $1200, I guess it should. I kind of like the NAD sound, but I think the Outlaw combo sounds very nice. Did not feel that it was bright, as a few fellow Outlaws felt and noted.

Quality Impression:

The 7100 is very heavy and sturdy. Looks and feels like a quality unit. No complaints whatsoever. In fact, I enjoy just looking at the machine. Ya know?.. One thing I wish it had is a detachable power cord, instead of the captive one. That alone almost deterred me from purching the unit for a second.

The 950 is built with quality and shows no pretence of adding any extra frills in cosmetics. It looks the business and means the business. Very versatile, and a joy of a machine. Works well. Did notice a hiss when volume le set beyond 0 dB, where as I never noticed any hiss when I had the Adcom GFP550 and GFA 545 (100W/ch) combo.

One thing I wish it had is a switched 120v power socket. I am using the Berringer BFD for my SVS sub, and has no way of turning it on/off automatically now .

FYI, I am using B&W 603S2 fronts, LCR6S2 center, a pair of old Infinity RS5b bookshelves for the surround, plus an SVS 20-39 PC+ sub.

[This message has been edited by BleakShore (edited September 19, 2003).]