I recently ordered a 990-7125 combo. At the present time I have seperate video and audio setups in the same room. On the audio side, BK ST202 amp, CJ Sonographe SC22 preamp, Rotel 1072 CD player and Apogee Centaur Minor speakers (ribbon); video side is a Marantz SR-685 receiver with Phase Technology Fronts, Rears and center and also Phase Technology 10 sub. I called Outlaw for some advice and mentioned that I may still keep the two systems seperate when I receive their gear. He mentioned that I should try "mixing and matching" both sets, i.e., the Apogees as fronts with the Phase rears and center plus sub with the 990 (plus CD player)-mentioned that I would be pleasantly surprised. I was assuming that the audio gear (circa 1991) would probaly sound better as it is ......I will compare once I get the equipment. Was wondering if anybody here had followed a similar route when moving up to Outlaw equipment?
Also, I did think about keeping the BK to drive the fronts and then get 3 2200 amps to drive the rears and center, but then decided I could move the audio stuff into another room at a later time. Any thoughts??

Joe

I'm not familair with the BK amp, but the 990 sounds head and shoulders better than an old Conrad-Johnson pre-amp. Same thing for the old Marantz receiver. I'd chuck them both and have the 990 do both jobs. I've never heard phase tech speakers, but the Apogees should be great for fronts if you've got enough amplifier to power them...the 7125 is probably a bit light for that task.

Cheers,

I'm using the same amp to drive my mains being fed by a 1050. Still sounds great top me even with an older source. Jim

The B&K ST202 is rated at 150W; the Apogee specs state not to exceed 100W...It seems like the 7125 amp should be a good fit....if not, I could use the B&K to power the Minors if I decide to use them instead of the Phase Technology fronts (large bookshelf type but rated at 90W). Thanks for the input.

Hmmm....then I must be mistaken or thinking of another Apogee model. Do let us know how it sounds.

Cheers,

jmacari,
Where did you read that "Apogee specs state not to exceed 100W"?

According to their web site: Suggested amp power
50W (into 8 ohms) 100W (into 4 ohms)

I'm guessing that the your B&K is rated 150W into 8ohms.

Bottom line is, you won't damage your speakers with too much power only with too little. The B&K will work great with the Apogees.

I ordered a 990 yesterday. Good luck to both of us
Mitch

Just a note of caution...you can damage your speakers with too much power, but its not likely.
Too little power causes you to overdrive the amp, lots of clipping, lots of harmonics which cause the speaker to due nasty things and eventually die.
Too much power will burn up the coils (I have done it). But, in general speakers will easily handle more than its rated load for short periods with no detrimental effects at all. So unless you plan on driving a pure sine wave at 150W continuous (music and movies are not), I wouldn't worry about it. I use 200W Adcoms into my JM Labs which are only rated at 150w. Never had an issue even at high volumes.
mitchius - I see you're just across the river from me.

The manual that came with the Apogees' stated the specs you posted(50W into 8 ohm) with the added statement about "not to exceed 100W". I've been using the B&K amp (and the CJ Sonographe preamp) with the Apogees' since I bought the setup (1991) and never had any problems. I'm leaning toward using the Apogees' (as fronts)with the new Outlaws. Will probaly set up the old equipment in another room...I also have a Rotel turntable to go with either equipment. Thanks...

-Joe

Joe,
I'd never seen a spec with a warning like that. It's interesting because amp specs aren't that well regulated from company to company. For instance I'm sure a 100W Bryston amp would be a whole lot more powerful than 100W from many other brands. But... B&K is going to be alot closer to its rating that these other brands... so it probably would be somewhat risky to use it with the Apogees (which I've heard of but not actually heard). There may be very little difference between the B&K and the 7125... You could probably get away with the 7075.
Decisions decisions
Mitch