I have a old Yamaha VSX-995 5.1 channel receiver driving Monitor Audio 9i Fronts, A Monitor Audio Studio Center and Two Monitor Audio 6is for rears. I have never been happy with the 2 channel audio as compared to my old 1978 vintage Yamaha 2040 Receiver (120Watts per channel and weighing at least 50 lbs). Home theater experience with the 995 was satisfing until I recently upgraded to a 50" Pioneer Plasma from an old 32" CRT. I am pouring into the internet reading reviews and opinions to point I am totally confused. The mass consumer market for Surround Sound is the all in one receiver. As with all electronics they are not created equal from one manufacturer to another and all receivers seem to top out at around 120 watts/channel. People with high end receivers are adding power amps to drive some of their speakers to take load off the receiver. Sorry for being long winded but the reviews of Outlaw Equipment along with pricing/warranty of the equipment make the choice of seperates very appealing. I have about decided I want to go the seperate route. I do not see myself upgrading to 7 speakers in my room. Would you recommend the Model 990 with the Model 7500 Amp or would the Model 970 with the smaller Amp serve me well. After the major choice of PreAmp and Amp what do I need for innerconnect cables and were to purchase? My friends are not audiophiles and do not have very good systems so I cannot seek advice from them. I do not want to make a choice in equipment to find out 2 or 3 months down the road that I could have made a better decision for a similar investment. Please help guide me right direction. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

You are correct that receivers are the standard approach for mass market manufacturers. The rated power output is also sometimes a figure that is difficult to achieve outside of very specific test procedures (one channel driven, for example) and most receiver amps have a difficult time with low impedance loads.

For two-channel performance, the 990 will definitely pay greater dividends than the 970 (some of that extra cost is tied up in better DACs and some upsampling capability that does some very nice things for two channel listening). It also offers some nice convenience features (assignable component and DVI inputs, editable input labels) over the 970. The 990 is big, though, so if you go that route you'll need to be ready for it. As for which amp, I can speak from experience that the 7500 is a mighty fine amp, but if you've already had good luck driving the 9i's with 120W you could very likely get away with a 7125 and have a couple extra channels.

For cables, you'll need some extra analog audio cables - unbalanced would be fine, although if you got a 990 and a 7500 you would have the option of using balanced. My two favored sources for cables are Outlaw (PCA for analog audio) and Blue Jeans Cable . There are some other good online sources as well, though.

I second Gonk's caution about the 990's size, particularly its depth. The specs say it's 18" deep, but that refers to the case plus volume control knob in front only. In practice you need to add AT LEAST three inches behind it for the interconnects, and if you go for balanced cables to the amplifier even that will be a little tight. DVI plugs and cables also stick out.

I can second the bluejeans recommendation - my only source for cables. The 990 DACs are wonderful also. I've had my 990 about five months now and couldn't be more pleaed with the value or performance.

Thanks for the responses and now of course I have some more questions:

1. I am currently happy with my 5.1 speaker situation. As I do not see a need for 7 speakers should I even consider a 7 channel amp?

2. The shelf where I would hope to place the Preamp and Amp is 36" long and 8" high and I measured 20" shelf depth. The area behind is open to the wall (several inches back) so I do not think I will have connection issues. The question is the 8" of height enough to allow the components to cool properly? The only other option is to lower the big center channel Speaker to the bottom shelf (tilt it upward) and put the PreAmp and Amp on the top shelf. Recommendations and comments please!

I guess you can tell I am leaning toward the 990/7500 as I don't want to wish I woulda, coulda if I buy something with less power or features.

Regards

I use the 990/7500 combo and second (third) all comments thus far. It's easy to add another stereo amp or 2 mono's in the future if you decide to go 7.1 (which I ended up doing).

The 990 has never even felt warm to me so I think 8" will just squeak you in. It will be a bit tight though.

Del

A seven channel amp would give you an easy way to set up a second zone with the 990 (outdoor speakers or speakers in an adjacent room) or let you passively bi-amp a pair of speakers, but that's really the only benefit I can see. I suppose you could argue that since the power supply is sized to handle all seven channels that you'd have a little extra current available for the channels you are using for those brief moments when the amp is asked to push really hard...

Your depth and width situation sounds fine. The height is definitely a bit on the low side (only 1/4" clear for the 990 and the 7500). A 7125 would be fine in that space, but I'd certainly prefer to have the 990 or 7500 on the open top shelf.