My experience has been a little different then yours. I've gone back and forth a couple of times now between the two amps and to me the 7700 is quite an upgrade. If anything I find it a bit more laid back than the 7125, but not so much that it lacks detail. Are you using XLR from your preamp? I picked up a set of their XLR cables and am running those from the 990. Norah Jones has been smooth like butter

S.Griffin