Hey Guys,
Just curious if anyone has heard or has any opinions on the 7500/7700 driving B&W 800 series speakers - 803S or 804S, in particular.

The home theatre stores in my area almost always have them run by McIntosh amps, and I'm quite pleased with that sound - though I can't really afford to buy both the speakers and an amp that expensive.

I did a search on the forum and only found an instance of a 755 driving some 804S - according to the reviewer: "I will say this: The 804's sounded better on the Mark Levinson amp and sunfire processor in the showroom. The sound was much cleaner."

According to an Outlaw support person, when asked this question, he responded:
"As well as I believed the 770/755 amplifiers drove the 800 series, the 7500 is simply that much better. It's quieter and more dynamic and quite frankly it really shows on speakers like the the 804s... the Model 990/7500 combo is head and shoulders above the 950/755."

Just curious to hear of your opinions and experiences.

Thanks guys,
kgt

If the Mark Levinson didn't offer something more, I'd be a bit worried - one of their stereo amps is likely to set you back quite a bit more than a 990/7700 combo.

My Model 750 is now two generations removed from the current Outlaw surround amps, and I'm still very happy with it. I also owned a Model 950 prior to getting the 990 and would agree with the Outlaw you talked to - the 990 is a great step up from the 950. While I can't speak to the exact match-up in question (haven't heard the 7500/7700 and have only limited experience with B&W's speakers), I do think the 7500 would be a good match with B&W's.

B&W speakers are very high quality. I bought a paid of 603 about ten years ago and have had no problems with them.
Granted I was using an Adcom PreAmp and Adcom Amp.
Last year I replaced the Adcom PreAmp with the Outlaw 950.
I have now sold all my Adcom and Outlaw gear and going to buy the 990/7125 combo (since it's $1K less than the 990/7700).
Even though your 800 series are 2-steps-up from the 600 series, I believe that would should very good using the 990/7500/7700.
But if you have alot of $$$ I'm sure you could spend more for a Decoder and Amp that would sound better.