I'm in the middle of upgrading my HT equipment and just ordered a 7700 yesterday. It will be paired with the new Integra 9.8 pre-pro that is due out at the end of July. In the mean time I will use my Onkyo TX DS 787 as a pre-pro.

I am looking forward to hearing a noticeable improvement in all aspects of the new 7700.

I'm looking for some input has to how well my 5 year old JBL's will handle the 7700. They are rated for 200/wpc. Here are the specs for the Studio Series fronts.

Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power*: 250W
Powered Subwoofer Amplifier Output: 200W
Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohms
Sensitivity (2.83V/1m): 91dB
Frequency Response (–3dB): 32Hz – 20kHz
Crossover Frequencies: 200Hz, 850Hz, 3500Hz
High-Frequency Transducer: 1" Pure-titanium dome
Midrange Transducer: 4" PolyPlas™ cone
Midbass Transducer: 6" PolyPlas™ cone
Low-Frequency Transducer: 12" PolyPlas™ cone
Dimensions (H x W x D): 44" x 16" x 13-3/8" (1118mm x 406mm x 340mm)
Weight (per speaker): 86 lb (39.1 kg)

Some help in understanding the Freq. responce, Crossover Freq and Sensitivity ratings would also be a big help to me. I have never understood any of these items.

Thanks in advance...........

So you are changing from using the Onkyo's internal amps to the 7700, correct? You should certainly hear some improvement there.

Frequency response just relates to the range of sound that the speaker can reproduce - there's little to do with how it will interact with an amp, although lower frequencies would tend to be easier to reproduce with additional power. The range of human hearing is typically defined as 20Hz to 20,000Hz, although our high frequency hearing degrades over the years.

The crossover frequencies again relate to the speaker design itself - those are the frequencies at which the speaker's internal crossover network divides the work up between the 12" driver, 6" and 4" drivers, and 1" driver.

Sensitivity does play a role in how a speaker interacts with an amp, as does impedance. A 91dB speaker with an 8 ohm impedance is what I'd classify as a pretty reasonably "well-behaved" speaker - it should be able to be driven to the limits of its ability in a typical sized room with an amplifier comparable to Outlaw's Model 7125, although the larger 7700 will give you more power reserves for those moments when you might need it. It's common to see speaker sensitivities (also sometimes called efficiency) that range from as low as 84dB or 85dB up to the mid-90's using typical cone drivers. If you move to horns, you can see efficiencies as high as 100dB to 110dB, at which point it takes very little power (just a few watts) to produce very high volume levels.

Let us know how the 7700 works for you, and if any questions crop up. Oh, and be prepared - that's one heavy amp!

Thanks for the reply.

Yes I will for the moment be changing from the Onkyo's internal amps (100w) to the 7700 until Integra's new 9.8 comes out. Have you heard of this pre-pro yet? If it does everything that they list, it will be around this house for a long time. (Who the heck knows right?)

Nice job explaining all of my questions. Now it makes sense to me. I have been doing a lot of reading in forums recently, and as I said I never understood those who spoke of amps being able to drive their obviously high end speakers.

My JBL's really sounded good to me when I bought them with the my current receiver. I'm hoping that I will see even more of how well they can perform.

I swore that I was going to stay away from the Blue-Ray / HD format war until a clear winner emerged but I failed in the attempt yesterday. (Somehow I knew I would).

Panasonic came out with a new model that is just now hitting the stores. It has all the new sound formats and supports 7.1 which is what I have so I took that plunge.

I played Pirates of the Caribbean (#1) and it looked and sounded awesome. After I finish with the current upgrade I should have one sweat setup.

Now if I can figure out how I can afford one of Pioneer's next generation of plasmas that are due out this fall I may never leave the basement.

If the wife knew what I just spent this week and what I plan on spending next month on the Integra, I may never leave the dog house!

Not to worry, I have a 16 year old son to help me hoist the 7700 around. If I play him right, I bet I can get him to prove how much stronger he is than I am.

Thanks again........

I just recently heard about the Integra 9.8. There's no official mention of it on their site yet, but some pictures and feature lists have cropped up in the forums. It's a pretty stout feature set, including that "holy grail" HDMI v1.3 (see the HDMI FAQ in my sig for some details on the mess that is HDMI, if you are interested in giving yourself a headache ). There will likely be other similar products appearing over the next year - four or more HDMI v1.3 inputs, the new processing modes, some form of video processing, and an auto-EQ solution are all likely to be common - but the Integra will be the first processor on the market, probably by a number of months. I'd be curious to hear what you think of it when it arrives.

I will certainly let you know how well it does when I get it. Your right about the holy grail of HDMI 1.3, I've been waiting for it to come out before I make the upgrade for my receiver. Not that 1.3 will do us any good for a while yet but I'll have it when the technology catches up to the receiver.

I mainly want the 4 inputs and 2 outputs that the 9.8 has plus the new audio decoding. All the other nice features are truly a plus.

I hate waiting for new toys. I’m worse that a little kid waiting for Christmas.

I am using Outlaws 990/7700 to drive an HT system using vintage JBL L100T's as my mains. The specs are similar:

1" titanium dome tweeter
5" lamintated polymer midrange
12" Aquaplas woofer

Crossover points:
800Hz and 4,500Hz

frequency range:
35 - 27,000Hz

handling capacity:
max 400 wpc

efficiency:
91dB

impedance:
8 ohms.

Dimensions are 16" wide, 36 1/2" high and 13 1/4" deep. Shipping weight is 73 lbs. each speaker


I think you will really like the performance of the 7700. Previously I was using a NAD 216THX 125wpc amp for the JBLs and it was OK, but after I hooked up the 7700, it made a big difference in clarity and detail. I highly recommend this amp.

Interesting to see the 91-db efficiency rating. That means that a 100-db sound level (equal to what a symphony conductor gets during fortissimo passages) requires - EIGHT WATTS from the amplifier. Yup, I'm pretty sure the 7700 will work fine.

Yeah, I hear you. I started with a Kenwood 100wpc receiver driving these speakers back 20 years ago, thinking it would have sufficient power. I could get plenty of volume, but little bass and the speakers always sounded "thin". I really didn't know much about audio gear and was ready to get rid of the JBLs when someone mentioned the problem was characteristic of Japanese built receivers.
So for the next sixteen years, a 125wpc NAD amp and its preamp made me a pretty happy listener. Last year, I decided to purchase the Outlaw gear and this provided another big improvement with clarity and separation of sound--as in being able to hear the individual instruments much more clearly--in all types of music. Maybe its a case of warm (NAD) vs bright (Outlaw) as some have described it, but there's a huge difference in those eight watts somewhere...at least for me.