I'm looking to become an outlaw. I am replacing a NAD T762 receiver. I am running 5 channels, 4 Klipsch Forte's and a Klipsch reference on center. I mainly listen to music and I don't see a need for more channels. I like the 7500 but do I really need it? Or would the 7125 fit my needs?

I would like opinions from any of you with similar equipment.

The 7125 should be planty of power. I am running similarly efficient speakers and can't crank it up to max. The 7125 also gives you 2 spare channels for future considerations.

Save your money, buy the 7500. Just kidding. But here is my amp evolution. I started with receivers but found I was lacking in something. I originally bought the 7075. This was a good improvement but there appeared to be some problems with driving Axiom M80 (despite the claimed high efficientcy). I then bought an ATI 1202 to drive the fronts.

Save your money, buy the 7500. Just kidding. But here is my amp evolution. I started with receivers but found I was lacking in something. I originally bought the 7075. This was a good improvement but there appeared to be some problems with driving Axiom M80 (despite the claimed high efficientcy). I then bought an ATI 1202 to drive the fronts. This solved the issues with the M80's. The power available, the cleaner it sounded, not necessarily louder, but cleaner and more detailed. Someone offered to buy my 7075 and Outlaw happened to be having a sale on the 7500 as well as free shipping (I live in Canada, so I recieved the credit and paid the difference). Well there was a remarkable improvement in sound quality, yes it could play louder for music with no strain. For movies, one of the first BD movies I watched was Doomsday. I had a friend watching with me and he decided that he had to buy the same amp. With the new amp I had to move my speakers back a little bit (18"). My only regret was that I just did n't take the plunge 2 years ago and had to go through this process. Fortunately, I was able to sell the 7075 for full price and shipping/taxes. Gonk has a good review of the 7500. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the quick reply. The power of the 7500 is compelling. I'm just thinking it would be wasted on my Klipschs. Are there any real audible or other advantages the 7500 has over the 7125? What is the up side of a balanced amp?

I had the 7125 for 2 years, and the 7500 for about 3 months. I could hear a difference with the 7500. The mids were cleaners and bass was more defined and less "muddy".
If you only need 5ch, and not 7ch, then get the 7500 over the 7125.

The $600 difference in price will be wasted on the Klipsch. You actually talking about less than a 2 DB change in SPL between the 2 amps at full power. At that level it is likely not even audible because you will be deafened by that time. The construction of both amps is solid enough to allow for a lot of headroom with those speakers. If you were using less efficient speakers the 7500 would likely be worth it just for the headroom. If you are considering updating your speakers to something more power hungry get the 7500 if not get the 7125 and a new OPPO BDP-83 or a great subwoofer from Outlaw.

What's an OPPO BDP-83?

From the CEDIA someone posted some PIX of an OPPO bluray disc player which may be available sometime next spring. It supposedly has all the bells and whistles.

I feel similarly to XenonMan - if you are looking for a speaker that is least likely to benefit from more power, a horn-loaded design is going to be near the top of the list. I've got a review of my 7500 in my sig - it's a great amp, but for Klipsch it is probably overkill.