Would the 7075 offer a performance upgrade added to a typical 100-130(?) watt mass market receiver using the preouts?

Though 75 watts per channel sounds small compared to the receivers stated ratings, the 7075's rating are true all channel performance with toroidal transformer and healthy capacitance per channel. I've owned the 1070...and it's 65 watts per channel sound more powerful in my system than any 100-130 watt per channel mainstream receiver I've tried.

The 7075 is more than enough for almost all situations! The 7075&7125 offer the best bang for the buck....Pull the trigger get a smoking amp!

chas,
I would agree with your thinking.

The 7075 may not sport as high a rating as many of the big receivers, but it's power supply is likely larger - meaning there's more current available, which is generally going to be to the speakers' (and your ears') benefit. It will also be better able to work with low-impedance loads, something that very few receivers are designed to do. Unless you are running significantly difficult loads that need a larger amp (the example that I saw cropping up around here a lot a couple years ago was Polk's LSi15), the 7075 could be an excellent balance point between price and sonic performance.

Chas,
For what it's worth, I went from a 1070 to a 7075/990 (now 970). I noticed very little improvement in power output (obviously since it's only 10wpc more) but if you want the same kind of powerful sound as the 1070 I think it would be a definite improvement over a mass market receiver's amp section.

Thanks for all the input!

og33 - how does the 970/7075 pair sound compared to the 1070. Based on the same platform I would thing very similar (and like you said power output is similar)....but I'd like to hear from someone who's had both. Is the 970 any buggier than the 1070?

The 970 and 1070 are identical hardware platforms - only difference is that the 970 eliminated the 1070's internal amp section.

chas,
I wouldn't say it's any 'buggier' but it's about the same. My experience with the no audio bug was the same in both units...turn it on via remote, no audio and no response from unit via remote. Power off via remote then power down via master (sometimes the remote is totally unresponsive though so I've had to power down with the master switch). Power back on via master and power up with remote...then it works fine. I have had occasions with the 970 where I've had to repeat more than once though. I don't recall that experience with the 1070. Both units I've owned had the upgrade done before they were shipped too. My experience with the 1070 was shorter though than with the 970 since I upgraded to separates within 30 days of getting the 1070.

Thanks for the "bug" comparison. What are you using for interconnects between the 970/7075?

Cables from monoprice.