Not sure where to actually post this question. I have the original 950 with the 770 driving B&W CDMNT speakers for the past nine years. I have been waiting "forever" for the 978 to emerge to replace my 950. I keep reading how the amplifier can effect these speakers but I am more concerned about the pre/pro's effect. Does anyone have any opinions on which has more effect on the speakers' performance? My 950 is so outdated that I am not sure how much longer I can wait for Outlaw to release the 978, but then I wonder how its effect will be with my speakers.

I would say that a good amp will not color the sound nearly as much as a processor as long as the amp is operating in its power bands. Processors rely on algorithms to produce many of the features they contain. An amplifier on the other hand only takes a small signal and makes it into a larger signal. If both do their job as designed the processor will affect the output more.

I absolutely agree that the pre-pro has a much greater impact but I would caution that even slight "coloration" is generally present with every amp. The "golden ears" audiophiles that claim to hear wide differences in sound are easily dismissed as part of the fringe, but even mainstream researches / inventors has docuemented that changes that occur as the power supply of an amp heats up / draws more power / encounters a more challenging load result in changes in the audiable portion of the sound spectrum. Back in the early 90s Bob Carver spend a lot of time analuyzing the various ways in which these difference would be noticed and even marketed some amps that had, in his terms, the characteristic "transfer function" of other amps. Some of these sonic colorations are subtle and have more to do with time delay characteristic than traditional injections of spectral distoration but even live performances of amplified music are not immune from the tonal ephmasis / coloration that happens with different amplifier designs...