- The 7125's got a solid reputation, but if you switch to the 7500 I seriously doubt you'll ever regret it.

Billy, I agree about the Logans. They are very revealing. Ironically, I can only listen to one of my favor CDs in my car because the reQuests showed the poor quality of the recording.

When I compared the 7125 (which again I thought was better than my Classe CAV-75) to the 7500, my reQuests were bi-amped with each amp. I used the same setup (RCA cables, 990, Sony DVD, reQuests, etc) swapping out only the amp. Since I had both amps in my possession, I went back and forth several times listening to the same material back to back. Since I did the swap out, it obviously wasn't a blind test. I aknowledge that. I also aknowledge that I didn't want to hear a difference yet heard a dramatic one, favoring the 7500, especially for the panel (frequencies above 250Hz).

While both the reQuests and Vista share heritage, there are notable differences which I just took the time to investigate. One, the Vistas have a higher sensitivity (92db vs 90db). Two, the Vistas have a higher crossover (450hz vs 250hz) so the panel is handling less of the range. Three, the Vistas panel is approximately half the size as the reQuests (417 sq in. vs 845 sq in.)

Now that I've looked closer, I think the above differences all favor the ability to nicely drive the Vistas with a less powerful amp than one for the reQuests. Unless you think you'll upgrade to a larger ML speaker or need the balanced connectors, you'll probably be very pleased with the 7125. You'll also get 2 additional chanels.
And, if you're not really really really pleased, then return the 7125 under the Outlaw 30 day audition and get the 7500 (or maybe the new 7200). I know the 7500 won't disappoint.

btw, I do recommend passively bi-amping the Vistas.

Rob

Hey candyman and gonk. THanks for all of your help. I spoke to steeve at Outlaw and he told me that with the speakers that I have, I sould go with the 7500. The martinlogans are power hungry and that extra burst will just make them sound better.

he said that He would stay away from bi-amping becauseit may caose some problems.

I think that's sound advise (no pun intended).

Billy, the 7500 will be great.

I'm a bit confused though by the statement that bi-amping could cause problems. I suspect the recommendation refers to active bi-amping, which co-incides with the Vista (and reQuest) manual advising against that method.

The manual, however, does go into detail (pages 8 and 9) defining wiring methods for both horizontal and vertical passive bi-amping. I personnally run vertical bi-amping.

there is a resistr the gives in and may creat a hum.
that is, if you don't connet the speaker wire properly. my people wo don't know or did not read properly bi-amp their speakers without removeing the gold interconnects between the two connectors. thats what causes the problems.

so you bi-amp your requests with the 7500?

I also have a pair of bohelander gabaners gb 420i and I can't wait to try them with the outlaw amp. They are really really really power hungry speakers. Its like they can't get enough. I always feel that I am not giving them enough power.

Billy, I do bi-amp my reQuests with the 7500. The bi-amping is a holdover from a previous amp, the Classe CAV-75, and not from any testing I've done with the 7500.

I did some blind listening tests with the CAV-75 (in various configurations) with a friend running the tests. Into each reQuest, I tried:
- 1 channel (75w)
- 2 channels (150w) bridged
- bi-wired (2x75w)
- passive bi-amp (2x75)

I don't recall all the results--it was about 5 or 6 years ago--but do recall that my musical preference was consistently (as I found out after the tests) the bi-amp configuration.

I speculate (no proof) I would not hear a difference between single-channel and bi-amping with the 7500. The 7500 is sooooo much more capable than the CAV-75.

I'd be interested in hearing what you think of the 7500 when you get yours.

Rob

Don't worry candyman,

I will let you know. I have another post about the 990, take a look. I would love to get your input.