My very first purchase from Outlaw Audio was a Model 1050 back in late 2000, which led to a speaker upgrade the following spring, which in turn led me to pick up a Model 750 amp around the summer or fall of 2001. That amp has been a fixture in my system ever since (the speakers and VCR are the only things in the system that I've had longer), and I'd planned to leave it that way indefinitely. So why is there a Model 7500 sitting in my equipment rack at the moment?... As my new Model 7500 review mentions, a series of rather strange events led me to upgrading to a 7500 in order to do a relative a favor. On the bright side, this has given me an opportunity to gather some thoughts on how the original Model 750, the Model 200 monoblock, and the Model 7500 all compare to one another. As should be expected, we're well into the realm of diminishing returns, but I do have to say that I have been enjoying having the 7500 in the system.

So your 750 is now a dedicated cat warmer, eh?

- or the cat is a dedicated amp warmer...

Nice review-I have had a similar situation.

I am in the same situation. My daughter is moving to Houston later on this year and wanted to help set up a good audio system.

I had already upgraded my NHT VT 2.0's to Martin logan Vantage and the NHT center to the ML cinima i when i blew out one channel of my 750 by excersizing Vatages at loud levels of high frequency sound.

I decided to upgrade to the 7500 and later on this year get the 750 repaired for my daughter (and have it shipped to Houston after being fixed). Steve has been very helpful working out the details on this.

The 7500 is enough of an improvemnet with respect to the 750 in stereo listening that my wife (who desn't usually comment) said it was quite a difference. The major difference is in transients-especially low level transients. Sitar music really sounds much better than before. Of course this is where electrostatics really shine and the 7500 does a great job showng the strenghts of these speakers.

I had been told in the Martin Logan Club to get a pair of Krell mono blocks-but those are out my price range and were frankly out of the question. I am sure high power class a amps might sound a bit smoother but after listening to Dianna Krall and Mozart piano played by M. Uschida I must say I have never heard the system sound better.

Needless to say multi channel 5.1, 7.1 DVDs sound just great. I use a Hafler DH 200 for the rear surrounds (still NHT). Another DH200 -bridged drives my Hsu woofer. The side speakers are NHT dipoles driven by the 7500.

After blowing several fuses over the years in my Haflers I really do appreciate the concept of a pair and a spare so your 750 is great for piece of mind at the least. I have an older Soundstream 100 watt mono for that purpose-and the knowledge that I can aways go to 5.1 or 5 with the Vantages' to do the LFE let's me sleep at night.

A 1999 Lexicon DC-1 ver 4 (DTS) is my processor so I do drive the 7500 unbalanced except for the mains . I have a Rane ME 60 which has balanced outputs. The Vantages only needed very minimal touch ups but the Rane actively converts to balanced.

Given the power requirements I have two dedicated cirsuits for all this stuff.

After I installed there was no hum and all went well.

Joel

hi gonk,

First of all, let me thank you as you have answered everyones question. Whats the difference between the 755, 750 and the 7500. So, is it worth upgrading? The next question that I have for youu is did you hear a sonic difference between the cheap and expensive XLR cables? Did you try making a difference between balanced and unbalanced?

As for me, I truly enjoy my 7500 and find it to be excelent. I have only one regert and that I did not purchase a 7700. Other times I think of it as a good thing because it is inside a cabinet and the transformers are split into 5 insteak of seven, and larger air gaps inbetween. I can alsways add 2 2200s after.

Today I had the opertunity to hear a pair of Martinlogan vantages playing from a krell perpro and amp. I have to say that there is barely any difference between the sound quality of the krell and the outlaws. Actually, I thaught that my homesetup had better sound.

I too own a pair of martinlogan vista speakers. An if you want a truely revealing speaker system, its the way to go.

Quick summary of Outlaw's five-channel amps:
- Model 750: 5x165W, introduced in 1999 I believe (Outlaw's very first product)
- Model 755: 5x200W, sibling of the 770 (7x200) and replacement for the 750, introduced in 2002 around the same time as the Model 950
- Model 7500: 5x200W with balanced inputs, sibling of the 7700, introduced in 2005 to match up with the Model 990

I used my Model 750 for the better part of five years, with three different processors (a Model 1050 receiver, a Model 950, and a Model 990). While the 7500 definitely offers some sonic improvements (particularly for two-channel listening at higher volumes), it is a case of diminishing returns. Upgrading from a 750 to the 7500 will cost a pretty penny (even after selling the 750 to fund the upgrade), so you've got to weigh those improvements against the cost.

The Outlaw PCB's are well-made, sturdy cables - but cables are cables, and if it weren't for the fact that the cheap cables I got initially were way too long for my application I doubt that I would have changed. I do not believe that there is a sonic difference between the two, but at least one of the connectors on the cheap cables was uncomfortably stubborn about connecting and disconnecting from the 7500, whereas the PCB's connectors were very well behaved about sliding into place (although they did take a bit of a push to lock in at the 990).