OK, I owe many of you in this forum an apology, even though you may not have known this before now. Let me say that I'm sorry that I did not truly believe you when you've stated how tremendously better the sound was when you put a 950 into your system. I had assumed that it sounded better, but that much of the improvement may have been heard to justify spending the money to purchase the 950 and an amp. I now know that you were not exaggerating with all of the superlatives that you were saying about the sound produced by the 950. I'm sorry that I doubted you.

Up until yesterday I was listening to music and video through the following system:

Yamaha RX-V2200 receiver
(2) Outlaw 200-Ms (front (L/R)
Boston Acoustics VR-M90s (front L/R)
Boston Acoustics VR-MC (center
Boston Acoustics VR-MX (L/R surrounds)
Boston Acoustics VR-M/EX (center back)
Yamaha YST-SW800 (subwoofer)
Sony Sat-T60 (DirecTV w/TiVo)
Yamaha DVD-S520 (doubles for CDs)
Sony SLV-688HF HiFi VCR
Crosley 27" console (stop laughing) TV
all protected by a Panamax 5300

I had added the 200-Ms because I was never fully satisfied with the sound that was coming out of the M90s. The addition of the 200-Ms to the Yamaha to drive the fronts helped to open up the M90s, but I still felt that something was missing.

Well I've been spooking around these forums for some time, occasionally joining in, but mostly learning from the wealth of accumulated knowledge that all of you have been kind enough to share. Last week finally decided I was tired of dreaming of a 950/770 combo and ordered a 950 b-stock/new 770 combo with the free shipping offer. On Monday the 770 arrived, and on Tuesday (yesterday) the 950-b and PCA cables arrived. I didn't have anybody to assist with unboxing the 770, man that thing is a monster, so I swapped out the Yamaha with the 950, just using the fronts for all sound. I was truly astounded at the sound that came out of my M90s when they were driven by the 950/200-M combination (with the subwoofer also attached and working). The clarity and detail were truly amazing. I finally heard my rather expensive M90s producing the sound that I'd always hoped that they would, but could never quite get them to do. I spent the rest of the afternoon listening to music from the DirecTV receiver and CDs through my DVD player.

Last night a friend and his son stopped by and helped me to unpack the 770. They then took off before I had a chance to get it hooked up in its temporary location, on a couple of shelf boards on the floor behind the TV. There is no way that this beast is going to go into my A/V rack, not enough clearance for good ventilation and it would probably break the bottom shelf. (I'll have to put together some form a shelf to get this raised up a little, but it will remain behind either the TV or the A/V rack.) The sound produced is every bit as astounding as what I was hearing from the 200-Ms, but now through 6 channels. I calibrated the 950 with the 770 and have been been listening to music through the various modes. It was difficult to turn this off last night and go to bed.

As of this writing I still have not popped in a DVD and experienced the sound quality of DVDs through this setup. I can't get myself to stop listening to music, as it sounds so wonderful, especially in stereo mode, which is my favorite way to listen to music. I'll try to post an update to this when I can finally put away the music and start watching DVDs.

Let me close by saying thanks to Outlaw Audio for making such excellent and affordable products, and to also thank all of you who have shared such valuable information to me through these forums. Based upon all that I'd read here, I was able to get my 950/770 setup in no time at all and begin to appreciate my CD collection all over again. Oh, well, the music is calling.....

Jeff

Gonk - Thanks for posting your setup using the MX-500 remote. I was able to make a few minor adjustments and have mine working very similarly to what it was with the Yamaha. Thanks.

[This message has been edited by jeffdavis (edited October 06, 2004).]