After skimming the Orb Audio site, I did a little googling for reviews of these speakers. Not much in the way of reviews on them, but what I did find seemed positive. None of the AudioReview comments I saw mentioned what they were using to drive the MOD1's, and the only post in an Audioholics thread that mentioned the receiver was a Denon 2805 that hadn't actually been hooked up to them yet. Whatever you use, these speakers will probably be happiest with a receiver or pre/pro that offers an adjustable crossover that can be set up around 120Hz (such as the 950), since the little 3" drivers roll off higher than a larger speaker would. The -3dB point is 120Hz, indicating that the crossover point should be set at least there and possibly a little higher. I wouldn't go much higher than 120Hz, however, as you start getting into the range where the sound information being sent to the sub becomes more and more directional (and thus easier to identify as coming from the sub). The 950 offers crossover points of 40Hz, 60Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz, and 150Hz as well as the ability to separately set crossovers for center, mains, and surrounds. In your case, you would probably want to use 120Hz or 150Hz for all of your speakers.

The general concensus is that speakers can make the greatest impact on sound in a system. A good amp, good pre/pro, or good DVD player certainly plays a role, but the speaker offers the greatest potential impact. Having said that, the 950 does offer very clean sound, and the 7100 (as with Outlaw's amps in general) is a well-regarded piece of gear. The combination would allow you to get everything possible out of the speakers - all the clean power and headroom they will want and a good source signal. One additional benefit to separates is the longevity of the amp section. The evolution of the industry can add new processing modes, signal formats, audio and video interconnect types, and other things, but a good power amp is unaffected by those changes and can be expected to work for many years (as hinted at by Outlaw's five-year warranty on all of their amps). By electing to go with separates, you can replace the preamp "brains" of the system with a newer pre/pro a few years down the road if necessary and still use the same amp. The separate amp would also allow you to upgrade speakers if the home theater "upgrade bug" bit you a year or three (or five or more) down the road and led you to replace the Orb's with something that wanted more power.