Between buying a new house, selling the old house, overseeing repairs to both (including the refurbishing of the entire crawlspace duct system and replacement of a shower pan in the new house), moving, and fighting some deadlines at work, I could sure use a vacation. I think my brain is starting to dribble out my ears at the moment, actually...

I started to post in the duplicate of this thread in the 770 forum the other day, but felt that I couldn't offer much more than ndrayer already had in his excellent post. My knowledge of Energy's Connoisseur line is limited to what's on their web page. Based on that, the C-9's look to be pretty hefty speakers, but ndrayer's Studio 100v3's are as power-hungry or more so. The center and surrounds would likely be content with the 7100, even in a 15'x30' space, but the C-9's may benefit from more power. As Garrett suggests, Energy should be able to offer some good insight based on the room size and speakers you'll be using.

I'm in the process of getting my system set back up in a new space (about 17'x22', close to double the size of the old 19'x11' space I had the system in at the old house), and with a Model 750 amp (165W/channel) driving my Paradigm Studio 60's and Studio CC the results so far have been excellent. Your Connoisseur's are somewhat more efficient than my Paradigms, but you have a pretty large space. If I had to make a decision without any input from Energy, I'd say that the 7100 will absolutely work, but the 770 may offer some better dynamics and control -- especially for the C-9's. I suppose you could also get the 7100 and a pair of Model 200's for the C-9's and have two channels of the 7100 idle (or available for a second zone application).

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