Amp for Mission 774 speakers

Hi guys,

I have a potential customer for my Mission 774s but he's not sure if they'll suit his current amp. He uses a Denon 1802 AV amp with Kenwood CDP for stereo, driving a pair of Mission 772s which he finds too bright and he's hoping that 774s will be better, but he's prepared to buy an amp to replace the Denon if necessary. I think the Kenwood could be causing the brightness, but he's replacing that with a Denon CDP, he didn't say which model. BTW, he also has a Bose Acoustimax system for AV duties.

I'm not sure that the 774s will be a good match for the Denon/Kenwood if he already thinks that 772s are too bright. When he asked me for my comments, I told him that I personally wouldn't use a Denon AV amp with a Kenwood CDP for stereo and a separate Bose system for AV. I'd get rid of the Bose system and use something like a Rotel RA1062 with Mission 774s with front preouts out of the Denon (assuming the 1802 has pre outs for fronts). If Rotel is too bright then perhaps a S/H Arcam 8. I'd use his existing 772s for rears with the Denon. He might of course find that Denon AV amp and CDP are fine with the Missions.

So what do you guys think? has anyone tried Mission 77x with Denon 180x? is he swapping too many boxes too quickly? Should I not worry and just sell him the speakers?

Oh, I almost forgot, he listens to Soul and Raggae music mainly. I think he needs 2 subs with at least 18" drivers .