I've been playing with an alternistor, which is a type of triac to turn 700's of and on. Essentially the existing switch drives the alternistor. Th advantage of the alternistor is that it does not require a snubber. I've recorded up to 150A peak currents during the first half cycle at during turn on at the AC input to both a 700 and 700B. I've got a board that mounts in a 700 on the screw that the driver board mounts on. The alternistor is a 40 amp device with a non repetitive peak current of 400 amps. Attached is the data sheet and some pics. The scope image shows the first cycle peak current (yellow trace) at about 150 amps. The channel is actually 50 amps per devision. Notice how the line voltage collapses and then recovers. My breaker panel is only about a 150 feet from the utility transformer and my bench is about 25 feet form the panel.
There is a thread on this subject at A.K. Here is the link.
unobtanium power switch