[cpw]

A friend has ordered some B&W 803s and is looking for help w/ power amp suggestions. I told him Parasound Halo were probably good value in SS but I'm not that familiar w/ power requirements for those speakers. Any tube recos? What wattage is min for these?
Thx,
CPW

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

Any tube recos?

Nope.

Quote:

I'm not that familiar w/ power requirements for those speakers

100 super high current watts, or 200 mid-fi watts into 8 ohms should cut it, but the more the merrier.

Parasound can pretty much drive anything, but with the 800 series I would choose something like Blue Circle.

 

[Fife]

I agree with CresendoPower.

The 803's and higher up models need gobs of power.

You may get away using a monster tube amp from ARC, Sonic Frontier, Blue circle , etc...

SS amps like Levinson, Krell, Bryston, etc..have the high current that those B&W's would need. Whether their sound suites your taste is another. Price will be a factor too.

Another problem with the 803's and up is placement. Even with good equipment, the music may not sound as good if you cant find the right placement in your room.

 

[aerius]

Chord CPM 2600. I demo'd the 805 up to the 802 on them and they sound great. On the 802 the bass starts getting a tiny bit loose, but on the 803, 804, & 805 it's just fine. It doesn't give you the ultra-tight bass of a Bryston or Krell, rather, it's a warmer kinda tube-like sound, somewhat similar to the Levinson house sound. Very nice detail all the way through, natural sounding and throws a massive soundstage.

Another nice one is the Classé Delta integrated amp. Rather similar sound to the Chord, but I found it had a bit more detail and ease to the sound. I also think it looks better, and the touchscreen is just way too much fun to play with.

Overall, I like the Classé more. Here in Canada the prices are about the same on both (~$6400 CDN), but I have no idea how they'd price out south of the border. Classé's Canadian so I'm pretty sure it's cheaper up here than it is elsewhere in the world.

 

[cpw]

Thanks for the recos & please keep 'em coming.
I think he's going to favor a power amp/monobloc over an integrated. He wants to try my Stealth as a pre once he gets the speakers and power amp then decide what to do from there.
As for the Parasound; do you guys think the A23 has enough power/current for those boxes?
I'm not sure he want's to drop the dough for Krell or Bryston though he's had Krell before. What about something like Rogue 120 MBs? Would those have enough current for the 803s?
Thx guys.
CPW

 

[Fife]

Rogue 120 MBs = maybe (I have never heard them myself)

A23 = you may be disappointed

 

[aerius]

Even though I'm a tube guy, I'd advise against tubes with the B&W 803, reason being it has an impedance curve which is not tube friendly at all. Drops down to below 3 Ohms and it should be more accurately rated as a 4 or 5 Ohm speaker, not 8 Ohms. Phase angles aren't pretty either, put together this means it needs a big VTL tube amp or a beefy solidstate amp to drive it and keep it under control.

When I started the B&W audition we used a Rotel integrated amp since that's what I have at home, and I wanted to see if the speakers would sound acceptable with my current amp. It ain't bad, but it leaves a lot of performance "in the box" so to speak. The general sound & balance is there, but the bass gets a bit loose and highs are a bit rolled off & unsmooth. A fair bit of detail is lost and there's just not as much goodness.

The other thing is the new B&W 800 series speakers are already a bit on the warm musical side of neutral, they're not going to sound sterile unless you stick them on a dry sounding amp. I've heard them through Krell, Levinson, Classé, Chord, and Rotel amps, the first 4 are all at roughly the same level of performance with small differences in sound signature. The Rotel was just there as a reality check.

Bryston I haven't heard yet on B&W's, but based on hearing it on other speakers I don't like their family sound as much. To me it's a little too lifeless & dry, has detail, dynamics, and all that other stuff, but it fails to lose me in the music. It's not bad, but nothing special either.