THE Amp for B&W N802

[Spock]

Hi All,
Now that I've had my B&W N802s a few months I'm ready to start seriously looking for THE 2 channel amp. I'm presently driving them with a McCormack DNA-2 Deluxe. I've also driven them with a Citation 7.1 and an Odyssey Stratos. While all these amps do a good job I slightly prefer the McCormack. However I recently heard the 802s in the San Francisco Bay area being driven by a Bryston 14B ST. Until I heard the Bryston driving the 802s I really didn't think an amp could make that much difference compared to other components, speakers, pre/pro, etc... The Bryston seemed to own the 802s, controlling them beautifully and effortlessly.
I still want to audition a few more amps with the N802s but the Bryston will be hard to beat.
Any audition suggestions??????

Spock




Live Long and Prosper

[Wireless]

Try Classe, I understand that B&W uses Classe in their own setups.




John
My HT Picts

[Markj]

How much are you willing to spend?

[Ricky]

Spock? Geo Metro?

[Lex]

Spock, maybe this is a better Audio Hideout topic, but we will play it here for now.

Well, I love my Proceed HPA-2. Effortless power at 250 watts per channel, and doubles power when the load is halved to 4 ohms. Very transparent, detailed, tight palipatating bass, and holographic imaging. Easy to trigger on and off, convenient large standby button, has many shared components with much more expensive Mark Levinson #33 amplifier. In short, a real racehorse.

Might also look at older Aragons for something less money. Theta Dreadnaught might be another candidate. Check the Home Theater section for a thread titled something about amps, best looking in the world I think.

Lex

[Lex]

Wow, 3 replies while I was typing mine, lol. Good action guys! or was that reaction.

Welcome to the forum too Spock! and hey, what's Kirk been into lately?

John, good suggstion on the Classe'. I am beginning to be sold on their build quality.

Lex

[KS]

The 14B ST is a great amp, I came very close to buying one. I don't own B&W but I would suggest you give Classe CAM350s a try. They are a little more laid back than the Bryston and handle the bass differently. I won't say the Classe is better just different. If you really want to approach the deep end I've heard that the Theta Citidals are the best of the best, but their price is the highest of high

Good Luck
Ken

[SiliGoose]

convenient large standby button

Sorry, Lex. I just giggled when I saw that. That's kind of a "glass if 1/2 full" viewpoint, isn't it?




-Sili

[MRWILLL]

My buddy has Aragon mono blocks with his 802's. A marraige for life.




STOP!!...LOOK!!...LISTEN!!
DVD...Hear it from the people who
mixed and mastered it "LEXICON".

[Spock]

WOW, Thanks for all the quick replies.
Classe? I may be able to swing an in home audition from a local fellow audio nut.
As to spending limit question, boss says 5K. Of course there's always a margin of negotiation

Spock




Live Long and Prosper

[Ricky]

5k? Definitely get a pair of single chassis monoblocks.

[Wireless]

I would defintely check out the CAM 200s




John
My HT Picts

[jstwong]

In addition to the above, I would also recommend that you demo some Krell amps. Krell and B&W are known to work very well together. You can check out Krell's 2-channel KAV series amp, or their FPB stereo units, or even their monoblocks. Personally, I'm using the older [now discontinued] Krell KAV-250a and 250a/3 amps in my system with B&W N803's and N804's [and a HTM1 for the center channel]. It has worked out great for me!

[JonMarsh]

I own several Aragon amplifiers, including a pair of Palladium monoblocks. For conventional solid state amplifiers, they're very good, and are a good value proposition.

However, my most recent amplifier purchase is an Ayre V-5. This is a non-feedback design, (no loop feedback), and is true balanced differential input to output. 150watts/ch @ 8 ohms, 300 watts/ch @ 4 ohms.



I've demoed it for two friends; they both bought. In my opinion, non feedback amplifiers have a cleaness on transients and an overall naturalness thats tough to match, excepting a pretty high end tube design.



The Theta series use this principal also; and Charles Hansen, the Pres and chief designer at Ayre, is responsible for the basic electrical design of the Dreadnaught. BAT also has a big multi-channel amp that can be populated with various number of channels that's non feedback and sounds quite good. Ayre's V-6 is a similar multi-channel "configure it as you want" (re number of channels) amp.

http://www.ayre.com

I'd give a listen to these before purchasing, if they're available where you live, or in your price range.

Best wishes finding the ideal mate to your 802's.

Regards,

Jon




Earth First!
_______________________________
We'll screw up the other planets later....

[Markj]

Spock I would also listen to Theta amps. The dreadnought can be a 2 to 5 channels and it is a very nice sounding amp. I have Classe amps myself and they have been great. I believe B&W owns or has taken over Classe marketing. The local store that I bought my amps also sale B&W speakers and I have listen to that combo many times. So both amps would do a great job. Happy auditioning!

[SamS]

Spock,

For my N802's (arriving Friday?!?!) I'll be using a McIntosh MC202. I've heard them with this amp as well as the Mac MC352 which is 350x2. I think the Mac amps sound very smooth with the 802's and bring out a richness in them.

Sorry if I sound like a broken record to any of you out there by my posting excessively about Mac amps and N802's. They just happen to be my two newest toys, and you know how that goes.

[pf]

Spock, for the budget the 14B (better yet a pair of 7B's probably cost less) is a no brainer for the 802's. Well, at least that was what I thought till the Theta's came along...

Cheers.

PF

[brucek]

Spock,

I agree with a lot of the comments in the regard, that if you have $5K to spend, it's a good choice to select a pair of monoblocks.

Fitting in with your original post, I really like the new Bryston 7BSST. It now shares some of the newer preferred output components and features that the 14B possesses, but being a mono block design, it allows you the luxury of placing the amps very close to your speakers, facilitating super short speaker cables (down to 3 gauge on the post) with all the benefits derived from that configuration.

The 7BSST is capable of 600 watts into 8 ohms or 900 watts into 4 ohms. It fits nicely into your budget.

http://www.bryston.ca/7bsstcov.html

brucek