Which amplifier for 800D

[jericho]

I just ordered a pair of Nautilus 800D.
I'm from Belgium and I'm wondering if someone can tell me the experience of a Mcintosh amplifier is good enough or am I better with a Classé?

[Kyle]

Hehe, is mcintosh good enough? Hell Yes!

P.S. If you get one and don't like it i'd gladly accept it as a gift.

[Cowanrg]

jericho.

i would highly recommend against (yes, against) classe. ive heard their new stuff and its some of the worst ive heard (well, considering the price of course). its very dull (not detailed and nuetral, but lifeless and compessed).

mcintosh would be a good choice, but it of course depends on budget.

[caleb]

Have you considered the Bryston 7BSST - I've just got two for my front 802's and they sound brilliant.
Caleb

[jericho]

The problem with Briston is they give 600 watt in 8 Ohm and only 900 in 4 ohm, compared with classé or mcintosh, they are both doubling the power from 8 to 4 ohm

[johan]

Hi Jericho! What about Mark Levinson No432? Very neutral and powerful. Also there is a Swedish brand called Bladelius that have an amp called Grendel with 2 * 350w (or 5 * 350w if you like) that doubles its power down to 2 ohms and stilll has much power into 1 ohm. The price is only about £3500 for two channels.
Check out www.bladelius.com
Good luck with those wonderful speakers! If you're not happy with them you can switch them with my N802 anytime!!

[jimmyp58]

Forget the wattage/power issue, there's more than enough there anyway. The main thing is, how does it sound?! I certainly love how my 7B SST sounds (as well as my 14B SST). Can't comment on the Classe' new stuff --- I know their older models were very nice. And McIntosh sounds superb too.

Have you also considered Krell?

Jim

[Aussie Geoff]

Jerico,

MY Nautilis dealer uses the McIntoshes as his reference amps for the top end B&Ws (802 and up) - with the MC602 being a favourite... They sure make the Nautilus speakers sing.... I'm sure there are better amps but the combination is sublime!

Geoff

[johan]

Jericho, it would be great if you documented the arrival and unpacking of your speakers with a camera and
uploaded the pics in the " pictures of your bw's " thread!

[Rags]

If you can afford it two of these -

http://www.linn.co.uk/spec_sound/product_display.cfm?ProductID=57&activeNavBar=products&activeSubNavBar=Playback

Quite tiny but simply stunning with 800D's (yes I have heard them together - sweet sweet music )

[DanR]

I would choose the McIntosh over Classe.

[Romanesq]

additional amp

If you can find a good McCormack DNA-2, 300 watts of great power and get it upgraded by Steve McCormack's shop.

It is the tope of the heap in my opinion. Bryston is a solid pick and some of the others mentioned are okay, but I've upgraded from Rotel first to the DNA-2 Deluxe Rev. A and then a year back went platinum.

Incredible upgrade for little money, and kicks great with Nautilus 803.

[Lewing]

I would love to try the Plinius Odeon if i were u, of course, with enough budget and its availability...

[sugarmedia]

Jericho-

McIntosh is NOT the way to go. McIntosh and Marantz from the 1950's to 1960's made the best electronics available. However is the 70 & 80s they were greatly surpassed by companies like Mark Levinson and Audio Research. McIntosh is now owned by the Japanese car manufature Clarion and Marantz is owned by Phillips. (The Jap's have never been able to reproduce sounds as well as US made or British made or now Canadian "Classe" made which is ran by the former ceo of Mark Levinson).

I would suggest looking at Classe or the new A5 Series from Musical Fidelity.

Do you research and don't rely on hyped-up names. I heard the Classe Cap 2100 and loved it, but for the price I went w/ the A5 series and didn't notice much of a difference.

[js24]

Well.... an reverse example, Chrysler is still a chrysler though it is now owned by Mercedes...
Macs are still great -- it's still desinged and made in the US; the new MC501 has won the amp of year in the Stereophile

I have to agree on the MF, though. I too have the A5 int. it is quite nice indeed, but for the 800D, I would recommend the new Kw750
and guess what, as you know, the A5 is made in Taiwan.. haha..does it mean anything in terms of the sonic qualityh? NOPE~!

[Seeme]

Hi guys,

I thought that I would chim in on this one as I have been able to do some auditioning for the following amps and I have listened all of them in my HT room: I used the 802 and the 804's but I'm sure the 800D would have the same results as the 802.

Proceed AMP5
Theta Dreadnaught
Bryston 7B ST, 6Bst, 14BST
Aragon Palladium
Krell TAS
McIntosh MC-402, MC-501
Classe CA-301, CA-3200 "Delta", CA-401
B&K Ref. 2220
Jeff Rowland 12T

Here is a right up on each:

Proceed AMP5 - I felt that this amp was just ok and did not have the slam or the impact the other amps on this list have been able to achieve. The soundstage was not as defined as the other ones. The 804 had to be crank load in order for me to tap my feet.

Theta Dreadnaught - This amp was good for the 804's but just did not have enough to push the 802's. The soundstage was wide extending beyond the middle of the two speakers and it had great depth.

Bryston 7B ST, 6Bst, 14BST - These amps are great but my only problem with them is that it tends to make the highs hurt my ears on bad recordings but the 14BST can make the 802's rock in the low end.

Aragon Palladium – Too much background noise for the money.

Krell TAS - I tell you what, it does not have the detail or the soundstage of the Theta or the Bryston but if you want to hear what good low end should sound like on the 802's give this one a try.

McIntosh MC-402, MC-501 - This one comes down to personal taste, of all the amp's I have tried this one gives you the best of both worlds in regards to the 802 and the 804's. I would recommend these in a heart beat. My dealer had recommended that I purchase the MC-501 and I wanted to purchase this amp even though I needed a three channel. I was will to just buy two and get another for the center later but after doing a head to head comparision between this one and the CA-3200, it was a no brainer. The Classe was a better match for the B&W's then the Mac's where. Even my dealer made the same commint. They reieved a pair of 800 sig's on a trade latter that week and we did the same test but this time with the MC-602 and the CA-400 and again the Classe sounded better. By no means am I saying that the Mac's sound bad, I would buy these any time.

Classe CA-301, CA-3200 "Delta", CA-401 - These amp are by far my favorite, I can see why B&W bought them. Try the new Delta 400 Mono on the 802's and you will not believe what you have been missing. It is so clean and dynamic, I could not believe my ears. My jaw dropped when I heard the 802's on this amp, my wife tried to hold onto her emotions as she did not want to let me know that she loved the way the 802's sounded on this amp because she didn’t want me to spend that much. I didn't buy them by the way, I have the CA-3200 because I wanted something for my HTM1 as well.

B&K Ref. 2220 - Good bang for the buck, it’s not as clean as the other amps but you can get it for $600.00 - 800.00 and your 804 or 802's will sound good enough if you do not want to spend that much cash.

Jeff Rowland 12T - This is a very good amp but I wanted to test an outrageous amp that cost a lot so I could ensure the return on investment value. I would go with a MC-501 or the Classe Mono before I went this high. If you have the money go for it, you can not go wrong.

I hope this has been a help to everyone.

We had a previous simular discussion - "802's and power requirements" check it out.