What amp do you have?

[Parsonsk]

I noticed that Club Rotel has a thread asking what speakers you use with your Rotel gear and would like to know what amp(s) do you use with your B&W speakers...
List your amp and pre and the model of B&W speakers you're driving with them.

[miner]

Rotel RC-1070 pre
Rotel RB-1070 amp
B&W804N
Polk Audio RT20p (soon to be handed down to son - I miss the built-in subs)

[Parsonsk]

Miner, why do you miss the built in subs, do you find the b&w's are lacking in bass?
I'm planning on the 703's with the rb 1080 but there's a lot of people that don't care for this make up...
i've listened to it and i too find that there really isn't a whole lot of bass but i'm not really head over heals for that rumble i like the mids
what are your thoughts, are there other amps that you like?

[Amarkus1]

Krell HTS 7.1 Pre

Krell KAV-2250 amp driving N802's

Denon 5700 (using strictly as amp...was my old receiver) driving HTM center and 805 rears. I guess that should be my next upgrade.

[scottielee]

jadis ja30
b&w signature 805
wadia 861b directly to amps

[Parsonsk]

So what do you think is the most popular amp out there??? From what i see / read, Bryston, Rotel, Nad are right up there (i'm not saying that they're the best just most popular)??

Let me qualify that by saying in the 1 - 2k dollar range.

[ZX10 Guy]

Meridian 568.2MM Pre/Pro
Bryston BP25MM Pre
Bryston 6B ST driving N804 fronts and HTM 1 center
Carver TFM-25 driving N804 rears
Velodyne HGS12II mated to N804 fronts
Velodyne HGS15II LFE

[junior77blue]

Adcom GFA-5802 300x2ch (N802)
Adcom GFA-5503 200x3ch (N804 & NHTM2)

[nyny]

Stereo (804S):
JRDG Concerto Integrated

HT (4x705 and 1xHTM7):
Rotel RMB-1075
Rotel RSP-1068

[Kyle]

I'm using a rmb-1075 w/ my 6 series.

ahh scottielee, everytime I look at your system pics I get amorous

[scottielee]

merci beaucoup monsieur Kyle :rollhead:

hi nyny, that's lots of nice speakers you have!

[Kyle]

Indeed, it is overkill for 90% of NYC apartments. Oh, and I need a sub something fierce

[caleb]

Bryston 7B SST for the front 802's
TAG McLaren 250x3 for the centre HTM1 and 802 rears.

[misterdoggy]

Krell Kav 2250 driving fronts 802D's
Krell Kav 3250 driving center Htm3S + surrounds 804S'

[chinets]

For the time being Until I upgrade my amp. which will be in three weeks I have currently the Rotel 1065 running the Front N803 and HTM1 and the rears are N804 with a ASW 850 Sub. I am upgrading most probably to the Rotel 1095/1098 combo which is a 5x200W or I might go for the Krell 5x200W. I still have a few days to make up my mind. By the way Rotel 1065 can get the 703 to put aout some mean bass I had the 703F and 704R with the Asw750 Sub and they were Rocking so if you decide on the 7 series go for it ,as I loved them but do not use the HTM7 as your center as they don't match well with the FST of the 703..I would recommend the HTM1 any day and that is My honest opinion. Good Luck !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[weijst]

Rotel RSP-1068 / RMB-1075 powering Nautilus 804 and HTM2, insignificant surrounds

[nyny]

scottielee: thanks for the compliment, you have an awesome set up as well. I would love to add your Wadia to my system...hehe. BTW, I see that you have your priroity straight..family is definitely our treasure in life.

Kyle: hehe..my wife thinks that my system is overkill as well, considered that we just move into a even smaller apartment (I will post some pix once I finish unpacking).

[htsteve]

Amps and B&W's

My setup: :T

N804's mains
HTM1 center
SCM8 rears
Rotel 1068 pre-amp
Rotel 1095 (center, rears, second zone)
Rotel 1080 (mains)
Martin Logan Depth Sub

[TimL]

My set up;

N802's-fronts
HTM1 - center
HTMS's - Sournds
805s's-Rears
Pre/pro—Denon 3805
AMP -- Krell KAV 3250 250w x 3
Dvd – Denon 3910
Projector -- BenQ PE8700
Screen Da-light Cinima Contour 92"

[bigburner]

RC1070 / RB1080 with CDM9NT fronts and ASW750 sub.

Parsonsk, I bought the sub because I found the 9NTs lacking at bass when the volume is turned up. The 9NTs were the predecessor to the 703s and sound virtually the same. So IMO the 703s lack bass at volume. In fact I don't think I've heard any fronts with small woofers that have substantial bass at volume. By substantial I mean bass that you can feel.

I have a biggish listening room (27 feet long by 15 feet wide and 10 feet high) so I suspect that's part of the reason why I need a sub.

[jlee]

N804
HTM1
SCM1

Started with Rotel RMB-1075
Next came RMB-1095
Next came Rotel RSP-1098 to replace RSP-1066
Then came Classe CAM-200 for front and centre, Rotel RMB-1080 for rear
Then came Classe CAM-350 for front and centre, CAM-200 for rear

Every step there was noticeable and significant improvement. Source stayed the same. Cables stayed the same after Rotel RMB-1095.

[js24]

MuFi A5 with the 703s
Two channel lives!

[jclyle]

MuFi A5 with the 703s
Two channel lives!

I have 2 ears so I only need two channels :P

I run N804 w/ Sound Anchors, Conrad-Johnson MF 2500 amp ( 240 wpc solid state), Rogue 66 tube pre w/ NOS Mullards. Musical Fidelity A3.2 CD player, Tara Labs interconnets, and Luminous Audio speaker cables. I have the tube warmth, with the solid state power. Im done with my system, no need to upgrade I have a dedicated 12x16 room that opens into my den so my room prohibits N802 ... I used to run an Acurus A200 200 wpc amp but found it to be a little too bright for music...

[kylek100]

My set up;

N802's-fronts
HTM1 - center
HTMS's - Sournds
805s's-Rears
Pre/pro—Denon 3805
AMP -- Krell KAV 3250 250w x 3
Dvd – Denon 3910
Projector -- BenQ PE8700
Screen Da-light Cinima Contour 92"

Tim, how do you like your 3805 as a pre coupled with the krell poweramp?

[TimL]

Tim, how do you like your 3805 as a pre coupled with the krell poweramp?

kylek100
I really wanted to go for the Krell HTS 7.1 Pre/Pro and spent a considerable amount of time listening to both the Krell and the Denon 3805 with the same KAV 3250. Yes the Krell was better with a large sound stage and little more detail, but the Denon was pretty good also. The key for me was the the Denon gave me (IMHO) about 85% to 90% of the performance at a retail difference of $7000.00. I spent the money on the 805S's and the HTMS's. The Denon aslo gave me DDplxii and the Denon Link from my 3910. Some day when Krell or one of the other major Pre/Pro's have HDMI switching and very few new bugs I will switch. Until that happens it sounds great and I love the Room EQ. Hope this helps!

Oh yes I almost forgot the 12v switch works great. I only have turn on the Denon 3805 not every component.

[KvHagedorn]

N802s driven by an Aragon 8008BB
NHTM1 and N805s driven by an Aragon 8008x3

[kylek100]

kylek100
I really wanted to go for the Krell HTS 7.1 Pre/Pro and spent a considerable amount of time listening to both the Krell and the Denon 3805 with the same KAV 3250. Yes the Krell was better with a large sound stage and little more detail, but the Denon was pretty good also. The key for me was the the Denon gave me (IMHO) about 85% to 90% of the performance at a retail difference of $7000.00. I spent the money on the 805S's and the HTMS's. The Denon aslo gave me DDplxii and the Denon Link from my 3910. Some day when Krell or one of the other major Pre/Pro's have HDMI switching and very few new bugs I will switch. Until that happens it sounds great and I love the Room EQ. Hope this helps!

Oh yes I almost forgot the 12v switch works great. I only have turn on the Denon 3805 not every component.

Awesome, I can completely understand your decision. Can you tell a considerable difference between the Krell power amp and those built in to the receiver? I've had my 3805 hooked to two Bryston 7b-ST (I think about 500 watts each), and I did not think the difference was monumental. Do you have a different experience with the Krell? Thanks..

[JürgenW]

pre: Audionet MAP V2; end: Audionet AMP IIGS
speakers: B&W Matrix 801 and B&W CDM 9NT

[TimL]

Awesome, I can completely understand your decision. Can you tell a considerable difference between the Krell power amp and those built in to the receiver? I've had my 3805 hooked to two Bryston 7b-ST (I think about 500 watts each), and I did not think the difference was monumental. Do you have a different experience with the Krell? Thanks..

I was quite pleased the Denon 3802 running the 602's that I had at the time.Then I moved up to the 700 series and they had a little harshness to them when played loud (-5db-Denon 3805) but ok at normal volume. When I gave in totally to my love of sound and HT, I built a dedicated room and I upgraded to the N802's and that’s where the Krell made a huge difference. I have listened to the Bryston and with the 802's and it would be close to the Krell. The sound is soooo much bigger (expansive)and much more detailed at even lower volumes with big clean power. The Nautilus series loves clean high current power. I wish I could find a great deal on some Krell FPB Class A Amps they are even better than the KAV's, but I am not sure I could handle the heat load in my small HT! The 602's should work very nice with the 3805. The 602's are my second favorite B&W's after the 802's.

[JetFlyGuy]

I am running a Classe' CA-5200 with 803S and HTM3 I used to use 704S and HTM7 powerd by a Rotel RMB-1075 and I did not like it at all.

[wyatts]

I have Matrix 803 series 2s as mains, a midpriced B&W center that I bought used, and LM-1s as surrounds. I power all these with a Mcintosh MHT-100 A/V receiver. I work in audio post for feature films as a sound effects editor and have been on mixing stages for big budget movies and I can say that while my set-up is not quite up to some of the audiophile standards I see here it is very accurate and true. In fact, it seems that some, make that a lot, of the HT systems on this forum have much nicer gear than you'll find on any mixing stage. They are definitely better than what we use in edit rooms to cut.

[Zoran]

Having various B&Ws and Rotel' gear last 15 years, I have an impression that Rotel amps could not follow sonicaly upper B&W series. I used to play N805 with Rotel RC-1090/RB-1080 combo, but... Never warmth and sweetness enough, which I've experienced with Marantz PM-17MkII used as preamp and some McIntosh power amp at retailer's room, with N805. Even big Denon PMA S10 MkII integrated sang better with N805.

I cannot understand how some people kill beatiful speakers like N804 with toys like Rotel RC/RB-1070????????? It's crime. Sorry miner, nothing personal. Just opinion.

I play Vincent hybrid integrated SV-236 driving brand new 803S (new 805S pair still in the box). Hm... not bad, but deadly serious design like 803S deserves better amp, I know. I own Parasound Halo A21, waiting for money for preamp (Primare PRE 30 is truly Swedish pearl - my choice for now). I am dreaming that Primare/Parasound combo will make great experience paired with 803S.

Zoran, Macedonia

[bcgator]

B&W Signature 805 fronts, HTM2 center, Wharefdale dipoles rear, B&W ASW600 subwoofer.

Onkyo 701 receiver, ATI 1506 6-channel amp run in bridged mode for the Sigs and HTM2.

ATI 1506 is the first amp I've tried (and owned) that did anything magical for the Sigs. First had a Rotel 1075 (non-event), then a Parasound Halo A51 (completely disappointing).

BCGator

[krellfan]

I have been lurking at this forum for a fewmonths now and I thought it might be time to join the group.

I recently did some major upgrading and ordered new speakers and bought some new Krell amps and a Wadia cd player.
Here's a brief description of my never ending system:

I recently ordered B&W 802D, HTM2D and 805S as possible replacement for my current Revel Ultimate Studios, Voice, Embrace, M20.
Subwoofers are Revel B15 and Velodyne HGS 15 II.
The front three speakers are driven with Krell FPB 350 MCX monoblocks and the rear speakers are driven with a Proceed AMP5.
The source is a Wadia 861SE cd player connected to a Pass Labs X1 preamp. The surround processor is an EAD Signature 8000.
Display is a Fujitsu 50" plasma.

All cables are Audioquest Amazon, Dragon and Shunyata cords connected to a PS Audio P600.

It's a decent sounding system but there is always room for improvement. I have been thinking about upgrading my precessor and doing some room acoustic. I exceeded my fun budget for this year so it'll have to wait until next year.

I recently had the Proceed AVP2 in room and I was not very impressed with it. I may consider a Lexicon MC12B or a Meridian 861 processor.

Richard

[jimmyp58]

Decent sounding system????