803S powered by Rotel RB 1080

[jester race]

from this forum and others I have been informed that B&W's need a lot of power to drive them efficiently so my question is the RB 1080(200watts) enough to drive 803S.

[JetFlyGuy]

I was told by my dealer that the RMB-1080 was not sufficient to bring the best out of the 803Ss. I went to a Classe CA-5200, and am very happy.

[jlee]

I was told by my dealer that the RMB-1080 was not sufficient to bring the best out of the 803Ss. I went to a Classe CA-5200, and am very happy.

And your dealer would be correct. 1080 has plenty of power to DRIVE the 803, but if you want good sound, almost any of the used classe amps on audiogon for $1000 would beat the $1000 1080. 1080 has an annoying midbass hump, not to mention distortion as volume is turned up, lack of refinement in the highs, and lack of bottom end extension (it starts to roll off a lot faster than most high end amps) that is needed if you're running a REL high-level along with the 803S.

[JetFlyGuy]

I was also very impressed with the noise floor improvement I saw when I went to balanced connections. (I ran the Classe' gear with RCAs at first for a comparison)

[tboooe]

jlee:

do you suggest running a REL or sub with the 803s? I was hoping to not have to purchase a sub after dropping serious coin on the 803s themselves. Can the 803s handle ht ok too?

[jlee]

I was also very impressed with the noise floor improvement I saw when I went to balanced connections. (I ran the Classe' gear with RCAs at first for a comparison)

Curious, which components do you have? In order for me to run balanced, I would have to get the SSP-600, which is apparently $2000 more just for balanced connections and a different transformer. Everything else seems to be identical to the SSP-300. I've also been told the SSP-300 is essentially the SSP-60 in a new case with an LCD screen and a few extra features such as video conversion... but at heart is an SSP-60.

Another thing preventing me from going balanced is I'm a huge fan of MF CD players and they are all single ended (British companies seem not to like balanced connections for some reason)... if I went balanced, the logical CD player choice is the CDP-100, but I just upgraded to the MF A5 and can't see myself going to the Classe CD player any time soon.

[jlee]

jlee:

do you suggest running a REL or sub with the 803s? I was hoping to not have to purchase a sub after dropping serious coin on the 803s themselves. Can the 803s handle ht ok too?

With the 804 or 804s, a REL Strata III does wonders all around. For HT, you'll definitely want a sub to go with the 803s. For 2 channel, IMHO, I think the 803 or 803s could really benefit from a REL. Not just because of the deep deep bass, but because it helps with the midrange and highs as well by providing the proper "acousting foundation" for the midrange and highs to be properly heard. Used Storm III or Strata III is available quite cheap and would make a very nice addition to your 803s. I remember the Storm III was the "tonal" match for 803's, but I was never a fan of the Storm III (also had slight problems with chuffing and "note hangover"). I preferred the tightness of the Strata III.

If you live in the UK, you may want to opt for the Strata 5 or Storm 5. Those models are not available in North America because Sumiko decided to import their own crappy Britannia series... which put out a ton of bass for HT, but not of the same audiophile quality REL is known for. The Britannia series gives REL a bad name. Rebel! Don't buy the Britannia! Make Sumiko import the Strata 5 and Storm 5!

[JetFlyGuy]

Yes the SSP-600 and SSP-300 are virtually identical except for the balanced capabilities. I was leaning toward the 300, but knew that once I saw those balanced inputs on the ampp that I would want to use them!