B&W 705 - Best Amp?

[Minivan]

I recently got a really good deal on a pair of B&W 705's. I'm happy with the sound of them, but know they can do better. They are currently powered on a Yamaha 757se. It's quite a good surround sound amp, but musically I think there's room for improvement.

I'm not sure whether to sell the Yamaha amp and get a higher end Rotel, or keep the Yamaha and add a Rotel power amp. Any thoughts? Anyone have experience with the 705's and what amps work well?

cheers,

John

[jim777]

Do you want a stereo setup or a 5.1 surround setup? For stereo, the RA-1062 will do very fine for the 705's unless you can afford more. Surprising integrated amp for it's price.

For surround, well, I'm no expert there..

Tell us what you want (2ch, 2.1, 5.1...), what you listen to, and whats your budget, and it will be easier to help out

[Minivan]

I am just wondering what power amps for 2 channel stereo would work well with the 705s. I think i'll keep the Yamaha 7.1 amp as a pre-amp and add a power amp to just power the 705s.

Mainly listen to electronic music like Aphex Twin.Daft Punk etc.

I was thinking of demoing a Rotel RB-1070 (130wpc) and/or Rotel RB1050 (70wpc). Is 70watts enough power?

cheers,

John

[jim777]

If you are going to be stereo only, why keep a 7.1 amp as a pre-amp? For the future? If not, try a good integrated like the RA-1062 and a good cd player like the RCD-1072. If you like that sound, buy that and sell the yamaha

[Pez]

My friend has the 705's paired with the Rotel 2 channel 70 wpc amp and it sounds great.

[Minivan]

I mean to keep the Yamaha 7.1 for home cinema, but make the power amp drive the 705s. So the best of both worlds, good 7.1 and 2 channel stereo.

Has anyone used the Musical Fidelity A5? Looks pretty good. How would one use that in a surround sound system as it says it's and intergrated amp.

cheers,

John

[RobP]

John, I heard the A5 running a apir of 803D's and it really impressed me, the bass was very quick, tight and powerful, the voices were great and the top end was really sweet. I too had thought about using this amp for my N803's but stayed away because I need more of a multichannel amp for HT.

[weijst]

I'd say the RB-1070...

[Mark_C.]

I'm using an A5 with my Nautilus 804s in a two-channel setup. SWEEEEET!

What's nice about the A5 is the HT passthrough feature, which basically allows a HT preamp to control volume while the A5 amps power whichever two speakers you'd like.

[bigburner]

I'd say the RB-1070...

I'd support that.

[Minivan]

I'll definately demo the RB-1070.

In an ideal world i'd be going for a Musical Fidelity.

...all in due sentence.

[NonSense]

Minivan

You might want to take a look at the MF A3.5 integrated amp for those 705's. Likely a better fit pricewise, and it still offers the HT bypass to connect to your HT system.

The problem with just adding a good power amp to your Yamaha, is that even though you will find some improvement, your 2CH sound quality will still be limited by the weakest link. This being the 2CH preamp section of the receiver. I don't mean to genealize, but a dedicated 2CH integrated should outperform an HT receiver as it has been designed for musical playback. The components selected for good musical performance and not spent on surround precessing etc. as you find on the receiver. The HT bypass of the MF, will allow you to propery calibrate the SPL and use the volume control from the receiver when watching movies. This is truely, the best of both worlds.

Worth a look.

[jim777]

NonSense is right.

You need a good chain from source to speakers. In a price range that "fits" with the 705's, I listened to the RA-1062 and the RCD-1072 and I was surprised by it's sound.

So I still think that the 1062/1072 is the way to go for great stereo. Maybe a line-out of the yamaha can be used to integrate this setup into your future 5.1 setup (but leave the yamaha out in the mean while).

You just don't want the yamaha to do the D/A conversion or do some DSP stuff on it...

[Minivan]

Cheers for the info fellas.

I think the Musical Fidelity option would be a good one, i'll certainly demo the A 3.5.

Just need to save up a grand!

cheers,

Minivan

[lvhung]

May be 1056 5 channel is good for your AV application

[Minivan]

I am squaring up to getting the Musical Fidelity A3.5 on saturday. I am using my computer however as the hub of everything. I send the audio optically (via toslink) to the Yamaha 7.1 receiver.

Do you think the Yamaha 757se has got a crap DAC?

Should i forget the Music Fidelity and Yamaha combo and go with say a Rotel 1055?

Am just scared if i get the Music Fidelity amp that it may be wasted if the Yamaha can't do decent DAC.

any ideas welcome!