Power amp for B&W 805S

[AV-walker]

My B&W sales promote to me the combination of B&W 805S with Rotel RA1062. I auditioned the Rotel/B&W combination with "1812" and "Swan Lake". Sound stage is clear and analytical. But the power is quite marginal in handling of cannon and bass is not sufficient. Rotel RA1062 is about US$650. Any other amps I could consider also.

Brgds,

[Rolex]

I say stay away from the 1062 unless you have to stay withing that budget. Look at Musical Fidelity integrateds. Also Krell 400 xi is one to consider. All depends on how much you want to spend. But, having owned the 805S, I'm pretty sure I would not pair it with the 1062.

[Guy]

I currently use Musical Fidelity A300 with my 805s which is discontinued. Musical Fidelity has a new model which is the A5. It is rated at 200W per channel and I have heard good things about it. The A5 should have no trouble driving 805s or even 804s.

I still have my Rotel integrated however I much prefer the sound of the Muscial Fidelity amps.

Your budget will obviously be a deciding factor.

[rav934]

I have a MF A5 integrated with 804s. Its amazing.

[Karma]

HI,
I have 805S's and the HTM4S. My dealer also was pushing Rotel for the 805. I set up a serious listening test to discover the truth. I was not familiar with the current Rotel products. Their price was attractive but I basically believe you get what you pay for. Thus, I'm a sceptic concerning "good deals".

I thought the Rotel (don't remember the model) was OK. It was aimed at the budget conscious audiophile, and for them the Rotel is probably more than adequate.

Here's the problem. The 805's may be small but they are excellent speakers. They are fully capable of showing the differences between amps. The Rotel amp sounded grainy to me. Real detail was being over run by the grain. They also did not have the slam or speed of a Krell or the highly detailed sounstage. There were a number of differences that I could put my finger on.

I bought a Krell KAV 2250 (250W/channel) which is simply a great solid state amp. Even if you don't want to spend that much money (the Krell is expensive) you should at least give them a listen. Then you can decide if buying a Rotel is worth the tradeoffs.

BTW, a month aor so later I traded my 2250 for the Krell KAV 3250 3 channel 250W amp so I could drive the center channel with the same quality as the Left and Right channels. Yes, I do like it.

Sparky

[Mark_C.]

A5 by Musical Fidelity is the way to go. I'm using it in my stereo system with Nautilus 804s. WOW!