Just bought 802D,HTM2D and CWM DS8!

[DavidB]

5 years after I first fell in love with the 802's I bought these speakers this weekend! Unfortuantely it will be a couple of months before I get to hear them at home because I'm about to have some building work done. The CWM DS8 are in wall switchable monopole and diopole speakers which from what I understand are equivalent in quality to the 805's (they are £850 each).

I'm going to be using a Meridian G68J as surround processor and will be auditioning various amplifiers over the next month or two. Haven't found anything yet to satisfy me for both 2 Channel Music and HT.

On the list are Classe,Mark Levinson,Dynavector,Krell and Bryston.

I've currently got a Copland CD player and and an Arcam DVD player which are both decent but not great. I'm going to wait and see how things develop with HD and Blu Ray before I take the plunge!

[Rob72]

Congrats! I am sure you will be really happy with your setup. Let us on the board know of your results when testing the Meridian with the various amps you listed.

[SRT-10 Viper]

DavidB; I have 800Ds with the Meridian G68AXV processor (Have had Denon 5805, Anthem D1). You've got a great AV Processor. I also run a separate 2 Channel Classe CP500 with HT passthru. My amp are Classe 350/CAMs and Krell TAS (200W). You enjoy your system once up and running!

[DavidB]

Viper, sounds like you have the perfect set up with the seperate Classe CP500 when you're listening to stereo. I think that would be the ultimate aim but I will have to settle for listening to music through the G68.

For the moment I think will go with a two channel power amp for the 802D's with a three channel for the centre and surrounds. Maybe with the aim of unltimately bi-amping the 802's when finances allow. Does anyone have any experience of bi-amping 802D's ? How does it comapare with running mono blocks?

[sikoniko]

David,

I am currently wanting to do the same with my N802's. I have a pair of ref9's and am considered biamping another pair. I just wonder what difference it would make first because it would require new cables and interconnects as well as the amps.

[DavidB]

I guess there is no better test than getting a demo amp from a dealer! but as I say that's not for me now as I'm spending enough already. I am about to get the cables run for my system so I will have cables run for potential bi-amping at the same time.

[JKalman]

For the moment I think will go with a two channel power amp for the 802D's with a three channel for the centre and surrounds. Maybe with the aim of unltimately bi-amping the 802's when finances allow. Does anyone have any experience of bi-amping 802D's ? How does it comapare with running mono blocks?

I bi-amp my 802Ds with a Bryston 9B SST. It sounds great. I'll be able to give better information once I get my Ayre C-5xe, since my Denon DVD-5910 doesn't really give a deep enough soundstage for me to evaluate the 9B SST with the 802D in terms of other amps I have listened to because I've not had other source equipment in this particular system, only on my 700 series system unfortunately. The resolution, dynamics, and transparency of the Bryston sounds great both bi-amped and bi-wired.

B&W states that you should either bi-wire or bi-amp the 802Ds, so make sure you bi-wire them if you get a monoblock. I haven't had my 802D on a monoblock yet, but I have had it bi-wired to the 9B SST. I don't notice any major change in the sound except a little more clarity when it is bi-wired but that is because I am using a cheap y-cable adapter in order to bi-amp. The Bryston amp has never been short on power for the 802D at the levels which I listen to music. Even though it is 120/140 WPC, it has no problem supplying all the power I need. I don't listen to music at over 100dB, ever.

Bi-amping in and of itself should allow you the most headroom though since you are effectively separating ranges of sound waves, that would sum up into one very large wave, into two smaller more easily handle-able loads. This also means you can do a lot more with less WPC in theory. Like I said though, for me it hasn't been much of an issue, and considering how much more WPC you need to double audible sound levels, the quality of an amplifier is much more important than WPC IMO. The advantage of the monoblock is you would have a dedicated piece of equipment for one speaker only, no worries about channels interfering with each other, no EMI, etc. Also you can have a shorter speaker wire run, or interconnect run, depending on which you prefer. Bi-amping with two average WPC monoblocks could offer the best of both worlds.

[DClark]

David B, I am curious as to why you would need a better CDP?. I thought the DACS and the processing of the G68j would eliminate the need for a high quality CDP.

I ask because I am demoing the 568.2mm and contemplating if I should purchase this or buy an G68j. I am using the processor for two channel with a Bryston 4bsst driving new 804s.

I am having a hard time deciding if I should keep the 804s and add a center HTM3s or forgo the center channel and go for the 802D's. Place a hold on HT.

I thought the G68j made for an outstanding two channel DAC?

Music is number one priority but would like to use music system more for HT.Helps rationalize purchase to better half.

[DavidB]

DClark, maybe I should explain how I initially tested the system at the dealer. There were two set up's both powering 802D's

Meridian G68J and Meridian G57 and then the comparable Naim set up. The Meridian for HT was outstanding a whole different level to the Naim, it almost made the picture seem better. Then I came to the two channel demo and the Naim was much more musical had better detail and really brought the speakers to life, when listening to music through the G68J it to me felt like the system was holding the speakers back.

I discussed this with the dealer and the conclusion was that the Meridian amp whilst a good one is not up to the demands of the 802D's when it comes to music, the HT performance is obviously much more reliant on processor quality which is where the Meridian excels. So my solution is to have a different amp which should bring the performance of the G68J to the level I want for music though I believe it will never be as good as a seperate two channel pre-amp.Though I'm willing to accept the compromise because of budget!

If you are concerned about music look at the Bryston processor as this has a completely seperate pre-amp (BP25) built into the processor. In the Uk at least about another £1000 more than the Meridian but maybe not as good for HT.

[DClark]

Thanks for the reply David B. The Bryston is on my short list. I've located a dealer within a reasonable distance that has a SP1.7 in for upgrade to 2.0. He also sells the Meridian.

The dealer I have dealt with for years has dropped the Meridian line and is focusing on Classe/Bryston.

What is your opinion of Tri-field with the BW's and what center channel are you using?
I assume you haven't heard a sonic improvement since you prefer 2 channel for music.

[DavidB]

For some reason here in the UK it's impossible to find dealers that stock both Meridain and Bryston, Bryston isn't carried very widely at all.

I've never actually listened to tri-channel so I'm not the person to ask I'm affraid. My centre channel will be the HTM2D so more than capeable of producing good results, something to play with once the system is installed but I really enjoy great stereo imaging so I'm not sure it's something that will work for me.