stereo pre/power or integ. amp for 805S at low volume

[Pierre]

I am upgrading my 704 with 805S for the computer room. They will be on the desk next to my screen (my desk is 10' wide, so I can optimize the placement). I need a pre/power combination, or integrated amp, stereo only, to drive these speakers properly AT LOW VOLUMES. I have a rotel 1068/1075 combo in the living room with 703, so that is my baseline (and I like it).

I want the best sound I can get at low volumes in stereo (I have a SACD player in the computer room). With so much emphasis on raw power these days, I doubt the best choice is a high power amp, and/or maybe signal losses induced by cabling for separate pre/power components would be significant, so a good integrated amp could be best solution? (as long as the price is reasonable).

Can anyone share opinions / similar experience?

[dknightd]

I use a "t-amp" with my 600's for my computer speakers. It is cheap, and has good sound at low volume. There is a review of this cheap wonder here:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/sonicimpact/t.html

I bought this as a cheap experiment and have been pleasantly surprised by how it sounds - a cottage industry has developed putting these things in nicer boxes with nicer connections, and nicer pots - people are spending 10 times the cost of the amp to modify it. Amazing!

I'm thinking about replacing mine with something else because I'm thinking about integrating a small sub into my office computer sound. The t-amp does not have the negative speaker connections tied together, and apparently does not like them tied together, so it is not suitable for most subs using the high level inputs, and the t-amp has no preout. So I'm curious what other recommendations you get.

Since I have only a single source, I'm thinking about a passive volume control combined with an old 60 watt adcom I have in a box in the basement.

You might want to give people an idea of your budget. I'm guessing your budget is higher than mine. BTW, my living room system also uses 703's

One other thing, you might want to get the 805's above the desk surface. This will help reduce reflections from the desk surface, and get the tweeters more at level with your ears.

[Briz vegas]

Integrated or control amps (like the ones from Ayre and CJ) are a very good amp solution these days and are no longer the poorer cousin of pre/power amps unless you are talking mega buck amplification.

In this game a "reasonable" price could mean anything so I would suggest giving us a price bracket (so we can ignore it and recommend something that doubles your budget 'cos its awesome :T ).

There are some compact pre/power amp solutions out there (MF, Quad, Cyrus) if that is your preference.

You are getting 805s so you don't want to pair then with a cheapy amp. What are you using with your 704s?

[Pierre]

Thanks for the advice.

With the 704 I am currently using a denon avr in bi-amp configuration. I know it is inferior to the rotel in the living room, but bi-amp really helps to close the gap, at low volumes.

I was looking at rotel rc1070/rb1070 or ra1070 so that is my price range (<1500euro, ideally <1000euro). The 805S are 2500euro, so <50% for the amp seems enough, especially since I dont need any digital processor.

Thanks

[Briz vegas]

Broadly speaking I have followed the 50% speakers 50% electronics rule in the past but more recently found myself going 1/3 1/3 1/3 rule (depends where you buy the products. I think at UK prices my amp is worth double the speakers but here they are currently about the same price, although the amp is supposed to be on "special").

Not to say that the Rotel would not be fine but I can't help but think that the 805s is overkill if that is your final amp solution. On the other hand if you are planning on upgrading in the future then you have made your speakers more "upgrade proof" going with the 805s