Impedance curve for 804s, anyone?

[Horacio]

Does anyone have an impedance vs. frequency chart for the 804s that is willing to share? I've been reading about how impedance drops well below 4 ohm for these speakers and would like to get a chart rather than comments on specific frequencies. Unfortunately B&W won't provide me with that.

Thanks a lot!

[Dmantis]

I'm wondering why you need it? Are you trying to use a lower powered amp or receiver?

With the 804's, you will need good clean power which can support a 8ohm load. B&W speakers are not very hard to drive. But in order to hear them at there best , they require a high current amp like a Rotel rb1080 or better. I find Krell , Mark Levinston , Classe , and even B&K amps to drive them very well. Rotel does the job but I feel there is a better solution if you want a higher sound quality. That also requires a very good preamp. This is actually where most of your sound quality before the speaker lives.

Good luck with finding your data.

[scanido]

Take a look at this early Secrets Review. Very promising review mind you. The last graph is what your looking for:

Impedance of the 804S peaks at 28 Hz, 55 Hz, and 2.5 kHz. The minimum impedance is at about 4 Ohms.


http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...05-part-2.html

[Horacio]

Scanido: thanks for the link. I wasn't aware of the site. Exactly what I was looking for.

Dmantis: not exactly what I wanted for...but have heard enough about impedance that I thought I should look at the graph. It actually doesn't go well under 4 ohm, as I had heard. I'm aware of the high current amps. I actually drive my 804s with an RB-1080. It sounds good, but not nearly as good as at my dealer's, driven by Macs. I'm still trying to understand if I would be better off with 2 MC275 (tubes rated at 150 W each, bridged) or one MC252 or MC402 (solid state). The dealer said something about the impedance and I wanted to see it. Now, understanding it is a different issue!!!
Wasn't aware of Levinson being a good match. Thanks for the tip!

[Mig17]

Many guys using Rotel to drive even 803 or 802
because they love the look of B&W rather than the capabilitty of Rotel matching with 800 series
I think 804s even deserved the best of Rotel 1092 D-amps

[miner]

I use a RB-1092 to drive my N804. Previously it was a RB-1070 - a big jump in sonics between the two. I was happy with the RB-1070 sound but am even more estatic with the RB-1092. I was contempalting upgrading to the Classe line but a side-by-side comparision 'told' me the upgrade was not worth the $8000. The Classe did sound very good though. The net cost (after selling Rotel gear) would still be around $5500.

[shades]

I'm wondering why you need it? Are you trying to use a lower powered amp or receiver?

With the 804's, you will need good clean power which can support a 8ohm load. B&W speakers are not very hard to drive. But in order to hear them at there best , they require a high current amp like a Rotel rb1080 or better. I find Krell , Mark Levinston , Classe , and even B&K amps to drive them very well. Rotel does the job but I feel there is a better solution if you want a higher sound quality. That also requires a very good preamp. This is actually where most of your sound quality before the speaker lives.

Good luck with finding your data.

Im with you on this one, especially the pre amp.

Rotel is very excellent at giving you what you need for the price point, but as soon as you get a taste of someone else's system that sounds better and using better equipment the upgrade starts to begin.

I went to Mcintosh mc202 which is actually rated close to 300wpc and there was a huge difference from rotel and a dare i say from my bryston as well.

Im now Auditioning the c45 and c2300 tube pre right now. I heard this system and it just blew me away.

[Horacio]

How about using Tact 2.2XP as pre? I read a lot about Mc, Classe, and now Levinson amplification with the 800 series, but I haven't seen comments about the Tact here. The comments I read elsewhere from Tact users was pretty amazing, however I haven't seen a word in connection with B&W.