Is a Denon AVR-3803 enough for B&W 805's?

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  • Erkki
    Junior Member
    • Feb 2004
    • 10

    Is a Denon AVR-3803 enough for B&W 805's?

    Hi - a fresh member and already posting!

    I've been running a smallish KEF speaker set (KHT2005) with my Denon AVR-3803. Due to practical reasons I've decided to get rid of the extra speakers and return to 2.1 until I get a dedicated HT room. For that I just made a deal to buy a second hand pair of B&W Nautilus 805's. The .1 is a Velodyne SPL-1200. I had to buy them without listening while they're from another town and there don't seem to be any available for listening in town.

    Having read about these speakers, I believe they'll be OK for my needs. It's just the receiver I'm worried about. Many people seem to find the current output of the Denons insufficient for demanding speakers - and also the audio quality of most AV receivers inferior to "real" stereo amps.

    So, what do you experts think? Is it wise to run the Nautilus pair with my Denon or will I end up either upgrading it or getting a separate power amp?

    TIA, Erkki
  • sikoniko
    Super Senior Member
    • Aug 2003
    • 2299

    #2
    I had 805's hooked up to my rotel 1055 and i thought it was a great match! my room size is not that big, so that could be part of it.

    I wanted the fullness in my sound so i upgraded to the 804's. At that point i needed an external amp, but i don't think you will so much with the 805's.
    I'm just sittin here watchin the wheels go round and round...

    Comment

    • Scarp
      Senior Member
      • Mar 2003
      • 632

      #3
      805's will run fine with that receiver. Even 804's can be run with that without much problems. Offcourse a more expensive seperate poweramp could improve the control and allow you higher volume, but you surely won't be disappointed with the 805's on that Denon.

      Whats more important is that you find it good sounding on normal levels. Speaker and amplification matching can be critical and get a completely different sound when not done properly.

      But I know some people who are happy with this match.

      Comment

      • Erkki
        Junior Member
        • Feb 2004
        • 10

        #4
        Thanks, both of you. A relief to hear the combination isn't totally doomed!

        Comment

        • zpanky
          Member
          • Mar 2003
          • 47

          #5
          I heard the 805's in a dealer showroom with the Rotel RSX 1055. They sounded great. Then I heard them with the 1075 and 1095, and they just kept getting better. I have no doubt they will sound great with the 3803, but with those speakers, you have the potential to get a lot more out of them.

          Comment

          • Dan Schulze
            Member
            • Jun 2003
            • 72

            #6
            Erkki,

            Funny you should ask that question - I recently had to take my new Anthem processor to my dealer to get a board replaced, and in the interim I used my older Denon AVR-3200 (1997 vintage w/85watts/channel). I used it for a few days to power my 802's, HTM1, and my 805's. I was quite surprised that the system sounded quite good. You could tell that the speakers (mainly my 802's) wanted more power, but yet I was impressed with my 7 year old receiver and the sound.

            Your receiver has about 30 watts/channel more than my older one, so I would say that you should be quite impressed. I think the Denon would do admirably. Then down the road your 805's will certainly take a separate amp without batting an eye.

            By the way, a buddy of mine has a friend who is using 805's for the main with a couple of Velodyne sub's. I haven't heard the system yet, but my buddy raves about it. Mind you he is using Krell components to drive the speakers, but still you can see where the 805's are a great choice for now and the future.

            Dan






            I want to be SHAKEN not stirred!!
            My Home Theater
            I want to be SHAKEN not stirred!!

            Comment

            • Aussie Geoff
              Super Senior Member
              • Oct 2003
              • 1914

              #7
              Erkki,

              The Nuatilus 805s are great speakers that will keep sounding better with each increment on amplifier and procesor quality. Will the 3803 drive - them - absolutelly. However the 805s can offer a lot more and will get much better with a separate amp (using the 3803 as a processor) and better again using a really go processor. You can add a subwoofer and get 10 years + enjoyment from them.

              Buy them now, by a really good amplifier (Rotel RB-1080 or similar) when you can) and then later replace the 3805 and you will just keep smiling

              Geoff

              Comment

              • Erkki
                Junior Member
                • Feb 2004
                • 10

                #8
                Thanks again! The speakers arrived today and even though I have only tried them briefly, they sound really good to me.

                I had already thought about getting a Rotel power amp - when I finally get that dedicated HT room. Then I'll probably get a HTM2 for center duties and for rears use my old B&W 570's from the secondary system. BTW, a B&W owner since late 80's!

                Comment

                • edaly
                  Junior Member
                  • Mar 2004
                  • 1

                  #9
                  I'm in a similar kind of situation as Erkki.. I'm planning on replacing my receiver with a Denon 3801 as an interim solution until I can buy a higher end amp. This will be used to power B&W 703's / HTM7 / DS6's. Seem feasible?

                  I'm currently using an old Onkyo TX-DS939, and the reason I'm replacing it is to get a 7-channel receiver, to be used in a 5.1 setup, with the extra 2 channels being used to bi-amp the mains.

                  BTW, if you have a pair of full-range of B&W's and a mid-fi amp or receiver, you should really give bi-amp'ing a try. If you have a high end amp it probably won't make a big difference, or so I'm told. I'm using an outboard 2-channel receiver right now to bi-amp the 703's and it's like night and day. The bass has way more punch and presence, but without overpowering the mids/treble , because they're still getting a full 100W from the main receiver. I find it sounds very different from monkeying with the bass tone controls (which seems to affect the whole sound in a very unnatural way).

                  In any event, I'm glad to hear the Denon 380x line is considered a decent amp for B&W's.


                  edaly

                  Comment

                  • Scarp
                    Senior Member
                    • Mar 2003
                    • 632

                    #10
                    Please don't make a mistake and look solely to specifications or just how many watts something gives. There is a lot more than just watts.

                    Like someone said, a Rotel RSX1055 with just 75 watts per channel sounds ground on some B&W models. Also tube amps just give a few watts, but will still be able to handle most speakers.

                    Remember that of all the watts your amp can give, it actually only uses a few watts anyway (at normal listening levels). However what is important that the amp has enough control and damping to steer the speaker.

                    Besides that, you also need to match the amplifier (or receiver) and the speakers. But thats a personal taste and you must determine what sound you prefer.

                    A good quality Denon receiver is more than capable of handling most B&W speakers. It is probably inadequate for the top B&W speakers like 802, 801 and 800 (not even to speaker of model nautilus, which requires each driver to have its own amp and there are 4 drivers per speaker).

                    Higher quality (and usually more expensive) and not necessarily with more watts, can give nicer results, since they have better control. Some amplifier brands don't even go with the more watts story. Naim, arcam, etc have moderate amps and still these amps can sound nicer than amps with just hundreds of watts.

                    Anyway, too make a long story longer .... just listen to the combination. If it sounds good to you, then go for it. Having a receiver with pre-outs, allows you to add seperate poweramps if needed in the future. After that the step to all seperates is a bigger, but worthwhile step. But then the money thing really kicks in and you got to ask yourself if more money is worth the upgrades

                    Comment

                    • DrBoom
                      Senior Member
                      • Dec 2003
                      • 325

                      #11
                      I agree with Scarp, power isn't everything.
                      Once I tried something with the 804's, hooking up different amps/receivers to see what the difference in power would make.
                      A 120W Yamaha RX-V2400 sounded 10x worse then a 30W Marantz MA24 or a 60W Marantz PM17.
                      Granted, the latter two are dedicated stereo amps/monoblocs, but just to show how little power has to do with sound quality.
                      If you want to compare stereo amps, even from the same brand, I tried the Marantz PM7200 (2x95W in class AB, 2x25W class A) versus the PM17 (2x60W class AB) and again the PM17 won by a large margin.
                      It sounds way more powerfull even though it isn't, even way better than my own Rotel RSP1098/RMB1075 sad but true.

                      Regarding your question if 805's work with a 3803, it'll work fine but you won't even get near the full potential of the speakers.
                      Heck, running Rotel surround separates doesn't even get the full potential out of them so don't feel too bad about it

                      Comment

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