B&W 802s

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  • JesseRJ
    Junior Member
    • Nov 2003
    • 14

    B&W 802s

    If I am unable for lack of space to have separates, what would be the best receiver (cost no object) for me to buy. Right now, I am thinking of the Yamaha Z-9 which seems to have everything but I have been unable to hear one so far. Thanks for any advice.




    Jesse Joseph
    Jesse Joseph
  • DrBoom
    Senior Member
    • Dec 2003
    • 325

    #2
    Wow, a receiver that's gotta power 802's 8O
    Well, just find the most powerful receiver/amp you can find because you're going to need it.
    Thinking along the lines of the Yamaha Z9, Denon A1SR, Pioneer AX10Ai (or Elite something in US), Sunfire Ultimate, Sony DA9000ES, ....
    But I'm afraid there aren't many (if any) of these that are truly capable of driving a set of 802's to their full potential.
    These things eat amps for breakfast :twisted:
    The problem is that the woofers are a heavy load and require a lot of current to get them going, so that requires a very stable amp.
    The other problem is that these are such revealing speakers, that many receivers just don't sound good enough through them.
    What you need is a fully stable amplifier down to around 2 ohms, which I don't think many receivers can handle, in fact most of them aren't rated below 6 ohms or in some exceptions 4 ohms.
    That is, if you want to make the most of your speakers.
    Then again, if you didn't want to make the most of your 802's, they'd be a complete waste of money right ?

    Comment

    • Lex
      Moderator Emeritus
      • Apr 2001
      • 27461

      #3
      I'm horrible with BW numbers. I don't know their speakers by model. In fact, I'd like to see a BW model thread that we could sticky at the top, showing their models.

      But in general, I can apply what Dr broom, or is it boom said to a prior experience of my own. I owned a set of Infinity Kappa 7.1s with 10" woofers. While I don't remember the efficiency of these speakers, I can tell you that a 100 watt per channel SEPARATE Rotel amp, RB-985, was in capable of driving these speakers properly. They could not move the woofers enough to generate big bass. On the other hand, when driven with a Proceed HPA-2. Oh my! They really came alive!

      So, heed the warning, that a receiver is likely not going to drive the 802s to "room temperature". They are gonna stay a little cold, not warmed up. There could be 1 or 2 exceptions of receivers that could drive them respectedly. But they are few and far inbetween,if they exist at all.

      Lex
      Doug
      "I'm out there Jerry, and I'm loving every minute of it!" - Kramer

      Comment

      • pf
        Member
        • Oct 2000
        • 83

        #4
        Jesse, if cost is no object but space is then what you need is the pre-out's of a receiver/preamp to a pair of monobloc amps sitting right next to the 802's - check out the Bryston Powerpak 300 SST (www.bryston.ca).

        Hi Lex.

        PF

        Comment

        • Cowanrg
          Senior Member
          • Feb 2004
          • 225

          #5
          i would forego features and concentrate on quality of sound. go with a B&K or a rotel receiver. my vote would be for the B&K.

          Comment

          • Lex
            Moderator Emeritus
            • Apr 2001
            • 27461

            #6
            PF? You've got to be kidding me. I thought that guy went Awol on us! :LOL:

            welcome back Po Ming. Stick around for a while, ok?

            Lex
            Doug
            "I'm out there Jerry, and I'm loving every minute of it!" - Kramer

            Comment

            • sikoniko
              Super Senior Member
              • Aug 2003
              • 2299

              #7
              Originally posted by pf
              Jesse, if cost is no object but space is then what you need is the pre-out's of a receiver/preamp to a pair of monobloc amps sitting right next to the 802's - check out the Bryston Powerpak 300 SST (www.bryston.ca).
              Or even a pair of Omega's from Classe. That is what B&W matches up with their signatures when they go to conventions im told.

              heheh.
              I'm just sittin here watchin the wheels go round and round...

              Comment

              • DrBoom
                Senior Member
                • Dec 2003
                • 325

                #8
                Last VAD-show (hifi convention in Netherlands) B&W was demonstrating a setup consisting of 2 N800 Signatures as fronts, and 3 "ordinary" N800's as center & surrounds.
                All powered with Classé, but only the two Signatures had the Omega amp, the others were something like CAM350's I suppose.
                Now that was one good sounding multichannel system

                Philips was also doing an SACD demo on 5 Nautilus 801's powered by Pass Labs X600 amps, sadly I didn't find out about that until after the convention

                Comment

                • Phil Rose
                  Senior Member
                  • Aug 2000
                  • 142

                  #9
                  Lack of space? There are some pretty small, powerful amps out there that, in combination with a receiver could power those N802s just fine. This for instance wouldn't take much room at all. http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/components/mxd1.htm I don' t know any thing about it but it is small.

                  Seriously though, I went from a 150 wpc amp to a 500 wpc amp and the difference was night and day on the N802s. A receiver will drive them but they won't be at their full potential. However if you're mostly concerned with HT then you should be OK but, if music is your primary concern then tread carefully.

                  Comment

                  • Nicholas Renter
                    Member
                    • Jun 2002
                    • 57

                    #10
                    I'm going to be straight-up and honest with you, Jesse.

                    If you are determined to drive your N802s with a receiver, you've just wasted boatload of money on speakers. Great speakers cannot make up for mediocre components (and the amplification sections of most receivers are just that - mediocre). Locked into a receiver, you'd almost be better off selling your N802s and picking up used CDMs all around.

                    Just my 2 cents - take it or leave it.

                    Comment

                    • Scarp
                      Senior Member
                      • Mar 2003
                      • 632

                      #11
                      True nicolas. Especially not Yamaha receivers, which aren't known for being able to produce very musical results. A top Denon or Marantz would be a possibility, but still ... get a goot pre-amp (either surround pre-amp or analogue pre-amp) and a good stereo power amp (or two mono's). Thats the only way to handle 802's the correct way.

                      802's will let you hear the components you put on it and you definitly will hear equipment that isn't that good.

                      Comment

                      • jrd
                        Member
                        • Dec 2003
                        • 37

                        #12
                        While spending the afternoon at my favorite store, I spent some time listening to the 802s in a theater setup driven by Mcintosh electronics. Specifically, the 802s were wired to a MC252 which, according to the Mac website, puts out 250 watts at 8, 4, and 2 ohms. At normal listening levels, the meters on the Mac would peg, if only for a second or so. Definitely takes some juice to get the best out of the 802s. In agreement with most of the other posts, I wouldn't even be thinking receiver.

                        Comment

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