Rotel and B&W speakers

[Parsonsk]

I've been looking and talking about speakers and stereo gear for years and find this site to be great! I was particularly impressed with the post with people’s photos of their Rotel gear!
I know B&W and Rotel are partnered in some fashion but was amazed to see there were a LOT of people that have partnered Rotel AND B&W speakers :T :T . Why is this? You don’t see this type of commitment from people with Denon and Mission speakers or Bryston and PMC speakers.

Since I am a huge fan of B&W I really want to get the best amp for them, is your automatic response Rotel? The speakers I’ve been looking at were the CDM 7 or 9’s, time passed and they introduced the SE’s, once again I kept looking and no buying and surprise surprise they introduced the NT’s. You see, I’ve been looking for a long time, so long in fact that the CDM series has given birth to the 700’s, which brings us to today. 8O

My question is what amp would you pair with the 703’s, 704’s or the 804’s? Do you think there would be enough power in the RB-1070 to adequately run any of these? In know it would work and I know you would say buy what you can afford but I want to hear your thoughts and comments. What do you think about using the RX-1052 and forget about the amp all together

One last questions - what do you think of using the RB-1070 (or 80) and then using the RX-1052 as the pre, thus bypassing the 100 wpc in the rx-1052, this way I get a tuner, some multi room functions and a remote etc.????

Thanks for your input
Kevin

[Aussie Geoff]

Kevin,

My question is what amp would you pair with the 703’s, 704’s or the 804’s? Do you think there would be enough power in the RB-1070 to adequately run any of these? In know it would work and I know you would say buy what you can afford but I want to hear your thoughts and comments. What do you think about using the RX-1052 and forget about the amp all together

This is a controversal subject with some strong views held... A search here and in Club B&W will give you a whole range of views that are worth re-reading. That asside - I would recommend the RB-1080 at a minumum. THis will do justice to the 704 and 703 and be acceptable for the 804 - though it will keep sounding better with a better (read more expensive) amp. We have passionate owners of Rotel and B&W, Krell and B&W, Bryston, Earthquake Parasound, McIntosh and Classe... All argue that their amps do a great job... Some argue that their brand is (to varying degrees) better for their ears than the others. Bottom line is they are all very good amps with different sounds - you need to hear and decide what is for you and your budget. Money no object I'd be getting a much more expensive amp than the Rotel - but the Rotel will do a fine job for the money. BUT don't use anything less than the 1080 on the 804s...

One last questions - what do you think of using the RB-1070 (or 80) and then using the RX-1052 as the pre, thus bypassing the 100 wpc in the rx-1052, this way I get a tuner, some multi room functions and a remote etc.????

Some people do this as an upgrade path - seems like a waste to me though of you are buying from new - why pay for amps in the reciever that you wont use.

Geoff

[booktrunk]

I have 7NTs so similar to the 704.

I use one 1070 power amp per speaker.

For about a month I have them bridged and mono amped. Then I change around and for the next month or so have them as standard 1070s and have them bi-amped.

I still cannot decide which i prefer. The bridged option is cool, but I have this little nagging doubt that i'm loosing something on the top end when I do this, so time to change back to bi-amped non bridged again this weekend for another listen.

The two 1070s were secondhand, less than 6 months old and cost less than 1 new one, so considerably less than I would have paid to own a single 1080.

Steff

<grin> Now I just need another 1070 to run the centre channel Yes I could bi-amp the centre and single amp the left and right but i'm trying to treat the 7NTs which is why they have an amp each

ARRRGH: in answer to your question why don't you get the 1070 pre and power amps... Why have the 1052? If you want a tuner buy a seperate tuner to go with it? If you are just using the 1052 as a pre why not just have a pre and power not an intergrated with half of it wasted and a power?

[Andrew Pratt]

I agree get the 1080 for those speakers not the 1070.

I think one reason you tend to see B&W pair with Rotel is that they're typically sold by the same dealer so if you've got a strong relationship with a local dealer you might be more inclined to go with speakers that he offers. There's the added benefit that they compliment each other so well and that B&W makes speakers over a wide price range to suit most peoples budgets.

[Mitchell]

My question is what amp would you pair with the 703’s, 704’s or the 804’s? Do you think there would be enough power in the RB-1070 to adequately run any of these?

I have 703's and a 1080 just got in Sept. . I spent a lot of time listening the last few months and found that the 1070 sounded "anemic" with 704's and 703's as did other amps that were of the same power. My dealer realized that insufficient power was what I was unhappy with and when he hooked up the 1080 I heard the difference immediately and made my decision ( and increased my budget). It seemed counterintuitive to me that at normal or even lower volume levels a more powerful amp would make such a huge difference but it did to me

[JBall]

I have the 1067 and the 1080 bi-amping a pair of 803's and to me they sound great

[Parsonsk]

Thanks guys for your input. I agree that the 1080 is the way to go but it's +$500 ouch.

As for the 1052, i know i would be wasting the amp inside of it but it would be about $500 less than buying a pre AND a tuner. And besides i can always take the 1052 into another room down the road.

I guess the option of running any of these speakers with the 1052 alone is out of the question??

Geoff you mentioned that there are other better (more $$$) amps, can you give me some suggestions, what do you think of bryston (long time fan but lots of money...)

[Hawks]

Kevin - I recently picked up the 1070 over the 1080 to run my 604's. Listened to both extensively with an RC 1070 pre. I listen to alotta jazz and acoustical instrumentation some heavier stuff but all in all could not justify bumping up to the 1080. Hope this helps - take your time.

BHawks

[BlazeMaster]

but then again, we're talking about a whole another league of B&W speakers here. I have the 600s myself and I've heard the 700s and 800s in stores and they're definitly more revealing than the 600s. I think with 700s and 800s you need to spend proportionally more on everything in the link (power amps, pre-amps, speaker stands, cables, interconnects etc.) Of course it'd work with the cheaper offerings, but if you were to pay that much for the speakers, why wouldn't you want them to perform their best with the help w/ higher quality accessories?

[Parsonsk]

So now there will be new a newly revised 800 series lineup, my dealer said right off the bat that i could get 25% off the 804's which i think will be the best way to go. With that said do you think the 1080 could run the 804's and how well?