Pre/pro advice? B&W 705s

[Shinnosuki]

So my brother have upgraded to 805 and gave me a deal on his 705 and i took it! Now I've been researching for the past 2 weeks to see what pre/pro combo I should use and there doesnt seem to be very much 705 owners out here.. Does anyone have any ideas?


I primarily use for 2ch music only and price range about 1500 for both pre/pro! So far I've only see 2 stereo preamp on rotel site, RC 1082 and RC 1070..are there any other suggestions? I'm pretty much open to any brand that people have good experience with. Sure I want something nice, but not overkill like krell or mcintosh :lol: thx!

[htsteve]

So my brother have upgraded to 805 and gave me a deal on his 705 and i took it! Now I've been researching for the past 2 weeks to see what pre/pro combo I should use and there doesnt seem to be very much 705 owners out here.. Does anyone have any ideas?


I primarily use for 2ch music only and price range about 1500 for both pre/pro! So far I've only see 2 stereo preamp on rotel site, RC 1082 and RC 1070..are there any other suggestions? I'm pretty much open to any brand that people have good experience with. Sure I want something nice, but not overkill like krell or mcintosh :lol: thx!

Shinnosuki,

When I read your first paragraph, my first thought was the Rotel pieces you mentioned. These are very nice. I had 705's. These are very nice speakers. Good bass for their size. Smmoth midrange and highs. At the time, I had the RSP-1068 AV pre-amp and a Rotel amp (1066 I believe) driving them.

I am assuming since you mention pre-amplifiers that you already have a two channel amp. What amp are you using?

Currently, I am using McIntosh to drive my B&W's. An excellent combination. The McIntosh is superior in every aspect compared to the Rotel (which is very good).

You can occasionally find some recent model used McIntosh, Krell and Classe in the price range mentioned on Audiogon. Just something to consider.

If you want to consider a nice integrated amp, there are options like this:

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ran&1228571377

A bit more than your budget, but you could offset by selling your amp.

I currently use the Rotel integrated amp RA-1062 in a small system I have. I like it very much. A bit bigger, more capable integrated would work very nicely with the 705's.


Hope this helps.

[Shinnosuki]

Thats a great idea for a integrated amp..Something definitely to consider so I dont have to worry about interconnects..but I do hope to have something with a optical input because I usually run my playstation 3 as main source for everything..As of now I don't have a preamp or proamp so I'm looking to buy both, I'm running the 705 off a old Onkyo receiver now...

[htsteve]

Thats a great idea for a integrated amp..Something definitely to consider so I dont have to worry about interconnects..but I do hope to have something with a optical input because I usually run my playstation 3 as main source for everything..As of now I don't have a preamp or proamp so I'm looking to buy both, I'm running the 705 off a old Onkyo receiver now...

Shinnosuki,

Interestin dilemma. Most steroe pre-amps or integrated amps do not have digital inputs. These pretty much are in the domain of multichannel receivers and pre-amps.

One solution for you would be a Rotel receiver. I strongly suspect the 2 channel section of the Rotel would quite a bit better than the old Onkyo. The amplification would also be much better.

Rotel receivers:

http://www.rotel.com/NA/products/index.htm?cat=24

There is also a couple of new receivers in the '15' series about to be launched. It does all everything the previous units do plus process the current HD audio formats. this is great if you plan to go Blu Ray and it's uncompressed HD audio formats (Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio).

One other idea is to find a pre-amp or integrated that has an HT bypass. This way you could keep the Onkyo and address 2 channel (I think). Hopefully others who have gone down this path will chime in.

It all depends on what your overall goals are.


Hope this helps.

[Shinnosuki]

I think I'm pretty much set to go with a RC 1082/RB 1072..I'm a little concerned that that 400xi Krell might make the highs too much as it already is for the 705, and also Krell being more suitable for rock music..I dont listen to rock much, mostly a Capella and various soundtracks, usually very soft vocals or orchestras.

Too bad theres no way I can demo the 400xi, the only store I found thats 40 miles out doesnt have a store demo, and can only be ordered..so I'll just stick with Rotel to be safe! Thanks Steve for all your great insight!