Rotel RB-1090: Enough juice to drive B&W N802?

[AnyWhere]

Hello Rotel ppl.

I know that the big guys in the B&W 800 series need plenty of juice to play along. I might get a pair of N802 soon and wonder if the 1090 is fit for the task. That said, I know that some would claim that this combo doesnt match at all. A pair of N802 costs the same as 4 new 1090's. Looking at the B&W forum didnt give me any clues really other then "Krell is better then Rotel".

If anyone here have some experience I would like to hear from them

Cheers.

[jlee]

I do not own the N802, but have a really good relationship with my local dealer. The person I deal with has a client that has 802's and he runs them with the 1090 (to my surprise as I've heard all the same things as you about how the 1090 is not up to the 802, etc. etc.) and is very happy with the setup. I would say that the 1090 is the very MINIMUM you can get away with running the 802 in terms of the amp not being a weak link in the system. I personally own the N804 and I'm currently running the 1095 and auditioning the 1080 and 1090 as I right this message.

I don't think you can go wrong with STARTING with the 1090 since at $2000, it's hard to find anything better for that price (at least new). The Rotels have a high resale value. Once you get accustomed to the sound, you may want to experiment with other amps. That way you have a baseline to compare with. Some amps you may want to consider are the Classe CA-201, CA-301, and CAM350 monoblocks. The CAM350 monoblocks with N802 is a killer setup and my local dealer has sold many of that combo (that is the favourite combo for N802 for 2 channel). The 350's go for $3500 new, but I've seen them used for about $2500 each.

Good luck and report back on your decision .

[zedlep]

AnyWhere,

I would think that the first place to start would be to check the sensitivity rating on the 802's. I have driven the 803's with th RMB 1095 with no complaints. The power was not an issue at all! The sound was very nice, if the 802's are within 1 or maybe 2 db sensitivity of the 803's, you should be fine. I use this system for both music and movies, and it did exemplary on both. HTH.

[zpanky]

Its been a while now (maybe 2 years ago) but I heard the 802's powered by the 1090. I thought it was phenominal. Then I heard them powered by Classe and Bryston amps. There was no question, the Classe and Bryston produced immediately noticeable improvement. I'm talking maybe 15% improvement. To me, that was enough to justify the purchase. I did buy the Bryston, but life altering events (a house last year and a child on the way in 5 months) have forced me to reprioritize.

The 1090 is quite capable. You will get more out of your 802's from a Krell, Classe, or Bryston, but we are talking 10-20% (max imho). Then again, incremental improvement is what this hobby is all about.

[Blazar]

I use my 802's and HTM-1 with a rmb-1095 which is similar to the 1090. The 802's sound very good in the mid-high range. Sometimes the bass doesn't seem as controlled or smooth as it should be. My room is sorta small however, so I am not the best person to judge bass... the 802's are quite large for my apartment. I might have the same problem with any amplifier.

I have seriously been considering a variety of bryston configurations for my front and center channels. I am particularly interested in their 20 year warranty and impeccable reputation in terms of sound quality. I have also been considering used mark levinson amps. I'm not sure which I will eventually go with.

[AnyWhere]

Thank you all for good advice. I should at some point move up to some high end amp. I've noticed that high end amps are priced at a different level in the states. Living in Norway, and having most of the really high tech stuff coming thru one or two dealers only is not a good thing.

A rather "normal" Krell amp aka FPB 300cx costs approx $17000. And the Classe CAM 350 mono blocks (since already mentioned) goes for close to $11500 a pair.

I've actually seen the Classe monoblocks for sale on a second hand marked for only $5500.

[Adz]

Blazar,

I recently purchased the Bryston 6B sst (300Wx3) to power the front speakers in my system. The increased sonic performance over my previous amp is nothing short of shocking. I had suffered with the inexplicable speaker buzz that has plagued more than a few others, but with the 6B "absolute silence". You should go to a local dealer and test it out yourself (assuming they actually have one in their system!).

[AnyWhere]

The 1090 is quite capable. You will get more out of your 802's from a Krell, Classe, or Bryston, but we are talking 10-20% (max imho). Then again, incremental improvement is what this hobby is all about.

Indeed it is. I'm usually quite happy when the weather is grey and cold. That gives me an excuse to stay indoors and tweak/test things out