B&W 801 vintage speakers in small space

Room acoustics matter a great deal. I encourage you to look into that early and contact GIK Acoustics for great advice and affordable products.

With those particular speakers, a tube amp may get you a little more treble detail and air. How about a CJ from the 1980s?

Best,

E

Oh, nearly forgot. The caps in those 801s are totally worth upgrading. :) That could be a fun project.

Best,

E

Welcome to Audiogon, Lawlass!

Given your statements about the condition of the amplifier and the speakers, and your satisfaction with them, it sounds like the first priority should be to purchase source components and a preamplifier. Decisions about upgrading the amp and/or speakers, or perhaps having them professionally refurbished with new capacitors (which may already not be performing as well as they did during the 1980s, especially in the case of the amplifier) could be deferred until a later time.

The gain, impedance, and other technical characteristics of the Stasis 2 are compatible with a wide variety of modern preamplifiers and other "front end" components. For specific recommendations it would be helpful to know the budgetary range you have in mind, and also whether your interests are in playing LPs, CDs, material that is streamed or downloaded via the Internet, other kinds of source material, or some combination thereof.

One final observation: I, and I believe most here, would not consider a 1000 square foot listening space to be "small." :-)

Best regards,
-- Al

+1 Almarg.  the 801s should be just fine in a 1000 sq. ft. room. 

Thank you, Erik, Al, and Swampwalker.  I will consider what you have recommended, and will check out the CJ. I listen to vintage LPs and CDs, and just started listening to streamed material.  The space has hardwood floors, area rugs, wood in the kitchen and DR furniture, and a few upholstered pieces.  The windows have double pleated shades, and the ceiling is peaked at 12'. I consider the entire great room my listening space and will have to determine the sweet spot. The space definitely is live. Any recommendations for a turntable and CD player?  I know these are key to sound quality. Budget will allow ~$1000 max for each component I add. I live in western Colorado in a small town, which limits my sources to Denver visits.