B&W 803d and Luxman L-505ux


I was in the market for Focal 1038be's and ended up auditioning some B&W 803d's and 802d's. I liked the 803d better than the 802d (more "musical" to me) and am leaning toward them. However it seems that the 803d's are power hungry and I am ignorant enough to not know if my Luxman will power them well enough but not so ignorant to not ask the question.

Any idea if this will be a good (or great) match or should I keep looking for Focals'??
roymichael3
The 803D and 802D are out of my budget. I could live with either happily. The 803D are more full in your face sound and the 802Ds are more refined and detailed. I bought the CM10GBs and am happy but would trade you even up for the 803D
A buddy owns the 803d's and i let him borrow my rotel rb-1091's 500 watt class d's and wow. I offered him a good price but he was a little short given the $10k check he wrote for the 803d's so he's powering them with an older (2000-2004) model marantz receiver and surprisingly enough its not bad. You cant get them very loud but at low volume the clarity is impressive. I agree with the previous poster that they are power hungry and the more you give them the more they will give you. Enjoy!
I used to own the 803d's a few years ago and liked them a lot. I thought they sounded good with my Pioneer M91, 200 watts per channel, better with my McIntosh MC352, still better with two MC352's biamped and best with 2 MC601 monos. I found for me these speakers love a lot of power, it really brings out the sound in the speakers especially the base.
Don't sell yourself short... there is no foolproof method in amp/speaker synergy! IMO the 803D is probably the best $$$/performance B&W model, although I have not heard the CM10. The Luxman 505ux IMO would fall short in power/current and resolution with the 803D. A great bargain amp to try would be a Proceed HPA-2. $1500 should be enough to find one in top condition. Even when mated with a very modest preamp this combo would easily better the entry level Luxman.