B&W 804 Nautilus help

For the N804, the more power the better, even if it is over 200 watts. Don't worry about too much power. More than brand, since you are concerned about the impedence curve, choose an amp that has a power output at 4 ohms that is double the 8 ohm rating, and doubles again at 2 ohms if possible. There are many many amps that are like this. Just to name two; Aragon and Krell are popular with the Nautilus series. Amps like the Sim Moon W-5 can power cleanly down to 1 ohm. You may find one for $2500 used.

At under $1200 with DVD as an option, consider using a DVD player as a transport and getting a separate DAC for 2 channel audio. Just one example is a Dan Wright modified MSB Link DAC with the optional P1000 power base for around $600 in the Agon classifieds. You could add a Dan Wright tweeked Pioneer DVD player as the transport for the other $600. See www.modwright.com..Stan Warren does similar things.

Does your friend prefer a tube or solid state preamp? BAT offers good value in tube and solid state, and many models have a remote.

If your budget is $2500 for both the preamp and amplifier combined (not $2500 each), then look at Bryston gear. Their 4B-ST amplifier sells for under $1500 used.

Greetings Unsound,

If your friend is primarily interested in digital sources, here is what I'd suggest:

Get a Pioneer DVD player as a transport ($300), a Birdland Odeon-AG DAC with analog volume control ($1500 retail), and a Plinius 8200P power amp ($2000 retail).

The secret weapon here is the Birdland DAC. I have a customer who sold his $10K+ tube preamp when he tried the $970 Birdland Odeon Lite DAC with volume control, and the Odeon-AG is significantly better. The Plinius is plenty powerful but more importantly nice and warm sounding, and in a small room with a nearfield listening setup, you want to err on the side of warmth.

Best of luck to you and your friend!

I owned N804s for a while and found that the only amps/preamps that could tame down the HF shrill were McIntosh amps. They brought about an incredibly real warmness that I had never heard with my Krells. You can get a McIntosh setup within your budget used (off ebay if you ask me). With all due respect to Sugarbrie, I totally disagree with the power doubling if you halve the impedance since this boils down to marketing and not engineering. In order to really know what a certain amp can do, you need performance graphs which most makers won't readily give out (except for McIntosh, but that has been a trademark of theirs for over 40 years). Power output is somewhat indirectly related to impedance in reality due to dynamic response of the system in a closed loop (which is in turn dependant on many design factors). For the power to double with half the impedance only describes a small portion of the power curve SLOPE. This slope can be easily modified for marketing reasons by means of frequency but essentially, the dynamic headroom can be prematurely compromised if the slope is too high (called degeneration - especially pronounced in field-effect devices). Therefore, slope is only part of the story and, in a good amp design, is inconsequential provided the amp can perform dynamically (music is purely dynamic so this is obviously critical).

If he wants warmth, IMO, he should at least try McIntosh with MIT cables. I ultimately sold my beautiful N804s because even that setup was not warm enough for my taste (I like SS and not tube because all my schooling is in SS design). It is worth a try nonetheless! Paradigm Reference 100s were the key for me. Good luck

I second Sugarbrie's recommendation. If possible try out some amps for comparison, the Bryston does a good job with the B & W but everyone has different tastes. I had used a pair of 3B's as mono's with my 804's and it sounded very good, now use a 4B-ST. Bryston also sends a copy of their test sheet with new amps, I think somewhat similar to McIntosh. You can't beat Bryston's 20 year warranty also if you want to resell. Thats my two cents; also feel free to e-mail me personally if you want. Best, Charlie