Hi-End Electronics to drive B&W 804S speakers?

I would look at Musical Fidelity. They have a high power output which the B&Ws like and sound great.

I have a pair of B&W 804S's. Last year, I was looking to upgrade from my Magnum Dynalab MD-208 receiver. I listened critically to the integrated amp offerings from Musical Fidelity, Classe, Krell and McIntosh with my source material and a pair of 804S's. (I listen to a lot of opera and orchestral music, with complex instrumentation and wide dynamic swings, and that's what I used as source material to test equipment.)

I am no expert, and can only report my own impressions and purchasing decision. I was unimpressed with the Musical Fidelity integrated; in no way was it superior to the MD-208. The Krell was quite detailed, and in its way impressive, but sounded like hi-fi, not music. The Classe was, in my view, the worst of the group. I directly compared it with my MD-208, and was astonished at how much ambience and low-level information was missing in comparison. I had never been displeased with the Magnum Dynalab, but I came away even more pleased in comparison; it was much less expensive than the Classe, and a much more satisfactory product.

The McIntosh integrated was more to my liking than the MF, Krell or Classe. But ultimately, I revised my budget upward, and bought a McIntosh MC-402 power amp. I use the Magnum Dynalab as a preamp.

My focus in evaluating equipment was simple -- what sounds to me the most like real, live, unamplified music? By this standard, McIntosh was the clear winner among the solid-state products I auditioned, and going up the line from the integrated to the 400-wpc MC-402 made a substantial difference (the B&W's do benefit from power).

I was most taken with VTL power amps, but decided against them because I live in a warm climate (and they can double as space-heaters), I leave my amp on most of the time, and I dislike fussing with equipment. If you don't have those concerns (Paris is not warm most of the year), you may wish to consider tube equipment.

Just some general advice:

I have the 804 and I use a Bryston 3B-ST to great effect. The 804 is a great speaker, but it can be a little brittle/fatiguing, so you will want to err on the side of warmer/darker/smoother sounding units. They have terrific imaging and resolution but I think their lack of bottom end makes them not an ideal speaker to build an end-game system around. You may wind up making choices to compensate for the lack of bass that won't be appropriate for your next (hopefully larger) pair of speakers.

The 804 is well out of Rotel and Marantz's league and you will need better amplification. That said, don't overspend. Get enough POWER to cover your NEXT pair of speakers. With that Classe integrated, for example, that would probably not be enough power for your next speaker upgrade down the road. I wouldn't get that unit new, even though it probably sounds very good.

I would get a used Bryston 4B-ST or SST (built like a tank and a 20 year warranty!) and then whatever funds you have left over I would put into a really nice preamplifier like an Ayre or something at that level. That would give you a setup that would allow you to gracefully transition to better speakers down the road without making serious upgrades.

Thanks.. in the meantime I had a chance to compare 803s and 804s and I am sold out on 803S. The question remains on compatible electronics with the speakers that supply good power - I am going to try to review Marantz, Musical Fidelity and Macintosh equipment over the weekend. Hopefully I move closer to making a decision. What I hearing is that both Classe and Linn would not be a good fit here.

Cheers!

I too traded up to the 803S. I ended up purchasing a Mac 352 from Audio Classics, which most will agree is the best deal for a quality amp around. The sound is astounding and gets better with time.