Home Theater Receiver recommendations for B&W 803S?


Hi!  I'm on the hunt for a new receiver, since I recently upgraded my main speakers, and I'd like to have one that also passes 4K signal.  

My current setup:

Denon AVR-4308CI
Left & Right: B&W 803S
Center: B&W HTM2
Surrounds B&W 301
Sub: Energy 8"

I recently upgraded to the 803S's on the left/right; replacing my original Nautilus 805's.  Now I need to upgrade the rest of the system!

I think the first step is the receiver, especially since I'd like to be able to pass 4K to my projector.   Then will likely upgrade the sub (Am considering the Monoprice Monolith, 10" or 12"...). And I'm also on the hunt for a HTM3S, to better match the 803S's. 

I'd love to know what Receiver recommendations folks have that will pair nicely with these speakers.  Ideally under ~$2K  - and I really don't care much about other bells & whistles (multi zone, bluetooth, wifi, whatever). I'd rather the money go into the best possible D/A, amplifiers, etc... and leave other tech gadgetry to other boxes.

Appreciate any/all input! Thanks!  :)






awilder
Also it is a very big difference over the htm2 im running mine with a pair of 803D in black ash because i have not found any htm2D in black ash but it still sounds great never harsh at all. Also running the marantz 8802a and love it 
Update! I got the Rotel RMB-1585 yesterday and got a chance to hook it up and listen to it for a few minutes this afternoon. I’m still using the Denon as the preamp.

I listened to just a few tracks and... WOW!

Huge difference! The sound is much richer and fuller, and the mid- and low-ranges are just, well, bigger (but not muddy).

The distinction between individual instruments is striking.

Towards the end of Blue Man’s "PVC IV" I found myself with an involuntary, ear-to-ear grin as I was just enveloped by the sound...the resonance of the PVC tubes was legit! That’s the first time I’ve heard that track where the resonance felt, well, real and impactful.

I hate to admit it, but I actually cried a bit at the end because it was SO. EFFING. AMAZING.

In other fun news: I got a great price last week on a Marantz 8802A on eBay (about $1500 including shipping), and it’s already arrived. (Thanks @hemi04 for chiming in--your comment helped convince me it was worth going for the Marantz too!) As soon as I have some more time I’m going to get it in place instead of the Denon and take another listen. Very excited for that next step up!

(I also got the HTM1... it won’t fit in my current rack, so I might just keep it on the floor for now and get it hooked up, too...Got new Salamander racks coming next week, with a semi-custom config so the HTM1 will fit nicely in the center. I’ll send pics once it’s up, I’m pretty excited about it.)

And then I think it’ll be time to replace my old blu-ray spinner. So... Panasonic DP-UB820, or.......?






That's really awsome!  It's amazing on how good a particular set of speakers will sound if you match a really good high current amp!  You are now getting into the "really good stuff" area!

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" The distinction between individual instruments is striking."  -- This is what i call "separation of instrument" and you need to have a really good amp to do this best.  I'm happy that you're receiving such a positive result on this!!  And WOW, you bought an 8802a already?  What happened to the $2,000 budget? lololol -- this actually happens to us audiophiles SO MUCH! 
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Onto the 8802a!  When you get it hooked up and first listen, your first impressions might be "where did the detail and clarity go".  Like I said before, it is voiced warm, so it will have rolled off highs.  But if you listen closely, I think you will find that the audio is overall more natural and "true" sounding.  I suspect it will be more fuller sounding with more impact as well.  We can tune this to be higher resolution, but first we want your general impressions on how you feel it sounds!
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Panasonic DP-UB820.  Well, I suppose you could get this, but in my opinion, there are much better transports.  The Panasonic does have 7.1 analog audio outputs, but why would you need those if you have an HT Processor like the 8802a?  The Panasonic does not even have a digital COAX output, which is something I think is critical for sound quality (it only has optical, which is a really bad digital interface).
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A much better bluray "transport" would be the Sony UBP-X1000ES at the same $499 price point.  I have had Sony bluray players in the past and they really make pretty darn good "digital transports".  It has a digital coax output, which will give you superior sound quality for 2-channel PCM audio as well as old school compressed Dolby Digital and DTS (yes, even DD/DTS sounds better through digital coax when compared to HDMI).  The only time you want to use audio through HDMI is when you are playing blurays with the higher resolution Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA HD audio formats.  The sony player also has a very excellent collection of streaming apps (netflix, amazon, pandora, etc.).  It also has a conventional IEC input, so you can do power cord upgrades if you wish.

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Another bluray choice could be the Yamaha BD-A1060.  I think it may have better power supply than the Sony with metal shields between power supply and audio circuits.  It does have 2-channel XLR audio outputs, if you want to try that, but I think the 8802a digital will sound better.  This also has IEC for power cord upgrades.
Awesome! The Rotel RMB-1585 is indeed a fine great amp and has plenty of unlimited power reserve to be able to drive just about any speakers out there, and at $3k retail price I think it’s a steal. This amp is built like a tank. You should upgrade the AC power cord for this amp as it will make big difference.
My cousin has this same Rotel RMB-1585 in his HT setup driving all B&W 804 D3 front speakers with a matching HTML2 D3 center and a pair of 805 D3 for surrounds. He couldn’t be happier with his current setup. He’s also using the Marantz AV8802 pre pro.

In the beginning when he first purchased the AV8802 processor he paired it with the Marantz MM8807 seven-channel power amp but he wasn’t satisfied with the performance and felt like the power amp was holding back his system’s performance and after 2 months living with this MM8077 amp he was able to upgrade to the Rotel RMB-1585 amp and the difference between these 2 amps were huge. The Rotel RMB-1585 is night and day better than the Marantz MM8077 seven-channel amp regardless of whether you use it for stereo music playbacks or surround movies (HT).

The Marantz MM8077 is not a good amp at all especially in comparison to the Rotel RMB-1585. The RMB-1585 is much more refined musical and fluid and lot more solid than the MM8077. It is better in all areas. No comparison. The MM8077 is cheaper than the RMB-1585 and you get more channels of amplification than the Rotel. The Marantz MM8077 retails for only $2300 brand new whereas the RMB-1585 is $3k new.

You can easily tell the differences in size, mass and weight between these two amplifiers. The Rotel RMB-1585 is huge massive and weighs in about 80 lbs and it is only a five-channel amp. The Marantz MM8077 is much smaller and weighs in only at around 43 lbs and yet it is a seven-channel amp, has more channels of amplification than the Rotel.
The MM8077 has only one main toroidal transformer power supply for all 7 channels whereas the RMB-1585 has 2 main large toroidal transformer power supplies for only 5 channels. And the Rotel’s toroidal transformer power supplies are of better quality than that of the Marantz MM8077 amp.

Again glad that you’re happy with your amp purchase. Keep us posted of your first impression of the Marantz AV8802 that you just purchased. You got a great deal on that processor cause the original retail price of the AV8802 was $4k when it was still in production and this model was just recently discontinued and replaced by the AV8805. And the AV8802A supports pretty much current formats and codecs except maybe it does not support Dolby Vision and the latest HDR on the video side of things. Are you sure that the AV8802 that you bought is in working condition make sure it isn’t a defect unit or nothing’s wrong with the unit. Cause the price that you paid was unbelievably cheap. I know that these Japanese mass produced AV manufacturers (Denon Marantz Onkyo/Integra Yamaha Pioneer Sony) don’t hold their resale values well.