B&W 805s vs PSB Synchrony Two

For Tubes I would suggest something with at least 80W, for Solid state, as suggested above 200 watts/ch or something with a TON of current would punch the 805's ticket.

Assuming the choice is $1749 for the Synchrony Ones, or the same amount for an amp, here are some ideas in that range. Frankly, it would be tough to beat the quality of your current amp by a whole lot for that price, at least new. Here are some ideas:

Vincent Audio - SV-236 MKII
Used Musical Fidelity A5
Cambridge Audio Azur 840A v2
Jolida 1000RC (used now on Agon)
NAD M3 (used now on Agon)
Classe Audio cap 151 (used now on Agon).

Or look for some good separates used - like a CJ pre and something like the Odyssey Audio Stratos Extreme amp.

As for what is better - bass or midrange. Huh, well its not up to me, its up to you. What do you like better? Maybe this is a false dichotomy - enough power behind the 805's, well placed and on good stands, and you will hear some tight, loud bass for sure.

Well, it is a simple matter. If you get enough current drive behind those 805 speakers then their bass response will open up and surprise you.

Try borrowing a high power amp from somebody for a little sneak preview.

the synchrony two is an excellent floorstander...balanced and incredibly refined. you are going to want to upgrade that amp someday, but may find its fine with the psb for now.

I own the Synchrony Two's and have listened extensively to the 805s on various different amps. I was considering buying the 805s before the Two's were launched, however the overall cost is blown out by the need for a super powerful amp, and plus the bass will never go as deep as the Two's. For me the whole music enjoyment factor changes with deeper bass. The 805s are great for acoustic and vocal music, and even pop to some extent, but you get so many more sounds with deep bass.

As for the Synchrony Two's:

(1) I run them with the Simaudio I3RS and they are a terrific combination. The Two's are not an ultra-detailed airy sound that shows all the tape hiss on a recording, but they reward you with good amplification and decent cabling. Just about all my cds are very listenable on them. The combination is totally non-fatiguing as well.

(2) They are excellent for home theatre purposes as well, even in a 2-channel setup. On a good amp the separation and 2-D imaging is incredibly good, and the midrange is very open, so much so that you don't even require a center-channel speaker. With the bass going quite deep I don't need to run a subwoofer. Vocals on movies/tv sound incredibly realistic.

(3)
The PSB's have 3 port plugs in the back of each speaker so you can tune the bass to your room. They come with one pair of plugs, so I bought 2 extra pairs. Depending on how much I want to annoy my neighbours, I run them with either 2, 4 or 6 plugs, and you can really notice the impact. With the bottom ports open you get the deep bass impact, and with the middle ports open you get more out of the mid-bass. Anyway this gives the speakers tremendous flexibility.

(4)
The overall sound of the Two's is a bit on the laid back side (the One's are a bit more forward in the midrange), however they are still incredibly dynamic. The 805s is probably more forward sounding as well as compared to the Two's.

(5)
If you can stretch your budget, then get the Synchrony Ones, as they have a separate midrange driver so you will get a smoother and more open and detailed midrange. They also have even deeper bass, and are more dynamic than the Two's. However they are a bit bigger than the Two's and they probably can't be in a small room - but you can still tame the bass with the port plugs.

(6) If you get the Two's, get speaker cabling that is not too energetic on the top end, due to the use of the titanium tweeter and the slightly laid back sound of the midrange. That tweeter is incredibly accurate and grain free and clean, however it is still metallic.

Actually make sure they are thick cables...I have been tweaking cabling on my system. The Two's are low impedance speakers so they need thick speaker cabling. Really improves the lower midrange and bass body and richness. You can still probably go with energetic silver cabling as long as its thick.