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Power setup for 803D's Family Room

While it may sound a bit nuts, i have a set of 803 Diamond speakers which i use for left and right front channel.  I will be adding a matching center and have in ceiling Triad Silver Sealed speakers.  This is an open family room environment, not a theater room.   I have a separate theater room for the serious movie watching.  

My question is what AV Reciever or pre-amp combination should i get.  I was looking at a Sony STR-ZA1000ES but feel it may not power the B&W's well.  I could output the signal for front 2 channel to another stand alone amplifier i have from the Sony. I wanted to ask the question is there is a truly more powerful AV Receiver that would work with the B&W's.  If not then i will have to entertain a pre-amp or outputting the front stage signal to an amplifier. 
titannero
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,450 posts
 
titannero,

803D's are amazing speakers.  This may sound crazy but have you consider SONOS? I switched from receiver based 5.1 system in my family and living rooms to SONOS. This is by far the best 2K investment I'hv made based on sound and convenience.  Plus you get the streaming capabilities of great sounding music. I love the clutter free / decor friendly wireless setup and the system sounds amazing on 2-ch music and movies alike.  

My SONOS system in each of these rooms consist of,
PLAYBAR, SUB and a pair of PLAY:1.  

The cost of each room setup was $2100 including Optical digital cable and mounting brackets.   

Happy Holidays!!!

tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 
I seriously doubt there is any A/V receiver that can power the 803D adequately. They need a very stable high current amp.
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,787 posts
 
Not true at all the Arcam is a very high current receiver, we use these in the shop I work at Audio Doctor, Jersey City, and the Arcam has the ability to drive any load we throw at at and sounds great in the process, the only caveat is it is a $6,000.00 receiver, it can deliver the power no problem.

Class G and Class H employ dual power rails so they can alternate between a high bias class A for low wattage and switch to very high current Class A/B  for demanding passages and they can handle low impedance loads. 

Audio Control's new line of Receivers made in the same factory as the Arcam employs an even more sophisticated Class H amplifying stage and we prefer it even over the Arcam, either way two of the best receivers on the market. 

We sell quite a number of high end surround receivers, give my friend and boss Dave a call at the shop 877 428 2873, we sell more brands of high end surround receivers then most dealers including: Nad, Cambridge Audio, Primare, Arcam, Audio Control, and Anthem. Ask for the owner Dave
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
@titannero
This would be good Parsound Halo John Curl design 60amp current, bi-polar output, 250w x 5ch, use whatever your HT receiver as the preamp still.

http://www.parasound.com/a51.php

Cheers George
paraneer's avatar
paraneer
818 posts
 
I agree with George on the Parasound amp.  Just make sure your AVR has a full set of preouts and you'll be in business. 
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