Bi-amping
Depends on a lot of things, how difficult your speakers are, where they are difficult, and how solid the power supply of the amplifier driving it is. Erik 801 matrix 3 (and 2) are an easy 6 ohm load with the BAF. See pic 23 on my virtual system. Easily driven by even tube electronics tapped on 4 ohms. |
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Hi CT, Just looked at the Stereophile measurements. I have to say, those were among the best B&W made, at least based on that! https://www.stereophile.com/content/bw-matrix-801-series-2-loudspeaker-measurements I would disagree, but just a little, about them with tubes. While the impedance barely drops below 6 Ohms, the rise to over 20 Ohms at about 2 kHz (text says 15, chart says more) could cause a little trouble. I would be tempted to add an impedance correction circuit to see how it behaves. Best, E |
Sorry for adding more. What's interesting also is the impedance rise in the treble, along with a drop in response in the top octave. This is a speaker which might actually cry out for a tube amplifier to bring out the most output in that top octave. This combination is not uncommon, especially for speakers of the era. A solid state amplifier would ignore the impedance rise, and present the top octaves as JA measured. Best, E |
Erik the links you are showing are for the Series 2 801. The 801 that the OP is using, and that I used previously is the Series 3. There were changes with the Series 3 - away from the Studio requirements and toward the Audiophile; so much so that the Sound Anchor stands for the Series 2 won't even fit on the S3. S3 used a different crossover than s2 - less component count. Better isolated mid and hf boards. Bass inductors with an iron dust core . Rotating midrange – tweeter head assembly was permanently connected. (from 3 to 4 pin delivering separate ground signals to midrange and tweeter) Magnetic fluid cooling of the tweeter (like the 800 matrix) - the reason the apoc protection eliminated (circuits needed for this were also removed) Here is the impedance graph for the 801 S3 sent to me by B&W England years ago. All markings are theirs. 801 Matrix S3 Cheers Chris |
