How different between B&W 804s & B&W 805s????

Vikaschhariya: I run a pair of 803S' with a macintosh 402. I compared a number of amps (however not any Marantz models) and nothing came close to the mac for my tastes. However, I herard little, if any, difference between the 252, the 7000 integrated, and the 402. In pushing the 803s' to their limit I could get the power guard lite to flicker on the 7000 and 252 - which did not happen on the 402. Speakers are a matter of taste- I like the B&W sound and compared the 805, 804, 803S&D, and 802 - and from my perspective the 805 and the 803S were the best of the lot. The main difference I noticed between the 803S and the 804S was the 803S sounded better at low spl levels than the 804S. While his goes against the conventional hype - I did not like the sound of the models with the diamond tweeters; if B&W currently had their metal tweeter in the 802 model I would have went that route. Good choice on your speakers - let us know what amp you choose.

Musicnoise, interesting stuff. Did you get a chance to hear the McIntosh MA6600 at all?

Brianmgrarcom : No I did not get a chance to hear the MA6600. I did listen to the 6900 and found it a little lacking in power, i.e. turned on the power guard easier than the 7000 or 252. Kind of an interesting experience actually. The store that had the 6900 apparently had an ac power feed with poor contact or some other deficit - it is the only time that I saw the room lights dim anywhere, other than due to high inrush current at power up. When the 6900 drew enough current to get the 803S to about 105 db Spl (and yes I do carry an spl meter with me when auditioning speakers) the room lights dimmed. Now I know from putting a meter on the 402 that about the most that is drawn at those spl levels is 6 to 7 amps - which never causes dimming lights or any other unwanted effect and I run the system off of 40 year old wiring.

However, I will say that the, to me, the 6900 sounded pretty much the same as the other mac amps. From my experience the macs have a different sound than other solid state amps - probably has to do with the inductance of the autoformer - I know mac says they are accurate and the specs are incredible - but for whatever reason, they do sound different . Obviously, I like the sound and would not go elsewhere. By the way - nice system - I run the C45 rather than the C46 but it was a tough choice between the two. How are those watt puppies? What is your descriptive take on those as compared to the B&W's (any model) and what music genre ?

Funny (or sad) Musicnoise that as long as I have been at this I suck at describing differences. Anyway, thanks for the kind words. I have owned the N803's, Signature 805's and the 802D's, in that order; I had positive experiences with all but the 802D's and I'll just chalk that up to not being a good match for my room. The W/P's were purchased after the 802D's and are far better (in my room). In my setup I find the W/P's more laid back than the B&W's, I would like a little more forward midrange. I listen to Jazz and some (lighter) rock with a hodge-podge of other stuff mixed in. Brian

So I evaluated MC402 with c2300 pre amp and also another MI solid state pre-amp. I have earlier heard Linn and Classe electronics and I have to say, I was overwhelmed by MI electronics. The experience was breathtaking. The MC402 with C2300 sounds so much complete and fuller sound - I am not a sound geek but I know a good sound when I hear one! The speakers here B&W 803S roared with this combination. I have to say that with Classe and Linn earlier I came back happy but this was absolutely thrilling experience..I agree with some of the observations made earlier that B&W speakers are very power hungry and therefore the more the better..

I listen to varied kind of music and I did not find the combo disappointing in anyway.. may be its my novice observation but I found the right amount of detail when I heard Marvin Gaye..giving a very good 3 dimensional feel as the songs are being rendered... and I found equally good bass and mid range listening to Simon garfunkel, Pink Floyd, Scorpions and some other world music i listen to..

I am currently based in paris and the current dilemma is buying something as expensive as this is Euros when I am hoping to go back to US in 18 months timeframe.. add to that the cost of changing the input voltage.. any good suggestions on what to do here..

Hope this helps.. suggestions welcome on the dilemma here and also any other alternatives.

Cheers!