Home Theater Receiver recommendations for B&W 803S?

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.

The thing about HT processors is that they lose their value really fast. The 8802A is selling "used" between $1500 and $1800 nowadays. About 6 or 8 months ago it was at the $2000-2200 range.

Good morning!

Yep, so much for the budget! Heh. I felt like another amp/preamp combo unit might be worth spending $2k on....but I already feel like I'm getting way more value by using separates, so that's why I'm cool with spending more. (And, I got really good prices all these pieces of kit!) So...Budget? What budget? ;)

@caphill - You're absolutely right about the amp. It feels like the 803's breathed a sigh of relief, like they could finally be unleashed and have just opened up so much more. I'm so glad you guys talked me into it! ;)

I hooked up the 8802A yesterday and listened to a few tracks on CD. I then swapped in my NHTM2 with the new-to-me HTM1, and we watched the Season 2 finale of West World.

The Marantz seems to be working great - I updated the firmware and have gone through all the settings, except for Audyssey setup.  The seller didn't have the Audyssey microphone, but I picked one up on eBay for $20 and hopefully it'll arrive today.

[Sidenote, for anyone searching: The Audyssey DM-A505Z microphone, which came with my Denon, is NOT interchangeable with the ACM1H or ACM1HB microphones, which the Marantz uses. I confirmed this via email with Audyssey.] 

Initial reactions:

For music, the clarity and instrument separation is definitely there, but I feel like it's lacking on "visceral impact."  I felt like I had to keep turning up the volume, but then I realized my face was scrunched up a little bit, like I was straining to listen.  With the Denon+Rotel combo, I didn't have that feeling - I was just enveloped in the sound (though I played it at pretty high volume too).  The sound stage felt a bit more compressed laterally, with more things coming from the center and not nearly as wide. It felt a bit more recessive front/back as well.  It was a subtle difference, but it's definitely not there yet.  (I was listening in 2-channel stereo mode direct, no sub.)  Perhaps I need to tweak my speaker placement for the Marantz?

@auxinput - you said " I suspect it will be more fuller sounding with more impact as well." I definitely agree with fuller sounding - in a big way...but the impact actually feels lower to me. If feels like the image is a little further away, or a bit recessive somehow. 

I hate to say it, but my immediate reaction was that I wanted to go back to the Denon+Rotel combo!  :/

I wonder if it's also now revealing flaws in my old Panasonic Blu-Ray player, which I was using for the CDs. (I was also transmitting the audio to the preamp via HDMI.)

For West World, it definitely sounded HUGE which was great... and having the HTM1 in the center was awesome -- the blending of the Left/Center/Right made for a much more seamless experience (the HTM2 always felt like it was struggling compared to the 803's). But it was also a bit boomy at times in the mid-ranges; it felt it bit _too_ full. 

My surround speakers (B&W DM301's) are tucked in the upper corners of the room, pointed towards the center of the room -- and our couch is against the back wall. Not ideal, but it's what I've got.  It provides a pretty atmospheric surround, but there was one point last night where the sound of a vehicle approaching felt like it came from directly behind us, and made me do a double-take...I've never heard that before in this room. I'll give credit to the Marantz on that one!

I just realized this morning that it may have been applying the previous owner's Audyssey correction; I'll double-check that later today. Perhaps that will fix the boominess. I might also just do a full factory reset on the Preamp (should've done that first!) and then reconfigure things again...just to be sure there are no other old settings interfering.

In the meantime, I'm curious to know your thoughts on my initial reactions! :)

Wow.  I'm really sorry that you felt like you went backwards in some ways with the Marantz.  When I tested the 8805 in my system, I was using all my very high end power cords and interconnects and everything.  The only thing I did not do was upgrade the fuse in Marantz to a Hi-Fi Tuning silver (which is something I would have totally done).  We only had the Marantz in my system for one afternoon.  When I say "it had good impact", I mean it had good punch in the midbass and midrange impact.  A good amount of punch-you-in-the-chest impact and stuff like snare drums hit with authority.  The high frequencies were definitely rolled off, but it was not that bad.  Your situation could be from stock fuse and power cords and stuff.  It could also be that your using the previous owner's Audessey setup, and I would love to hear if this was the case.  Doing a factory reset is always a recommended thing because you don't know what the existing configuration is doing to your sound.  That being said, I will make comments based on what you're hearing now.
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So, I guess the first question is to whether or not you want to work with the Marantz to try to get it to sound better.  This could be just adding a silver fuse into the Marantz.  But it could also mean you need to upgrade the power cords and possibly the interconnects.  This could mean spending hundreds of dollars on "tweaking your system for the Marantz".  We just won't know until we get there - doing one step at a time.
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When you say you "kept feeling like you had to turn up the volume and had to strain to hear certain things", I think I know what you mean.  If the equipment is too warm/slow sounding, it will cause the upper midrange and highs to become too soft and laid back.  This will prevent the more subtle sounds from cutting through, especially when there is a lot of different sounds going on, and you may not feel you're getting the full impact of sound crispness and clarity and sharpness.
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The first tweak for the Marantz (if you want to try working with it) is to upgrade the fuse.  Do you feel comfortable taking off the top cover of the Marantz?  It's very easy.  The top cover can be removed just by removing the screws that hold it in place.  The fuse or fuses should be on a small board that is very close to the power cord socket.  On these processors, it is usually a small fuse, but you should check.  If the fuse is less than 1" long, then it is the small 5x20 size. If it is longer than 1", then it is the large 6.3x32 size.  Parts Connexion is selling the older Hi-Fi Tuning Silverstar for 60% off - $16 for a small fuse.  They have a couple of the 1.8A left (I recommend getting a 2A fuse if possible).  This silver fuse should improve the clarity and impact a good amount.  If this doesn't get you all the way, we can still upgrade the power cord as well, which will make a difference too.  The goal would be to get as much silver elements into the power supply system as possible.  Please be aware that the silver fuse will require a 7-10 day burn-in before it settles down.

I had originally recommended the Marantz because I am a firm believer in discrete analog stages.  It is pretty amazing that Marantz can deliver a processor that has 14 fully discrete analog output stages for $4k retail!!!  To get an 8 channel discrete processor, you have to look at the Bryston SP3 which retails for $9.8k or Krell S1200U which retailed $12.5k!!
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In all of my testing with different circuits and listening to many different systems, the devices that use op amps can sound good, but they just do not "sing" like a discrete circuit.  However, it could be that you might want to cut your losses with the Marantz and re-sell it.  In that case, I can think of a few options:

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Yamaha CX-A5100.  This will probably get you back closer to the sound of the Denon.  New is $2500, but used are in the $1800-2000 range.  There is actually a used one on audiogon for $1345.  Obviously, no discrete analog stages, but it may likely sound better than your Denon receiver.
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Anthem AVM 60.  This is probably the highest resolution processor in the budget range (before going to the Krell Foundation).  retail $3k.  Used in the $2200 to $2600 range.  There's a "new in box" one on ebay for $2488.
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Or go back to using your Denon receiver as a preamp for now.  You seemed very happy with the sound, but realize that there are some compromises to be had (i.e. there were some things with the Marantz that out-shined the Denon).