More Power or use subwoofer to boost bass for music

I use matched amps and pre-amps for my older 803's and subs. This gives me control of the bass without creating out of phase signals. It also allows me to tailor the bass for the recording.  Many old albums really open up when the bass is not relegated to a recording mixed for what a 1960's 35 wpc amp could produce, or a modern AVR receiver.  Powered subs with frequency roll off controls, as well as tone controls, alter the phasing, thus negating B&W's primary design philosophy.  They are also hard to adjust for each recording. 

Also, you might want to use your amp for the subs, then get a less powerful amp for the 804's, if price is a consideration.  100 watts will easily power them, as long as you are using subs.

danvignau:”I use matched amps and pre-amps for my older 803's and subs. This gives me control of the bass without creating out of phase signals. It also allows me to tailor the bass for the recording. “

     If your tailoring the bass for individual recordings, that indicates to me the subs are are either not positioned properly in relation to the listen seat or the primary controls on one or more subs, volume, crossover frequency and phase, are not properly set.  Setting these 3 primary controls properly on each sub is very important for seamlessly integrating subs into a system and room, just as important as properly locating each sub in the room in relation to the listening seat.       It’s also usually the most time consuming step When incorporating subs into the system and room.  This is due to the reality that a good sampling of musical tracks, of different genres and containing significant bass content, need to be played to determine the optimum settings on these controls that provides the most natural sounding bass.
     If adequate time is not devoted to thoroughly completing this step and arriving at the optimum balance of bass settings for all subs that sounds very good on all music genres listened to, individuals may feel a need to adjust these settings prior to or even during playback.  Who would willingly accept doing that?

Tim 

I’m using a pass labs xa25 to drive my 804 d3s. No problems with bass. The bass is controlled, deep and detailed. The xa25 loves pushing those loads being stable down to 1 ohm along with a damping factor of 500. Positioning from the front wall was key for me also. The bass power would vary by each 1/4". It took time to dial it in. Literally, 3/4" was the difference between too much bass that began to smear the mid-range slightly to having the perfect bass for me. My speakers are toed in, so measuring from the inside corner of each speaker to the wall is 31". (30.25" was too much bass, 31.50" was too little bass). Measuring from the tweeter to the wall perpendicularly is 33.5". Measuring in parallel from the tweeter to the wall is 35". I do use bass traps on the 4 corners of my front wall. I have no need for rear bass traps because my back wall is 35’ away. I also use isoacoustic Gaia ii for the 804s which tightens up bass. This is my experience with the 804s.

Hello gweedoargus,

     Your description makes perfect sense to me. The B&W 804 d3s are no doubt a very high quality pair of speakers with impressive bass extension down to 20 Hz +/- 3 db. However, I still think you’d be pleasantly surprised by how much a good quality pair of subs would improve the performance and enjoyment of your system.
     The main reason I’m confident in this belief is only due to the fact that the 804s share a problem common to all full range tower speakers; the bass, midrange and treble drivers are all contained in the same cabinet. The main issue with this configuration is that it’s highly unlikely that the same stacked vertical footprint position of the drivers in the room, and in relation to the listening position, is optimum for midrange, treble and stereo imaging performance AND optimum bass performance.
     It’s much more likely that the position of the midrange and treble drivers in the room, and in relation to the listening position, for optimum midrange, treble and stereo imaging performance are at an entirely unique. precise and separate stacked vertical footprint location than the position of the bass drivers would be in the room for optimum bass performance.
     So, I’m suggesting you may want to try adding at least a pair of good quality subs to your room and system sometime if you’re feeling curious and adventurous. I think you’ll be surprised at what a significant upgrade this would make to your system for both music and HT.

Tim