100W, 200W, or 300W?

Thanks all,

Learning a lot here and using your info to do follow-on research. For sure, no decision until acoustic panels arrive and go up (end of the July, early Aug?) then we’ll see where things go from there. Budget isn’t unlimited which would probably rule out some of the more exotic options (Pass labs, for example).

My initial thought is that the B&Ws are on the brighter side of things. While I’m very happy with them, I want to make sure that I don’t choose gear that makes them brighter. I want to do as much as possible with hardware (speakers, amp, treatment) before leaning on DSP for the final round of tweaks and corrections.

@auxinput thanks for that info! Sounds like too much power isn’t an issue and neither would be the bass from your experience - since most of the external subs that I’ve looked at seem to have their own class D power source... so the amp I’m looking for now is just to drive the 2 speakers. And in a room of this size - there is probably only so much power one could take before their ear drums implode.

@ei001h I’ve read very favorable things about the Luxmans. My main concern is how well will they pair with my speakers? B&W is already on the bright side of the things and it seems from reading (and videos) that the Luxmans are also a bit on the bright side - that’s one of my reasons for considering Mac. The Macs with the transformers seems to be a bit more laid back and more forward in the mid range which seems to align with a good strategy to handle the speakers. As you own both Luxman and Mac what would be your thoughts on that?

Tubes are an area where I’d like to play around in the future - a few paths for that if I went the Mac route - for example, get a 7200, then later there is the option to run a tube pre into it and bypass the built-in one essentially turning it into a 200 wpc amp. Or with the 302, obviously, you could just get different preamps for it without having to swap out the amp stage. Both options have nice growth paths.

I listen to almost all music (rock, jazz, classical, r&b, pop, rap, electronic, musicals... very little country though), but the bulk of my listening these days is focused on rock, pop, and vocal jazz. Lots of stuff from the 60s-80s right now, although it’s still fun to spin up some NiN from the 90s - forget his stuff after that! ;-)

@mrklas Curious, what speakers are you running with those?
Thanks

Where did you get the idea that Luxman is bright?  Current B&W are a little in your face, so something like Luxman to temper them a little would be ideal.  L-507uXII or ideally L-509X.

I've listened to B&W speakers a few times and I always come away feeling they are too bright and edgy in the treble region. That said, Luxman would be a good choice for amplification as they tend to be smoooooth.

OP do not let the cult of McIntosh blind you to the hifi universe. There are a ton of amps that are good matches for B&W speakers that are just as good/better for less money than the comparable McIntosh amps... Ayre, Pass and CODA just to name a few manufacturers, even Bryston I would say. The reason to go with McIntosh is resale value, as the cult seems to have deep roots. As a fellow B&W owner (804 D3s), one thing I will agree with is the need for some power, but less measured in watts and more so measured in CURRENT. Another important consideration if you go SS is how much the amp is biased into Class A. Think about a Parasound JC5 or CODA No. 8 at around 100 amperes and the 1st 18 watts into Class A, or a Pass 250.8x with even greater Class A envelope. Just my 2 cents.

Add Vacuum Tube Audio amps from Tubes4hifi to your research list.  Several options that are top notch at a decent price, and great customer service.    http://www.tubes4hifi.com/bob.htm