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Upgraded amp for B&W 802d3

Hello, 
I am currently running my B&W 802d3 speakers with a Classe 2300 amp and  have been happy, but was thinking of going to the next level with higher wattage mono amps.    B&W speakers need power to sound their best., and many on this forum state they love McIntosh with B&W’s and speak highly of the MC 611.  Many say the amp has a warm and laid back signature which offsets the hot diamond tweeter.. Others say they prefer the Bryston 7b3 as they are more detailed and have a more “energized” signature as compared to McIntosh. Has anyone with B&W speakers that at one time used a Classe amp moved up to one of these amps?  If so , what improvement did you notice, if any?   I have a McIntosh dealer locally but the nearest Bryson dealer is 3 hours away and can’t compare them side by side.
128x128bwguy
aaopus's avatar
aaopus
6 posts
 
The impedance only goes down to 3. They are not super hard to drive but get an amp with a beefy power supply. For example some 100 watt amps weigh 70 pds, there's a reason, a big power supply, big output transformers or big toroidal transformer. My Luxman 590axii puts out 30 watts pure class A and goes to roughly 95 watts in class AB but my Primaluna EVO 400 has much tighter and deeper bass, it also is heavier than the Luxman which weighs 62 pds. That weight is not just rocks or a bigger heatsink.
bwguy's avatar
bwguy OP
227 posts
 
Thanks everyone for sharing your vast knowledge.  I did not realize class A amps made so much difference.  I will look into all the amps suggested.
vegasears
1,173 posts
 
OP, I went the other way.  I have older B&W 801Series 3 speaker and I was driving them with VTL 300 Deluxe mono blocks.  I wanted to get away from tube amps.  I tried Classe CAM 350 mono block for 3 months. Really nice amps and a good friend loves them.  If you have a friend with High Powered Tube amps, give them a try.  Should take the edge off and with those sub's you have, you should have a warm presentation with deep solid bass.  Then again the MC611 with the C2700 pre would be sweet.
verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio
1,499 posts
 
Check out AVM which is a superb German manufacturer.  They have a neutral to warmer sound signature.  Udo is an ex Burmester guy and that influenced him.  The Ovation 6.3 stereo and mono amps have SS input stage and MOSFET output stage.  The Ovation 8.3s have a tube input stage and the same MOSFET output stage.

the lowest power of these four is 200w and they start at $10K

They are brilliant amps with very revealing speakers like B&W.  You will see them at shows with Magico, Wilson, Kef, etc....

Pass is obvious.  Brilliant gear and you need to figure out how much power you need.  That is really a calculation based on listening habits and desired headroom.  
Burmester, Constellation and Boulder all have nice Stereo amps under $20K that would be brilliant with those speakers.  
Luxman and Accupase would also be good choices.  
If you want tubes, VTL will work but prices on amps well suited to driving those B&Ws will get vicious.  
Full disclosure, I am a US AVM dealer.  I have other brands available to me but am not affiliated with any of the other brands mentioned here.



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