B&W Matrix 801 Series II

Ct0517, congrats on your great deal for the other hobby.

Wemfan, congrats on your great deal for the 801's. As I stated previously, some years ago I had 802's S3. At this time, I was working at a B&W dealer, and we always had 801 S3 on display. The premium amp brand was Threshold/Forte that matched extremely well with the B&W. The "E" series Threshold were the last ones designed by Nelson Pass, and are the most desirable. They rarely come up for sale, and sell quickly unless priced too high. The Forte was a less expensive line by Threshold but still had the same sound character. I have no affiliation with this seller, but IMHO this amp would sound extremely well on your 801's, with the power of the Parasound, but character more like the MC275.

Forte Model 3

The amp has also been serviced about 2 years ago by Jon Soderberg, who worked with Nelson Pass at Threshold. The amp can definitely hold it's own with amps costing much more.

As far as more expensive, a lot of people seem to like McIntosh SS or Pass Labs with B&W.

****The speakers are rated 50 - 600 wpc at 8 ohms. From my experiences
what actual wattages are needed from a capable amp will be based on size
of space, how close you will be sitting to them, the kind of music genre you
will be playing, and how loud. **** - Ct0517

****I recently acquired a Parasound Halo A31 (250 watts per channel) for a
system in a bedroom and hadn't heard it yet. The difference between this
amp and the MAC with the B&Ws was really huge. Of course, the
Parasound added a bunch of really good tight bass slam as you would
expect but the little MAC was no slouch in the bass department either.
What really surprised me was playing Patti Griffin in a very laid back
acoustic track was how much more definition and clarity the MAC had over
the Parasound through the B&Ws. The Parasound was also a little muddy.
It is a $3k amp and really not up to what I would want to run through these
speakers. I was surprised comparing these amps through the 801s. You
could go out and have a cup of coffee and come back and you would have
no trouble telling which amp was playing. They sounded that different from
each other. **** - Wemfan

Personally, I would not get hung up on the wattage only; within reason, of
course, since you do seem to like your music fairly loud. IMO, the above
comments demonstrate that to a significant extent that is not what will
guarantee satisfying results. You seem to have a clear sense of what
qualities you are looking for in the sound of the system and you mentioned
that you are a musician. Being a musician you are probably very sensitive
to things like subtle instrumental texture, micro dynamics and the kind of
tonal fullness that is not always heard from many audiophile rigs; this is not
meant to slight audiophiles, but is simply about priorities.

Some really good amplifier suggestions so far. But, IMO, short of the very
best, solid state amplification does not excel in the areas mentioned to the
degree that decent tube amps do. But, given your listening habits and your
speakers I think you will need some significant wattage. One amplifier that
comes to mind for your 801's that comes up used fairly regularly and for a
very reasonable price is the VTL 300 mono; lots of power and good
bass control with the classic tube attributes. When you say that the Mac
"simply doesn't have enough horsepower" is it a borderline case
or not even in the ballpark? You describe bass and drums as incredible
with the Mac; you seem to really like the sound. Have you considered
adding a second Mc275 in a vertical biamp arrangement? Might be
enough power and guarantees the sound you already like and probably a
refinement of that. Good luck.

I agree that a second MC275 might be an option, however, it should be identical to the one you currently have. Looking at the Berners McIntosh Site, you can see that there are 9 different versions of the MC275. While some may sound the same, it is well known that some do sound different, especially the original. Also, it would be best to use them configured as mono, and not vertical bi-amp. With the woofer being the most demanding for power, it makes better sense to have 150w on the entire speaker, than to have 75w on the woofer and another 75w on the midrange/tweeter separately. When bi-amping, it is generally recommended to use an active external crossover bypassing internal crossover, which complicates things even more.

IMHO, since you have just acquired the speakers, it would be best to keep things simple for a while in trying to achieve some system synergy. I agree with others that crossover mods should be on the back burner.

Did you ever say what preamp you are using with the MC275?

Excellent points. I was not aware that the MC275 can be easily configured for use in mono (nor that there are nine different versions-yikes!). That makes a second Mac an even more attractive option IMO.

Tls49 posted: "IMHO, since you have just acquired the speakers, it would be best to keep things simple for a while in trying to achieve some system synergy. I agree with others that crossover mods should be on the back burner."

Great advise. Congratulations and enjoy!