B&W Matrix 801 Series II

CT0517, I never do anything the same way twice. I also listen to a large variety of music which is constantly changing. I listen while I work in the studio moving around to different areas of the room. I listen loud, I listen not so loud. There is no average with me. I go through periods where I listen a lot and periods where I don't. I never warm up my equipment. I walk in,flip a switch, listen for who knows how long, shut everything off then leave. There is no usual with me. I usually have 3 different stereos set up at the same time.

Frogman, I said this particular Parasound is not as good as the MAC. This Parasound is around $2000 new in stereo ( mine is the three channel) while the MC275 is close to $5000 new. I don't think that is comparing apples to apples. In general I lean towards tubes but with these low sensitive speakers I am also considering SS. I may start a thread on the amp forum and see what the guys who frequent there suggest. I need a good match for the B&Ws and I am not sure what that is. Hopefully it will become clear eventually.

Dave, I like what I have read about the Pass amps and i like the way they look. They are darned expensive, though. If I go SS I will be looking at the Pass amps. I will call the guy Ct0517 suggested and talk to him first.

Hi Wemfan

Due to your large room and the following comments.

I never do anything the same way twice. I also listen to a large variety of music which is constantly changing. I listen while I work in the studio moving around to different areas of the room. I listen loud, I listen not so loud. There is no average with me. I go through periods where I listen a lot and periods where I don't. I never warm up my equipment.

I have found that with both tubes and SS a warm up helps. My tube pre-amp absolutely needs minimum one hour warm up. Says so right in the manual too.

Don't hold back tell me what you think I should do.

Acquire a High Pass BAF as it will free "whatever" amp you get from subsonic frequencies. Eliminate woofer pumping. This will lower distortion and make the window of music clearer. It will also boost the lows as designed and give you tonal balance. This is more noticeable with SS I have found.

I need a good match for the B&Ws and I am not sure what that is.

I listen while I work in the studio moving around to different areas of the room. I listen loud

Lets first understand I have made my 801 s3 that I have owned for going on 20 years soon work really great with tubes (PP and special OTL) but not in a room your size; and SS in both smaller and larger rooms.
For a plug and play approach I am going back to recommending an already recapped Krell amp/s and this is the reason to cut to the chase.
Its a fact. - that the older Krell stuff has synergy with the Matrix 800 Series Line.
So much so that they - KRELL - produced their own High Pass BAF for the Matrix line as discussed here.
They actually also produced a Krell version of crossovers to run with the four separate cross over drivers on the 800 matrix as well.
This holds a lot of weight for me.
They understood how the speakers work and were meant to be run.
So they are ONE option.

Lets finish with an analogy.

Lets imagine you work for a boss that loves his wine, a serious wine connoisseur.
He has invited you to his house for a wine tasting party, and asked that you bring a favorite bottle of wine.
Now lets assume you do have the occasional glass of wine; but you are a beer drinker yourself.
So your knowledge of wines is limited leaving you feeling a little unsure.
You find out from a co-worker that your boss really loves his red wine;
but also learn that his lovely wife prefers white wine.
What do you bring over ?

Easy - You bring over a bottle of red and a bottle of white.

Where am I going with this? Well you said earlier.

How about the $10000-$12000 range.

So another consideration with a $10k budget. A $5000 (ss ) amp now and another $5000 (tube) amp later.

Remember to keep this fun, hope this helps and enjoy the journey.
The Krell 600 will make your socks roll up and down in your studio - no matter where you are located in it.
Whatever amp you choose it needs to become the alpha over the woofers for best sonics in a room that large.
It needs to have total control - this means it needs to stay in cruise mode for its capabilities on the peaks.
Not approaching limits.

Ok cool, Wemfan, you're on the right path.

Very good post, Ct0517. You have me again thinking about those local Krell 350mcx monos. I can bring them home for a test drive and I will look up the Krell 600 as soon as I finish this post. What tube pre do you suggest for the Krell amps?

I will acquire the BAF filter as soon as I can locate one. Thanks for stressing the importance of it.

I will keep it fun and I am enjoying learning something about audio. I have acquired several new pieces lately and I am enjoying it all. Adding the two Mac pieces increased the quality of my system dramatically. I am taking some good steps forward and enjoying every minute of it. I really do appreciate everyones input. It is a bit hard for someone as ignorant about audio equipment as i am but I am getting better. It is starting to sort out for me. I am getting familiar with some of the gear out there. Now, to look up that Krell 600...

Wemfan, I think you missed my point. Your Parasound, based on the info I have read, is $3000 and is generally considered a solid performer. If I wasn't clear: my point was simply that if you compare your Mac to what the best tube amps have to offer, you might find that it is probably about as far from that as what your Parasound offers relative to the best solid state amps; so, much of the difference that you are hearing is the intrinsic differences in sound between the two technologies. As someone who considers himself a "tube guy", you may want to focus on what exactly that means to you. More importantly, and especially for someone who admits to "not knowing much" about this stuff, it's important to remember that price is not necessarily the best determinant of ultimate quality. To my way of thinking, if you prefer the sound of tubes, trying a tube amp with adequate power is the next logical step.

Which brings me to the subject of money. You have jumped to considering amps in the $10-12,000 range!! In all lack of shyness, my advise at this point is to take a deep breath and slow things down. Building a truly satisfying system, as has been suggested many times so far, is about balance and synergy (of various sorts). Ultimately, all the well-meaning advise that we can offer you cannot replace the homework that all experienced audiophiles have done by way of trying different gear and forming one's own sense of what "synergy" means in the context of your own sonic priorities. Good luck.