B&W 805 D4: which 5 channel power amp should I go with (home theater): Parasound or Rotel


Hearing Hans Zimmer score play during scenes from The Dark Knight, Inception & Interstellar is life changing. The 805 D4 works great for l/r speaker for movies. Of course I need to add a center channel which would either be the HTM81 D4 or the HTM82 D4 but I’ll save that for another discussion.

Here are the power amps I’m looking at:

Parasound:

- Halo A 51

- Halo A 52+

Rotel:

- RMB-1585

- RMB-1585MKII

 

I’m not able to go into an audio store to test out power amps  so I would like your expert opinion on which might work better with these speakers or if you have any recommendations for 5 channel power amp then I would gladly go take a look at those online.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

candyisdandy

reflexively i would have voted for parasound, which i've always liked, but @woots makes a very valid point about rotel and b&w playing well together because they're from the same company--synergy is always critical--so i vote for rotel.

I have B&W 804s.  They have a thirst for power.  I have an Anthem MCA 325 feeding them 225 wpc.  The sing so sweetly, especially when they're played loud.  I used to have a Rotel 1095 (200 wpc).  I thought it was great.  When I went to my local AV guy when it died after 20 years, he recommended an Anthem.  So now I have the 325 for R/C/L, and the MRX 540 acting as a pre amp and sending 110 wpc to my rear speakers.  Throw in ARC Genesis for room correction, and a REL S/510 sub and everything sounds fantastic.  Music, TV, and movies.  I listen to music mostly:  sacds, cds, blu rays, and streaming.

@jaycee12  makes a good point. We are buying parts and service as well as finished product - we are investing in trust as well as (this week's) function.

Mcintosh five channel amplifier would be perfect. I got one and it's plenty of power