Amplifiers for B&W 803D/802D

Beerdraft... I totally agree. I just returned from listening to the 802D's with the Classe Cam-400 monos. Extraordinary combination. Having heard it, I would now never spend the $$ on 802D's without high end mono amplification and am no longer considering Rotel. Would still love to hear 802D's with the Mcintosh monos but really hard to get that combination since the B&W delaers don't sell Mcintosh. Hard to imagine the Macs could sound any better than the Classe 400 monos. I also noticed a huge difference from Rotel preamp with Classe preamp so I agree that all compnents really need to be top notch. Next up, may try some tube pre-amps with the CAM400's. Thanks for your input.

One other thought.....I've read some comments that people can't hear the difference between the 803D and 802D. I agreed when listening with Rotel 5 x 200 amps...but...when using Classe amps, either 200w/ch or the 400 monos, the differences became much more striking and the 802's blew the 803's away.

I upgraded from the 803 to 802 Nautilus (not the Diamond Series). At that point, the 802 had a much bigger sound stage. I now drive them with the 350 watt MF TriVista Integrated, which is a great match -- head turning. If you are going to buy the Diamonds, you should invest in something better and more powerful than the Rotel. The Classe sound very good, but not head turning IMO. Because of the B&W somewhat bright sound, the MacIntosh might be a great fit, as long as you have at least 300 watts of power.

Heard the BW802D driven by Mcintosh 501... PHENOMENAL combo I thought.

I used to own the 802D. Between Classe and Mac I would pick Classe. That being said, I still felt that the Classe we too polite and smooth sounding. I would consider getting something more dynamic as B&W to me sounds slow. A real good choice at a very reasonable price would be a pair of Parasound Halo JC1 monoblocks. I drove my 802D with the Parasound Halo A21 2 channel amp with good success.