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Hi-End Electronics to drive B&W 804S speakers?

I am currently evaluating elctronics to drive B&W 804S speakers. My dilemma is deciding the best electronics - both how much to scan and what to choose finally that best matches with the speakers here. The options that I have shortlisted are as follows (now again they can be potentially be limited because I am in Paris or the salesman did a good job selling me) -

1. Classe System - Integrated Amp (CAP 2100), CD Player (CDP102)

2. Linn System - Pre Amp (Akurate Kontrol), Amp (Akurate 2200), CD Player (Akuate CD)

Can anyone provide guidance on if these are a good match with the B&W speakers 804S - which one of them goes better with them. Or am I completing missing the picture here? I have looked at a few but these two sounded most impressive. I did not hear Macintosh and some other names that I hear here like Rotel, Marantz. Any help would be appreciated before I pledge my greens in this recessionary environment.

thanks & cheers.
vikaschhariya
mlawitm's avatar
mlawitm
67 posts
 
I currently am driving my 802's with a Pass Labs 350.5 and my 805's and HTM-1 with a Pass Labs X-5 and am very happy with it. I know that most go with Classe or Mac. I have heard Musical Fidelity with B&W and was very impressed.If I were to go with Linn gear I would go very high up on the ladder.
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I would look at Musical Fidelity. They have a high power output which the B&Ws like and sound great.
ggl
6 posts
 
I have a pair of B&W 804S's. Last year, I was looking to upgrade from my Magnum Dynalab MD-208 receiver. I listened critically to the integrated amp offerings from Musical Fidelity, Classe, Krell and McIntosh with my source material and a pair of 804S's. (I listen to a lot of opera and orchestral music, with complex instrumentation and wide dynamic swings, and that's what I used as source material to test equipment.)

I am no expert, and can only report my own impressions and purchasing decision. I was unimpressed with the Musical Fidelity integrated; in no way was it superior to the MD-208. The Krell was quite detailed, and in its way impressive, but sounded like hi-fi, not music. The Classe was, in my view, the worst of the group. I directly compared it with my MD-208, and was astonished at how much ambience and low-level information was missing in comparison. I had never been displeased with the Magnum Dynalab, but I came away even more pleased in comparison; it was much less expensive than the Classe, and a much more satisfactory product.

The McIntosh integrated was more to my liking than the MF, Krell or Classe. But ultimately, I revised my budget upward, and bought a McIntosh MC-402 power amp. I use the Magnum Dynalab as a preamp.

My focus in evaluating equipment was simple -- what sounds to me the most like real, live, unamplified music? By this standard, McIntosh was the clear winner among the solid-state products I auditioned, and going up the line from the integrated to the 400-wpc MC-402 made a substantial difference (the B&W's do benefit from power).

I was most taken with VTL power amps, but decided against them because I live in a warm climate (and they can double as space-heaters), I leave my amp on most of the time, and I dislike fussing with equipment. If you don't have those concerns (Paris is not warm most of the year), you may wish to consider tube equipment.
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