2. amps-preamps
  3. 1233703168

What amp for B&W 804?

I presently have Mcintosh MC7270 with a Prima Luna Prologue 3 pre amp. I traded my prima luna amp for the Mac thinking I was taking a step up. Not so. My present system sounds strident and thin in the mid range. It doesn't have the rich sonics that i expected. I have been told by an audiophile (I'm a amateur) that the Mac is not the amp for the B&W's. My question: What amp does fit the B&W's? Say in a price range of $3 to $4 thousand. I am not anxious to spend money, but I sorely want a stereo system that is a plessute to listen to. The Prima was good but not great. Jnorth
jacknorth1178
musicnoise
377 posts
 
Moving from the mac in the direction of classe or bryston will exacerbate those effects that you found unappealing when you moved from the prima luna. If you liked the prima luna sound, move back or move to any tube preamp that is touted as being warm. What you are missing is the type of harmonics added by the tube distortion.
jacknorth1178 OP
13 posts
 
Thanks fellows. Would I go wrong with a Bel Canto or a Passe? Appreciate your redsponse. J North1178
rhljazz
1,253 posts
 
Go back to a tube amp but with more power. VAC, VTL, Cary, and Quicksilver amps are available with 100+ watts used in your price range. Solid state will always be thin and dry sounding with N804.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
The Bel Canto R500 Mk.2 -- being slightly on the warmer side of neutral -- is the only reasonably priced class D amp that I would suggest for driving the B&W 804s. As these speakers appear to be on the leaner side of neutral, there is the danger that slightly lean sounding class D amps like the JRDG 201 may exacerbate the situation. In the regular SS domain, I suspect that some of the smaller Pass XA or Aleph models may also work very nicely with the 804s. In the tube amp domain you may try to look at classic amp designs that fit in the warmer side of neutral.

Have you consider that the issue may be with wiring instead of electronics? What power cords, interconnects, and speaker wires are you using?

Guido
bar81
791 posts
 
I enjoyed the Ayre V-3 (no longer in production so you would have to buy used) with the B&W N804 and the Ayre AX-7e integrated with the B&W 804S in setups I've owned. Either of those (the AX-7e can be used purely as an amp) or a used V-5xe would be a good fit.
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