used amp or amps for B&W 801's in home theater

Overkill??? If you are just looking for home theater and you do not have a designated home theater room per say and this is going to be integrated within your family room..yes this might be overkill IMHO. You could be just as well off with a nice pair of B&W CDM series or the 602 or 603 series bookshelfs on stands with a nice sub for the low end and a matching center channel speaker which is very important in home theater. I was very happy with this type of setup for my movies until I went 2 channel for more of a musical setup.

If you are looking towards the amps for the 801s I would suggest Bel Canto REF500s or McIntosh MC252

home theater dedicated room 25' by 25' all open but use half for pool.

Jiminee crickets...A room that size you will need two subs or at minimum a JL Audio Fathom 13 or SVS PB13 Ultra just to achieve the bass from movies. No speaker can fill a room that size with authority or support of bass management. If going the B&W route I would highly suggest the HTM1 center channel and get a three channel amp to run power to your 801s and the center channel. I suggest the McIntosh MC303 as it will be your power source to run these efficiently.

I was on a tight budget when I bought my used 801f's. I tried some Carver amps and they were pitiful, a transister pocket radio would have been as good. Then I got an Adcom 555 and the sound was amazing. Not extreme high end but it sounded like it was. But DO NOT believe any mfg's claims of "peak" power on an amp, what these speakers need is brute power on a sustained basis.

Baran, I don't understand. You say you're looking for amps for the 801s and using your receiver to drive the center and rear channels, then you say "please no two channel". ?!?

If a stereo or pair of mono blocs may be considered, the best "bang for the buck" combination I've heard with the 801s (in an audio system, not home theater) was a pair of Eagle EKSC 400 mono blocs. They fully controlled the big B&W woofers and presented an overall musical and detailed sound stage. Should be available for well under $2K.