Amp for B&W 683

[afj]

A friend of mine has taken the plunge on a pair of b&w 683. he's looking for an amp to suit it. listens to classic rock and pop mainly. what amps pair well with this brand. i know the rotel does - what other amps can we look at. his budget is US$1000 (he'll be buying the amp in america). prefers something on the neutral side. once he narrows down he can audition

 

[deepakgang]

Ask him to include Marantz 8003, NAD 356BEE and Roksan Kandy k2 into the audition list. These speakers would need nice power to drive them to the full potential.

 

[afj]

thanks. will ask him to check the marantz out. i dont believe the nad pairs too well with the b&w's and the roksan kandy will be out of his budget. anyone with comments on the cambridge for this set up?

 

[ylesmana]

See, he should know the power output of the speaker. Please note carefully, Bower Wilkins (B&W) speaker is power hungry so in order to drive the speaker you need such a big power output for your amp. I am using B&W DME 600 S3 and to drive the speaker I am using pre amp + power from T+A Elektroakustik which is 170 W single channel. I am not too sure with 1000 USD he can get such a good amp. See playing high end audio is not like to grab this and that but need to learn all the spec and sound quality that you are looking for. Cables also very crucial and you cannot just buy any cable and plug in. Silver and copper cables are very different and they have different purpose. Hope does help. So you need basic equipment for high end are good preamp, power amp, power conditioning, cables (speaker, power cord), wall sockets, vibration damping, catridge (if you are analog audiophile), tonearm, hi fi racks, lift angle, voltage stabilizer if your current is up and down and finally proper setting.

 

[afj]

he's planning to buy the rotel rb 1552 Home Theater System Surround Sound Amplifier DVD Player - Rotel PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS (120w) or the rotel rb 1562 Home Theater System Surround Sound Amplifier DVD Player - Rotel PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS (100w). will the 1562 be sufficient or do you suggest the 1552

 

[ylesmana]

Dear Mr AFJ,

I will definitely not recommend such system to drive B&W Speaker. None of them will work. AV Receiver for home theater system is another different issue. First, what is his purpose buying all these equipments? To listen a music or to set up a home theater? For music use pre amp + power a very good one to drive the speaker, you may want to consider Krell, T+A Elektroakustik, Cyrus, McIntosh, Chord Electronics, Conrad Johnson, Mark Levinson, Audio Note, AMR, YBA, and many more. For home theater use, you may consider Denon as they are pioneer in home theater systems. If budget is concern please do not be in rush, playing all these high end audio component is not very cheap...why you are in hurry but satisfaction only for a short time. Just for your information, I spent more than 40,000 USD to set up my system properly and wait for quite long but the satisfaction that I have is very pleasant. Am not going to buy these equipments in hurry..no points. Setting up high end audio systems you need

01. Pre Amplifier (Tube or Solid State, it depends on sound you want to get)
02. Power Amplifier
03. Power Conditioner
04. Voltage Stabilizer (is a must since India voltage is up and down, sorry to say this).
05. Speaker cables (Materials determine the sound quality, the good one range from 3000 - 40000 USD per meter)
06. Power cords (Again is play important rule, good one range from 800 - 10000 USD per meter)
07. CD Player (using DAC or CD Transport definitely improve sound quality but it is very pricy, you may want to consider Naim CD Player and it costs around 13,000 Pounds)
08. Vibration damping for your systems,
09. A good Hi Fi rack.

so not just grab this and that.... it is not that simple.

Regards,
Yudistira.

 

[afj]

hi yudistira
there's been a mix up i believe. though the link in the page states ht surround sound amp if you go to the link it is infact a stereo power amplifier. one link is 2x100w and the other is 2x120w. as for the pre amp he will buy a rotel too. a cdp will come in later - for now he will use his dvd player. cables etc will be of good quality.

 

[ylesmana]

Dear Mr AFJ,

Hi, sorry for the confusion...yes I have seen the link. Normally for B&W Speaker you need the power double or at least almost double in order to get the sound. B&W is very power hungry. B&W 683 is huge speaker and even though from the website they recommend to use amplifier range 25-200 Watt, I still not very sure...to be safe, you may want to consider Cambridge Audio 840 power amplifier. I had tested to drive B&W Nautilus speaker using Krell 250 watt mono block and still the sound is not coming out. Finally I drove with 500 watt mono block power amplifier and sound is there.. At home I use B&W DM 600 S3 100 Watts/8 ohm and I run it with T+A A 1560 power amplifier 170 watt single channel and sound is there. If I can suggest, why dont you go to the showroom and ask for the demo so that you can hear it on your own. If you just want to listen or cannot make a difference in sound or as long as there is a sound am happy with it then buying all these equipments are not a big problems. My suggestion is go to the authorized dealer of B&W speaker and Rotel, ask them to put on demo and you listen carefully. Cause everytime I am going to buy audio equipment I listen them carefully in showroom, even for cables. Do not trust on review because they are always says stunning, excellent, good, etc....

 

[abhi_jollyguy]

I think and feel Rotel RB-1552 should do. It has 2 x 120 watts into 8 ohms and I think enough to drive B&W 683 up to good level.

You can audition it and also audition it's big brother Rotel RB-1582

I feel that Rotel RC-1550 is a decent, excellent match with RB-1552.

 

[spirovious]

Rotel amps are mostly paired with B&W.They are high current amps & can drive low sensitive B&W.

 

[afj]

thanks guys. he went ahead and bought the rb 1562 (100w).