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August 8, 2019 - 10:21am
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Amp Options for B&W 803 D3 Speakers?
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I have been playing around with audio systems for over 50 years, and The amplifier is certainly a key component in the sound.
Many years ago (around 1980) I purchased a Yamaha Amp for around $1000, and it sounded crappy. A guy at a store challenged me to try a NAD 3020 amp, which was only $200. The NAD sounded great with my new speakers (which were pretty good), where the Yamaha sounded just awful, even though it was rated for 4 times as much power.
My old amp, by the way, was a Harman-kardon A500 tube integrated amp, and it was OK but no where near as good-sounding as the NAD (and a bit low on power).
Anyway, I have moved on and have a great $25K system with Vandersteen Treo speakers (wonderful), and an Audio Research tube preamp and Musical Fidelity solid-state power amp; sound to die for!
One of the superb values in a great-sounding integrated amp right now is the Musical Fidelity M6si, which is only $2999. I say "only", because IMO it sounds as good as several fine integrated amps that cost 2 to 3 times as much. It has power to drive any speakers, and the sound quality is excellent. I have recommended it to 3 people recently, and every one of them was astounded at how good it sounds and thanked me profusely.
Get one of these and I guarantee you will love it. My current preamp and amp sell for around $10,000, and sound wonderful, but the M6 comes very close. I could live happily with the M6 if one of my current units went out.
Another excellent one is the Krell 300i which has similarly high power, features, and superb sound. I don't know the current price but I suspect it is around $5K-$7K.
I have my 803d3 driven by a Mc Intosh MAC 6700 receiver with Kimber Kable VS12 cables biwired. Im running the 803's with a pair of DB1 subs that I had for my previous 805s. I can honestly say that this is the best system I have heard in my life bar none for any price. Trust me I heard a lot of high end audio in my 4 decades of buying and auditioning audio equipment. The 803s are simply spectacularly revealing speakers, the addition of the subs add an amount of deep clean "slapping" base that is incredible. A perfect blend of power and finese. The Mc's 200 watts (matched at 4 ohms) provide incredibly clean sound up to ear splitting levels. Some have criticized previous BWs as too polite to be good rockers, boy are they in for a surprise, my system can play AC/DC like a champ at concert levels! With a receiver no less!