Question 805D4 + Evo 150

[brightontam]

Hello all! Would like know whether the Cambridge Audio Evo 150 is powerful enough to drive a pair of B&W 805D4, will they sound good together? I was considering Evo 150 + 702S3 combination, but now I am having a second thought.
Any suggestion or comment would be much appreciated.
🙏🏻

 

[podknocker]

Being so powerful, I should think the Evo 150 will be more than able to drive the B&Ws. The speakers are a very easy load and don't drop below 4.6 Ohms. The 805D4 + Evo 150 pairing should sound incredible and give a fair amount of precision and bags of detail. The stands are £1250 however and I do wonder why.

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

Good lord.
my EVO150 is driving Dali Opticon 2 mk2 and sounds sublime, how I would like to hear those speakers in my listening snug !
i am considering a speaker upgrade but the territory and choice as well as the ability to test at home isn’t easy for my intended expenditure, around £2500-£3000 mark……
inwas looking at Dali Rubicon or KEF R3 Meta as options, nothing as esoteric as the 805D4 !

 

[nopiano]

My suggestion would be to ask Richer Sounds to try one at home, or buy it on the understanding you can return it if it doesn’t suit you.

On the face of it, the B&W 800 range demands something more exotic, and several Rotel and Michi models would be a good choice, having long shared the Worthing HQ as importers. But the Evo is a powerful Hypex design which probably belies its modest price - as I found when I bought a Nord NC500DM power amp.

B&W suggest 50-120watt amplifiers, as they claim a quite high 88dB sensitivity, even for the stand mounted 805.

 

[podknocker]

From what I gather, Class D amps are not affected with changes in frequency, or impedance demands, unlike 'conventional' Class AB designs. I'm no expert in Class D and would value any advice, but not circuit board pictures! I'm sure the Evo 150 will have enough 'grip' on these speakers, but again, does a Class D amp have the same damping factor as Class AB amps with the same power? The modules look so small in these new amps and I've always wondered where all that power comes from. The company provides the specs and I'm sure they are correct and should be more than enough. A Watt is a Watt I suppose and the B&Ws don't need many.

 

[abacus]

From what I gather, Class D amps are not affected with changes in frequency, or impedance demands, unlike 'conventional' Class AB designs. I'm no expert in Class D and would value any advice, but not circuit board pictures! I'm sure the Evo 150 will have enough 'grip' on these speakers, but again, does a Class D amp have the same damping factor as Class AB amps with the same power? The modules look so small in these new amps and I've always wondered where all that power comes from. The company provides the specs and I'm sure they are correct and should be more than enough. A Watt is a Watt I suppose and the B&Ws don't need many.

It all depends on how the amp is designed that determines how well it can drive low impedance loads. (Type of Class is irrelevant)

Bill

 

[podknocker]

Which component, or design feature determines an amps damping factor? Does a Class D amp have the same design as a Class AB amp with damping factor, for example. I know back EMF was an issue in the early days, but I can't see that being a problem these days. You don't find massive transformers, or capacitors, inside Class D amps. I will need to do more research!

 

[nopiano]

Which component, or design feature determines an amps damping factor? Does a Class D amp have the same design as a Class AB amp with damping factor, for example. I know back EMF was an issue in the early days, but I can't see that being a problem these days. You don't find massive transformers, or capacitors, inside Class D amps. I will need to do more research!

Damping factor isn’t really relevant with any solid state design these days. Only with tube/valve amps is it potentially an issue, as they typically have output impedances approaching 1 ohm or more. For contrast, a typical solid state amp will have an output impedance below 0.1 ohm.

DF is the ratio between the output impedance of the amp and the nominal speaker impedance, and can result in a varying frequency response if the former is too high. This can be mistaken for the ‘tube magic’ that advocates expect.

Stereophile lab tests show this in amplifier reviews, all available online. Here’s a particularly bad example…

Prima Luna Prologue One integrated amplifier Measurements

Sidebar 2: Measurements I ran the Prologue One at one-third power into 8 ohms from the 8 ohm tap for 60 minutes—not so much to thermally stress it, as I do with solid-state designs, but to make sure it was up to its working temperature. (I didn't notice the pleasant smell, Art!) I performed a...

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