amp and stand for my 805d

[stpierre76]

Hi all,

If any of you recognise my name, i ve been posting a few time(actually many) regarding gear for my hifi set up.I would like to thank everybody for their input and appologise if seemed going around in cir le.

The reason i bought the B&W 805d are many.I needed a high end speaker, that looked great(wifes requirements), able to be positioned closed to walls as to reduce wasted space in the room so it was either front ported or sealed, able to play loud a fill a room of 25m2 easily and have a rather large soundstage.The B&W 805d did fill all those requirements.

Now that i ve got them they are in the ht room being broken in, playing music for around 12hrs a day.I refuse to set them up and enjoy until fully broken in..

As for amp, m still undecided.What would complement the 805d.I know it s a personal thing, but some ideas of where to start woukld be great.Something that is either neutral or warm, but still provide a large sound stage(holographic..).I saw in a article that the leema tucana would be great, but it s 3500.I can afford that but it be streching.However, if that good i guess i may just have to bit the bullet.

The other topic is the stands.gosh they are ugly.I am hoping that i don t have to use them ,but get a third party brand.I love the look some of the timber stands that are highly reviewed by whf(forgot names..).However, if you recknon that the original stands are thee for a reason and the sound will be ten times better than aftermarket stands, once again i ll bite the bullet(same as the amp..

all inputs appreciated

thanks

john

 

[altruistic.lemon]

Maybe Unison Research or Electrocompaniet would be a better choice. Neutral, detailed, dynamic but never too cold.

 

[CnoEvil]

Maybe Unison Research or Electrocompaniet would be a better choice. Neutral, detailed, dynamic but never too cold.

Agreed. I would also add MF M6i and possibly Sugden Mastersound IA-4 or Pathos Logos.

Remember, Unison Research does very nice hybrid amps.

 

[Big Chris]

There's a brand new Roksan Caspian M1 pre with a pair of M1 monoblocks on eBay at the moment for a 'buy it now' of £2k. - item number 130571595638.

You could always add another pair of monoblocks in future and bi-amp the B&Ws.:?

 

[Anonymous]

I had the partington dreadnought ultimas with the 805S, it is sleek and fitted very well. There is a used one for sale, search for "partington dreadnought ultima condition" in google.

As for amps, I highly recommend class A amps, particularly the Sugden Masterclass series - I think there's still one on sale for about £2400 in the used section of AudioEmotion's website.

 

[stpierre76]

Hi all,
thanks for all your advice and inputs.I did indeed consider the ec5mk as an amp.I was also may be considering the atc integrated, but unfortunately i can t audiotion it so it be a bit of a bet..Anybody experienced the atc?
as for mf, i will definately try it.what can i expect from it?Sugden master class may be a bit too much for me..Like i said, i could stretch to 3500, but that s the max.I still got to buy the dac too.so if i went for an expensive amp, i d have less cash for dac.
I just thought of the moon i3.3 or the bryston.What do you reckon tghose would fair?
sincerely yours
john

 

[Anonymous]

You still might be able to come just over budget with a second hand PS Audio PWD (usually some selling on ebay or the wam going for £1400 ish) which is a great dac. With a smaller budget, you may get a second hand Naim dac or Bryston dac for £1k. Or there's the m2tech Young dac new at £700ish.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi all, thanks for all your advice and inputs.I did indeed consider the ec5mk as an amp.I was also may be considering the atc integrated, but unfortunately i can t audiotion it so it be a bit of a bet..Anybody experienced the atc? as for mf, i will definately try it.what can i expect from it?Sugden master class may be a bit too much for me..Like i said, i could stretch to 3500, but that s the max.I still got to buy the dac too.so if i went for an expensive amp, i d have less cash for dac. I just thought of the moon i3.3 or the bryston.What do you reckon tghose would fair? sincerely yours john

Hi John

I've got clients happily using ATC's SIA2-150 MK2 and CA2/P1 amplification with B&W speakers (including 800 series) 🙂 Alternatively the Plinius Hautonga amplifier is also worth serious consideration (as it may be available around your budget in Australia)

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[stpierre76]

Hi guys,

thanks for your reply.I did indeed checked out the atc range on their website and i beleive that it runs in class a mode for 1/3 of its power.So does that mean that in runs in class a until 50w.That means it s more powerful tyhan an sugden...can anybody clarify that.

alternatively i may be looking at the icon range such as the integrated and cd as it s also got digital input and be used as a dac.Not sure if a tube amp be a good match for the B&W 805d.May be a tad too warm..

john

 

[CnoEvil]

Hi John

IMO. I have found, that the more an AB amp is biased in Class A, the better it sounds; though saying that, I have yet to hear one that sounds like a full Class A.

I don't see how the ATC can give 50W in Class A, as the MF AMS50 (50W) weighs in at 60 kg and is only a power amp (even my AMS 35i at 35W weighs 28.3 kg).....the ATC weighs 20kg. Generally, I think, for every Watt an amp has in Class A, it will give off 1 deg celcius in heat.

The ATC is a more powerful amp than the Sugden (because of being AB), but will sound quite different.

Whether a tube amp will drive your speakers (sensitivity 88db and dropping to 4.7 Ohms), may be trial and error; but generally they need very sensitive speakers. In the case of Icon Audio, you will probably need to get one that can switch between Ultralinear or Triode eg. Stereo 60 Mk111 (UL 60W / Triode 35W).

Now a days, tube amps generally are vibrant and musical, with great transient response.....but you will have to taste for yourself. FWIW. If you get one that can drive your speakers, it will be a great match.

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

I don't see how the ATC can give 50W in Class A, as the MF AMS50 (50W) weighs in at 60 kg and is only a power amp (even my AMS 35i at 35W weighs 28.3 kg).....the ATC weighs 20kg.

seconded. I can't understand how they can claim that their amps are biased to output first 50W of power in class A. class A requires constant current draw from your mains so power supply section is considerable. a 50W class a would be roughly 40kg heavy.

class A has some really nice properties that other types of amp builds don't have.

1. proper power supply. class A/B amps are usually cheapper and all cheap amps are either A/B or D these days because power supply is the first place where corporations are likely to cut costs. as I just mentioned class A operation requires constant and at maximum level current draw so the power supply is capable of delivering current in an efficient manner. and reaching rated power output is understood. that's why it's often a case when a 30Wpc class A amp sounds much more quicker and prominent than poorly designed some 80Wpc class A/B amps.

however, that comes at a price. a 30 - 40 W class A would draw some 200 - 300 W per hour. slass A/B rated the same output power would easily do with 50W draw per hour. so if you're not a dedicated music lover i'd suggest class A/B as it's no point to pay premium on elecrticity bills IMO.

2. there's no crossoever distortion in class A. I think that's the main reason why class A tends to sound sweeter and not rough in treble.

Whether a tube amp will drive your speakers (sensitivity 88db and dropping to 4.7 Ohms), may be trial and error; but generally they need very sensitive speakers.

if this tech data is correct and not maketingly "glossed over" I think most decent tube amps of about 30W - 40W per channnel into 8 Ohms would have no problems driving those speakers. 4.7 Ohms drip is considered rather mild. BTW every tube amp is class A (with exception of Push-Pull amps as its class B).

it all really depends on how far you want to have your speakers from your "listening position" (I hate this phrase) and how loud you'd normally listen to music. just to give you rough idea on loudness levels:

20db is ambient noise, i.e. no noise.

60db is normal speach level.

75db is woter running fast into a bathtub.

85db you have to raise voice significantly to have a normal coversation.

exposure to 85db of noise or more is causing irreversible hearing damage. it all depends on noise level and exposure time (the loder the noise the less time is required to incur damage).

now, just to give you a rough idea how much power you really need for normal listening levels.

to get 75db (anechoic) plus allowing for 15db headroom for highly dynamic music at 3m listening from 88db sensitive speakers you need only 14Wpc amp. at 5m power requirement rises to only 40Wpc. you should also note that in room reinforcement gives you another 3-5 db. and that's enough to listen to higly dynamic classical music at quite realistic volume levels (classical music and all acoustic music for that matter is IMO the most difficult to make sound right through hi-fi). you can check this power calculator out and experiment with your demended values.

http://www.crownaudio.com/apps_htm/designtools/elect-pwr-req.htm

the fact is that at reasonable volume levels you only listen to 1W! why is everbody thinking that you need gazilions of Watts of power to drive a pair of speakers is beyond me...

BTW, don't know if you're interested but I've seen this Graaf GM50 in black finish highly discounted here:

http://www.hifi-forsale.co.uk/moreinfo.php?prod_title=graaf_gm50_b&p=valve_amplifier&prod_id=127&offset=36

I'd considered it myself as an upgrade over my Classic One (in which case I wouldn't be babling about it now 😉 ) if I already wasn't sold on Inpol2 from Pathos... 😛ray:

good luck with your search!