Amp pairing for B&W 606 S2

[Joe Layton]

Hi all,

Looking for a bit of advice, I recently managed to pick up a pair of 606 s2's through a friend for a great price. I am in the process of researching Amp's to go with these. So far the Cambridge Audio AXR-85/100 or the Rotel A11 tribute seem to be coming out on top. Does anyone have any other suggestions at this kind of price point?

Does anyone have experience using the A11 tributes with these speakers? Is the 50wpc underpowered for driving these? I've heard that Rotel and B&W pair very well but am slightly concerned by the 50wpc. Would the 85wpc offered by the AXR-85 be a better option?

Cheers

 

[manicm]

The Rotel's power is fine, don't worry about that, I don't think it's a difficult speaker to drive.

To set you on the right path do not pair it with a brightish amp.

One well known YouTube reviewer cautioned specifically against pairing this speaker with the A11 Tribute, but as always audition if you can.

B&W themselves stated they tested this speaker with many amps around 30w.

 

[gasolin]

No it's not, it's gonna be a bright and fatiguing sound

 

[SteveH72]

Neither. I’d recommend a Rega Brio. Lovely match with 606 S2 speakers. They’re terrific speakers, by the way.

 

[gasolin]

I could imagine a tube amp would sound good with B&W

 

[manicm]

No it's not, it's gonna be a bright and fatiguing sound

The Cambridge will be a good match.

 

[gasolin]

The Cambridge will be a good match.

Not shure, when i had a cambridge CXA60 i thought it was a little bright and thin (bass) but the soundstage,spaciousness was very good (mabye a good match for a pair of kef ls 50 meta thats also has a very good midrange)

 

[manicm]

Not shure, when i had a cambridge CXA60 i thought it was a little bright and thin (bass) but the soundstage,spaciousness was very good (mabye a good match for a pair of kef ls 50 meta thats also has a very good midrange)

The AXR 100

 

[gasolin]

The AXR 100

Often amps as well as speakers have the same sound signature going up or down in model,tier

 

[Joe Layton]

Thanks everyone. Reviews seem to suggest that the AXR100 is a fairly relaxed and warm sounding amp so may be a good match. Does anyone have experience with the audiolab 6000a, could this be a good fit?

 

[rainsoothe]

Thanks everyone. Reviews seem to suggest that the AXR100 is a fairly relaxed and warm sounding amp so may be a good match. Does anyone have experience with the audiolab 6000a, could this be a good fit?

Only your ears can tell. However, I'd also drop another vote for the Rega Brio, and plan for a blue sound node as a source further down the road.

 

[robdmarsh]

Well I've said this on other threads, and these are just my views (many on here would disagree with them) but I had both the Audiolab 6000a and Rotel a11 Tribute for a short while and didn't like either of them. The Audiolab was analytical and dry sounding and the Rotel just uninspiring with a very weird volume control.

However, I've found my audio nirvana with the Denon pma 800ne, a fine old school amp with great build quality and a lovely open even-handed sound, 50 wpc into 8 ohms, 85 into 4 ohms. Because it has a fairly flat sound signature I think it would pair with lots of different speakers. Also, and I think this is important, it's readily available and so you could audition it. Just the silver colour is a bit hard to track down. Go and have a listen.

 

[manicm]

Often amps as well as speakers have the same sound signature going up or down in model,tier

Nope, the AXR is decidedly less bright than the CXA61 or a Audiolab 6000.

 

[manicm]

Well I've said this on other threads, and these are just my views (many on here would disagree with them) but I had both the Audiolab 6000a and Rotel a11 Tribute for a short while and didn't like either of them. The Audiolab was analytical and dry sounding and the Rotel just uninspiring with a very weird volume control.

However, I've found my audio nirvana with the Denon pma 800ne, a fine old school amp with great build quality and a lovely open even-handed sound, 50 wpc into 8 ohms, 85 into 4 ohms. Because it has a fairly flat sound signature I think it would pair with lots of different speakers. Also, and I think this is important, it's readily available and so you could audition it. Just the silver colour is a bit hard to track down. Go and have a listen.

I personally think the 800ne will pair very well with the 606S2.