Amplifier for B&W 705 S2

[gasolin]

Blacksabbath did you sell your electrocompaniet cdplayer ;-)

According to Blacksabbath electrocompaniet reliability and relcustomer service isn't that great

 

[Electro]

Blacksabbath did you sell your electrocompaniet cdplayer ;-)

According to Blacksabbath electrocompaniet reliability and relcustomer service isn't that great

Blacksabbath was talking about Abrahamsen equipment not Electrocompaniet,

They are two completely different companies albeit with the same roots. ( Per Abrahamsen )

Abrahamsen audio is a very small independant manufacturer in Norway / Sweden .

Electrocompaniet is part of a very large group of companies in Norway under the banner of Westcontrol AS.

http://www.westcontrol.com/en/frontpage/

 

[spiny norman]

I can buy the Classe new for a very good price.

Reading the latest industry rumors, looks like there might some more very good prices on Classé kit soon

www.strata-gee.com/classe-closing-october-6th/

 

[CnoEvil]

I can buy the Classe new for a very good price.

Reading the latest industry rumors, looks like there might some more very good prices on Classé kit soon

www.strata-gee.com/classe-closing-october-6th/

That's a shame.

 

[ErwinC]

That means i will not be testing the Classe integrated.

 

[CnoEvil]

That means i will not be testing the Classe integrated.

I don't blame you....unless you can get it for a song.

 

[TomC]

I would give a chance to Marantz PM 14S1 or even PM8005.

For me Marantz and B&W goes together better than Rotel and B&W...

 

[ErwinC]

I would give a chance to Marantz PM 14S1 or even PM8005.

For me Marantz and B&W goes together better than Rotel and B&W...

I currently have a PM-14S1 SE for test and i have to agree.

 

[gasolin]

I would give a chance to Marantz PM 14S1 or even PM8005.

For me Marantz and B&W goes together better than Rotel and B&W...

I currently have a PM-14S1 SE for test and i have to agree.

price is also more than doble the price of tyhe PM8005

 

[Reijer]

NAD and B&W pair nice in my opinion.

The new serie of NAD is nice. Maybe the NAD C368 is an option.

 

[ErwinC]

What about the Marantz PM-14S1 SE? According to this https://www.hifi.nl/artikel/24065/Verslag-Ken-Ishiwata-presents-Marantz-14-SE-en-Bowers---Wilkins-805-D3-bij-Remkes-beeld---geluid.html link (in dutch), Ken Ishiwata demonstrated the PM-14S1 SE in combination with the B&W 805D3 with very good results. So this seems a very good combination too.

In the meantime i listened in the store to following different amp/cd setups in combination with the B&W 705 S2.

Electrocompaniet ECI3 & EMP3: the best of the group together with the Denon and Yamaha setup. Very open and musical sound. Wide soundstage. Relaxed sound.

Denon PMA-2500NE & DCD-2500NE: smaller soundstage, but everything slightly better placed. Good bass.

Denon PMA-1600NE & DCD-1600NE: 95% of the more expensive Denon setup.

Rotel RA-1570 & RCD-1570: very dynamic sounding, but not very musical and two dimensional. Possible listening fatigue when listening longer.

Yamaha A-S2100 & CD-S2100: very tight sound with good, deep bass. Very controlled and musical.

Arcam A39 & UPD411: don't know why, but i did not like the sound. Too screamy.

I was suprised that the Electrocompaniet setup was sounding the best with a close second the Denon setup since the Denon and Yamaha amplifiers should be the best amplifiers of the bunch according to all reviews. I suspected the Electrocompaniet cd player to be the reason for this.

So i returned the day after to test following setups:

Electrocompaniet ECI3 & EMP3

Yamaha A-S2100 & Electrocompaniet EMP3

Denon PMA-1600NE & Electrocompaniet EMP3

The results were surprising. The cheaper Denon/EC combination sounded 98% of the EC/EC combination. Taken into account that the Denon amp was connected with a 5 meter cheap interconnect to the EC cd player and the EC/EC combination was connected with a short balanced interconnect, this result was very good.

The Yamaha/EC combination with the same 5 meter interconnect was even sounding slighly better than the EC/EC combination. When switching between the two setups we sometimes did not hear the switchover.

So all three setups were very close and very similar sounding with the Yamaha/EC sounding best (100%), the EC/EC a close second (98%) and the Denon/EC a close third (96%) place.

So again it seems the source is more important than the amplifier.

 

[Audioholic305]

I am expecting a pair of B&W 705 S2 speakers in a few days. In the meantime i am trying to find out what amplifiers are best combined with the 705 S2 (or CM6 S2). I am planning on listening to several amlifiers but i would like to limit the list.

My amplifier requirements are:

- have a DAC (or streamer) included.

- enough power to drive the 705 S2 to decent levels. So i think 100 Watts should be sufficient.

- available in black.

- if possible, digital volume control.

- budget is about £2000.

Arcam sa30

 

[rainsoothe]

Arcam sa30

I sure hope he managed to get an amplifier in 6 years ))

 

[nopiano]

Arcam sa30

The original poster hasn’t been here since 2018. It’s always worth looking before posting.

Anyway, welcome to the forum!

 

[Deleted member 201267]

The original poster hasn’t been here since 2018. It’s always worth looking before posting.

Anyway, welcome to the forum!

But the OP may now return !

 

[nopiano]

But the OP may now return !

Yes, after six years he might want to buy a discontinued Arcam, known to have operating issues. <<irony mode off>> 🤣🎅🏼

Issues

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