Question B & W Nautilus 805 Speakers with Cambridge Audio CXA 81 Amp?

[leepish]

Hi. I am new to this forum. My Musical Fidelity A300 amp finally died after a couple repairs. I bought it in 2000. I have just purchased the Cambridge Audio CXA 81. I have a pair of
B & W Nautilus 805 Speakers from the early 2000s. I am wondering if they will pair well with the Cambridge Audio CXA 81 Amp. Does the amp have enough power for these speakers? I do have a budget of about $1500 to buy new speakers if need be. I haven't set up my new amp, yet.

I would appreciate any help with this.

 

[Al ears]

Hi. I am new to this forum. My Musical Fidelity A300 amp finally died after a couple repairs. I bought it in 2000. I have just purchased the Cambridge Audio CXA 81. I have a pair of
B & W Nautilus 805 Speakers from the early 2000s. I am wondering if they will pair well with the Cambridge Audio CXA 81 Amp. Does the amp have enough power for these speakers? I do have a budget of about $1500 to buy new speakers if need be. I haven't set up my new amp, yet.

I would appreciate any help with this.

Welcome to the forum.
Surely if you already own both of these bits of equipment you can answer your own question.
When it is set up see what you think, in my opinion it should have the power as the 805s seem reasonably efficient, but what the combination is going to sound like in your listening room I have no idea.
If you are used to the 805s it would be a pity to sell them on.

 

[Deleted member 188516]

Hi. I am new to this forum. My Musical Fidelity A300 amp finally died after a couple repairs. I bought it in 2000. I have just purchased the Cambridge Audio CXA 81. I have a pair of
B & W Nautilus 805 Speakers from the early 2000s. I am wondering if they will pair well with the Cambridge Audio CXA 81 Amp. Does the amp have enough power for these speakers? I do have a budget of about $1500 to buy new speakers if need be. I haven't set up my new amp, yet.

I would appreciate any help with this.

may i ask what was repaired on the a300 amplifier and by who ?

 

[rainsoothe]

Hi. I am new to this forum. My Musical Fidelity A300 amp finally died after a couple repairs. I bought it in 2000. I have just purchased the Cambridge Audio CXA 81. I have a pair of
B & W Nautilus 805 Speakers from the early 2000s. I am wondering if they will pair well with the Cambridge Audio CXA 81 Amp. Does the amp have enough power for these speakers? I do have a budget of about $1500 to buy new speakers if need be. I haven't set up my new amp, yet.

I would appreciate any help with this.

As was said above, only you can tell, since you already bought the stuff. Were it my money, I'd have shifted that new speaker money towards better amplification, like a Naim Nait XS3 or used Supernait 2 (+ a Marantz CD5005 cd player if cd playback is really needed) and keep the B&W.

 

[TrevC]

The Naim amps might be more expensive, but there's no reason to think they are better than the Cambridge.

 

[Deleted member 188516]

The Naim amps might be more expensive, but there's no reason to think they are better than the Cambridge.

are the naim amps not a different design ?

 

[TrevC]

are the naim amps not a different design ?

Is the Cambridge not a different design?

 

[Deleted member 188516]

Is the Cambridge not a different design?

my point was they are a different designs (internally) hence they should sound different and, possibly, better ?

 

[TrevC]

my point was they are a different designs (internally) hence they should sound different and, possibly, better ?

Or possibly worse? I would expect two amplifiers with similar specs to sound so similar I wouldn't bother auditioning them. I would also expect either amp to work fine with those speakers.

 

[Deleted member 188516]

Or possibly worse? I would expect two amplifiers with similar specs to sound so similar I wouldn't bother auditioning them. I would also expect either amp to work fine with those speakers.

any views on the colin wonfor designs ?
(both his amplifiers and cables).

 

[manicm]

Or possibly worse? I would expect two amplifiers with similar specs to sound so similar I wouldn't bother auditioning them. I would also expect either amp to work fine with those speakers.

I don’t think all amps are made equal, specs on paper may seem similar, but they won’t tell you the quality of the power supply, components etc,

You‘re making quite a blanket statement there.

 

[rainsoothe]

The Naim amps might be more expensive, but there's no reason to think they are better than the Cambridge.

Yes, there is.

 

[TrevC]

I don’t think all amps are made equal, specs on paper may seem similar, but they won’t tell you the quality of the power supply, components etc,

You‘re making quite a blanket statement there.

If they both meet the specs they will invariably both work just as well as each other. An amplifier that had an inadequate PSU would not meet the output power spec. If you're saying that What Hifi should test them to see if they meet the spec rather than just listen to them I agree. Nobody's ears are good enough to hear the difference between a 20 watt amp and a 200 watt amp if they only listen at 15 watts.

 

[TrevC]

Yes, there is.

Because you think so?

 

[TrevC]

any views on the colin wonfor designs ?
(both his amplifiers and cables).

Is he a friend of yours? I haven't heard of him.

 

[Deleted member 188516]

Is he a friend of yours? I haven't heard of him.

no friend of mine !

he has been on the hifi scene for years - i'm surprised you have no knowledge of his work !

 

[manicm]

If they both meet the specs they will invariably both work just as well as each other. An amplifier that had an inadequate PSU would not meet the output power spec. If you're saying that What Hifi should test them to see if they meet the spec rather than just listen to them I agree. Nobody's ears are good enough to hear the difference between a 20 watt amp and a 200 watt amp if they only listen at 15 watts.

Even at 15 watts the 200 watt amp may sound better. - because the 20 watt amp way well be clipping at that point, unless its transformer is up to the job, or it’s a true Class A amp. I still think your statement tries to cast the net too wide.

 

[TrevC]

Even at 15 watts the 200 watt amp may sound better. - because the 20 watt amp way well be clipping at that point, unless its transformer is up to the job, or it’s a true Class A amp. I still think your statement tries to cast the net too wide.

So you could hear the difference providing the 20 watt amp clips while you are listening to it well before it reaches its rated maximum power. Well of course you could. Doh.

 

[manicm]

So you could hear the difference providing the 20 watt amp clips while you are listening to it well before it reaches its rated maximum power. Well of course you could. Doh.

Now now Trev, don’t be naughty and twist my words. You after all stated that a 20w amp and 200w will sound the same when both are pushed at 15w.

So which is it then?! And also note you totally ignore the elephant in the room - speakers. So, if you can point me to a nice true Class A 20w amp, I’ll get the hell out of here.

 

[TrevC]

A 20 watt amp that is specified correctly won't clip until it gets to more than 20 watts, so there won't be any differences to hear at 15 watts. Nice class A? Solid state? Why bother. If you want to keep warm buy a heater. I did have a Musical Fidelity A1, but that isn't true class A above 8 watts and was annoying with its crackly volume control.

 

[manicm]

Ok, but are you going to use the same speakers for both the 20w and 200 w amp? And for a 20w amp not to be clipping at full power it will have to be extremely well specified to the point where it won’t be cheap.

I seriously doubt that my mother’s little Denon Ceol 10 will drive B&W 607 too well, even though I’m tempted and it has digital amplification. I seriously doubt there are any 20w amps around that will drive the 607s satisfactorily.

The cheapest Marantz integrated amp i.e. the 6007 is an honest 45w amp.