B&W Speaker help with Amp

[AshleyB]

Good morning all, I hope you are well.

Had an interesting acquisition from a family member. A lovely pair of B&W Matrix 802 Series 2. The nice history is that these are from Abbey Road studios as my Uncle in law was the sound manager (and worked on numerous Beatles albums!)

My question is around pairing an Amp with these speakers, they also came with a ROTEL RA-810A which to me looks underpowered for what is required.

I will only be using these to listen to music in my office as my home theatre setup is more than adequate to start tinkering adding these in. Will mainly be using them to stream as I do not have a vast collection of Vinyl/CDs.

Should I be looking more for an amp from the era or something a bit more modern which will allow me to stream music easier?

Thank you in advance!

Ashley.

 

[Al ears]

If you are getting into streaming then it makes sense to sell the Rotel and buy a modern streaming amplifier. Which will obviously depend on your budget.
Nice speakers by the way.

 

[abacus]

They need plenty of power to drive them well, however if the Rotel is driving them fine for your purposes (Check as you increase the volume if the sound feels more compressed (A sure sign that the amp is running out of steam) to see if the combination is suitable for your room) Personally I wouldn't go below 100w for these, with an amp that increases to at least160w into 4ohms
Use 4mm sq. OFC speaker cable to make sure you are getting the best out of the speakers/amp. (This will make sure you don't compromise the damping factor and causing a boomy bass)
As to changing the amp for a streaming one, my choice would be for a streaming pre-amp and separate power amp.

Bill

 

[daytona600]

New versions are circa £25k these days
what is your budget , they need lots of power & control

my choice would be for a streaming pre-amp and separate power amp.
400/8ohm , 710/4ohm wpc or bridge for 1400wpc

Elipson P1F & A2700 preamplifier and power amplifier

Elipson made loudspeakers, but the French brand was bought in 2010 to diversify its range. Jason Kennedy says products like this cool, clever preamp and power amplifier are the result.

hifiplus.com

 

[AshleyB]

Thank you all so much for your answers really appreciated!

I set up the old Amp yesterday to have a test - wonderful speakers but unfortunately have run into some issues. I picked up different sounds from the speakers, switching to left speaker only noticed the Tweeter is not firing at all - not sure if loose wiring within the unit but will need to look into this a bit further and see if it is something I can fix.

The Rotel drives fine at low volumes, however do notice it lacks when volume is set above 35% and a bass heavy track it struggles - so yes new amp looks likely required, think it is only kicking out 20w per speaker.

Cable wise, what was in the box is hard to determine, I am moving house in a couple of months so will look to invest into some new cables once they are in situ and I can determine lengths correctly.

Pre Amp and streaming Amp may be the way to go - thank you for the advice.

In a nut shell, chuffed with them even though the issue with the left speaker - incredible sound for speakers the same age as me! it seems we do not make stuff like we used to.

Have a great day all.

 

[JDl]

Good morning all, I hope you are well.

Had an interesting acquisition from a family member. A lovely pair of B&W Matrix 802 Series 2. The nice history is that these are from Abbey Road studios as my Uncle in law was the sound manager (and worked on numerous Beatles albums!)

My question is around pairing an Amp with these speakers, they also came with a ROTEL RA-810A which to me looks underpowered for what is required.

I will only be using these to listen to music in my office as my home theatre setup is more than adequate to start tinkering adding these in. Will mainly be using them to stream as I do not have a vast collection of Vinyl/CDs.

Should I be looking more for an amp from the era or something a bit more modern which will allow me to stream music easier?

Thank you in advance!

Ashley.

Hi Ashley, I bought and fully restored a pair of these exact speakers the year before last.
If you undo the bolts that hold the mid range driver and tweeter units and remove them, you'll find a three terminal plug that needs separating, to remove the top unit of the speaker. Those bolts are made of aluminium and easily damaged.
If you look on eBay, you can buy a set of plastic prying tools for removing car door trims, dashboard parts etc. They're very cheap to buy. I grabbed one of them, and filed it down so that it fitted exactly into slot of the aluminium bolt without causing any damage to that slot, which being aluminium is quite soft.
The plug connector could be causing your tweeter problems if the connection in the plug has become corroded over the years.
I was using a Marantz Model 30, integrated amplifier and it drove the speakers beautifully. They sounded great but they do need to be on stands otherwise the bass will lose definition.
Luckily mine came with custom made stands from America, specifically for the 802 S2, so the speakers bolted to the lead filled steel stands which were only about six inches tall, but extremely sturdy.
I removed the crossover units from the lowest compartment of the speaker cabinet and sent them to Wilmslow Audio for a full rebuild with high quality Mundorf and Jantzen capacitors and then refitted the crossover boards myself. It was a bit fiddly but not terribly difficult. In addition it wasn't hugely expensive.
I recovered all the grills myself and that again, wasn't so difficult either.
I also French Polished the speakers to give them a nice soft gloss finish.
I ended up selling them back to the guy I'd bought them from, because we became friends and he missed his speakers terribly. They were a bit too big for my listening room as well.
Anyhow, I think they're very good speakers, they're extremely sought after in America, and I believe that it was very fortunate to inherit a pair.
Best of luck getting them running as they should and finding the right gear to team them up with.

 

[Gray]

I ended up selling them back to the guy I'd bought them from, because we became friends and he missed his speakers terribly.

He must've been happy with the transformation John.
I'm hoping he saw fit to reward your efforts with a bit of profit.

 

[AshleyB]

Hi Ashley, I bought and fully restored a pair of these exact speakers the year before last.
If you undo the bolts that hold the mid range driver and tweeter units and remove them, you'll find a three terminal plug that needs separating, to remove the top unit of the speaker. Those bolts are made of aluminium and easily damaged.
If you look on eBay, you can buy a set of plastic prying tools for removing car door trims, dashboard parts etc. They're very cheap to buy. I grabbed one of them, and filed it down so that it fitted exactly into slot of the aluminium bolt without causing any damage to that slot, which being aluminium is quite soft.
The plug connector could be causing your tweeter problems if the connection in the plug has become corroded over the years.
I was using a Marantz Model 30, integrated amplifier and it drove the speakers beautifully. They sounded great but they do need to be on stands otherwise the bass will lose definition.
Luckily mine came with custom made stands from America, specifically for the 802 S2, so the speakers bolted to the lead filled steel stands which were only about six inches tall, but extremely sturdy.
I removed the crossover units from the lowest compartment of the speaker cabinet and sent them to Wilmslow Audio for a full rebuild with high quality Mundorf and Jantzen capacitors and then refitted the crossover boards myself. It was a bit fiddly but not terribly difficult. In addition it wasn't hugely expensive.
I recovered all the grills myself and that again, wasn't so difficult either.
I also French Polished the speakers to give them a nice soft gloss finish.
I ended up selling them back to the guy I'd bought them from, because we became friends and he missed his speakers terribly. They were a bit too big for my listening room as well.
Anyhow, I think they're very good speakers, they're extremely sought after in America, and I believe that it was very fortunate to inherit a pair.
Best of luck getting them running as they should and finding the right gear to team them up with.

I read your post with great interest!

I took the speakers apart and checked the connections, no corrosion but alas the tweeter is still not firing. Need to take the bottom half apart at the weekend and see if there is anything I can see from the board.

If you posted any videos would like to see them! The little metal rings connecting the front of the tweeters are a right pain to get connected again. Might take a look at the Marantz Amp.

I have seen the Sound Anchor stands, look very good and will probably end up going for them - not sure what the damage will be sending them to the UK though!

 

[abacus]

Atacama stands are of high quality and reasonably priced (Don't forget to add ballast to them), plus they are based in the UK.

Bill

 

[AshleyB]

Atacama stands are of high quality and reasonably priced (Don't forget to add ballast to them), plus they are based in the UK.

Bill

Thanks for this, is it quite easy to add the ballast?

In addition to the Marantz 30, I have also been looking at the Rotel RA-1572MKII which looks like it will play well with the speakers.

​

 

[RTHerringbone]

Thanks for this, is it quite easy to add the ballast?

Easy as pie. You usually just unbolt the top plate from the stand and then use a funnel or even rolled up newspaper to direct whatever ballast you choose into the "legs" of the stand.

As with everything H-Fi, there are many escalating price options for ballast, but sand (dry, obviously!) is absolutely fine.

 

[JDl]

I read your post with great interest!

I took the speakers apart and checked the connections, no corrosion but alas the tweeter is still not firing. Need to take the bottom half apart at the weekend and see if there is anything I can see from the board.

If you posted any videos would like to see them! The little metal rings connecting the front of the tweeters are a right pain to get connected again. Might take a look at the Marantz Amp.

I have seen the Sound Anchor stands, look very good and will probably end up going for them - not sure what the damage will be sending them to the UK though!

I read your post with great interest!

I took the speakers apart and checked the connections, no corrosion but alas the tweeter is still not firing. Need to take the bottom half apart at the weekend and see if there is anything I can see from the board.

If you posted any videos would like to see them! The little metal rings connecting the front of the tweeters are a right pain to get connected again. Might take a look at the Marantz Amp.

I have seen the Sound Anchor stands, look very good and will probably end up going for them - not sure what the damage will be sending them to the UK though!

I read your post with great interest!

I took the speakers apart and checked the connections, no corrosion but alas the tweeter is still not firing. Need to take the bottom half apart at the weekend and see if there is anything I can see from the board.

If you posted any videos would like to see them! The little metal rings connecting the front of the tweeters are a right pain to get connected again. Might take a look at the Marantz Amp.

I have seen the Sound Anchor stands, look very good and will probably end up going for them - not sure what the damage will be sending them to the UK though!

 

[JDl]

I read your post with great interest!

I took the speakers apart and checked the connections, no corrosion but alas the tweeter is still not firing. Need to take the bottom half apart at the weekend and see if there is anything I can see from the board.

If you posted any videos would like to see them! The little metal rings connecting the front of the tweeters are a right pain to get connected again. Might take a look at the Marantz Amp.

I have seen the Sound Anchor stands, look very good and will probably end up going for them - not sure what the damage will be sending them to the UK though!

Hello again Ashley
Apologies for the late reply, I've been rather busy.
Here's some pictures of the speakers after my restoration.
As you can see, I did some aesthetic changes because I felt the cloth covered tops looked rather dowdy. I did some internet research and came across these special paints and thought it would modernise the look of them. I think they came out pretty well. I used 1 -2mm thick small cell foam that came in A4 sized sheets cut into an exact fit so the speaker top wouldn't be wood to wood contact.
Not being particularly proficient or confident with electronic work, as I mentioned I sent the crossover boards to Wilmslow Audio, who were very helpful. They can sort your tweeters out of you need them to and they can renew the ferro fluid.
I guess I was fortunate, in that I was having no issues with the tweeters and that the speakers had come to me on the stands which were made specifically for the 802 S2.
I researched B&W 802s extensively and they were the best of the 802 Matrix in my opinion.
The hand made and welded speaker cover frames are quite easy to work with if yours need to have new grill cloths fitted.
What I did do, was to finish them better, by filing all the sharp edges off, with a hand file and re-spraying them with primer and satin black paint, because I thought that when the grill cloths were pulled tight, there would be less likelihood of the frame edges cutting into the cloths over time.
I think they still hold up as an excellent speaker even now and if you can get them up and running, it'll be worthwhile even if you have to spend a bit to do it.
I hope you succeed in getting them working properly and I hope you'll put some pictures on here and let us know how you get on.
Best of luck!

 

[nopiano]

Fantastic job you did too, @JDl by the look of your pictures. Congratulations!

 

[JDl]

Thank you Sir, thank you very much indeed!