B&W 803D - Best amplifiers to drive them


Hi!

I actually have a few questions and I would really appreciate your wisdom on them:
1) 803D versus 802D - other than prize and size, is there is significant SQ difference, or if under budget constraints one settle for the 803D as they are 'almost' there?
2) Used 803D, how does one test a 2nd hand used speaker? Is there any way one can tell other than listening (auditioning) and visual inspection? Are there any key look outs?
3) The main question - which amplifiers drive the 803D the best? the rating says 50-500 watts, but that is a huge range at 8 ohms!!!!

Please do let me know
Thank you.
K
kelpie

Showing 1 response by eniac26

I own a pair of 803 Diamonds and drive them with X 4 NCORE NC400 mono blocks. They certainly love power and woke up very noticeably in their current configuration compared to my previous amp (Pass X250).

I auditioned the 802Diamond at the same time and actually all but made up my mind that I was going to get the 802's before arrival of the demo but after the audition I didn't feel there was a $5K difference between the two speakers.

So instead, I spent that $5K building X 4 mono blocks to fully power the 803 Diamonds to their max potential. Even before doing this, using the Pass X250 amp on the 803's they still were plenty close enough in SQ to the 802 to not loose any sleep over.

I have no regrets in my decision.