Much will depend on your amp and pre. What will you be using?
I drive 804S with a McIntosh MC275 (tubes) and I'm very happy. And tubed pre (Lamm LL2). At the time I was deciding I preferred these tubes to a Mc solid state (MC252) but that ss also sounded good. I have also heard this speaker driven by othe SS amps and didn't like the sound - it came through a little too brittle for my taste.
Yet most people tend to say B&W 800-series should be driven by solid state...
Oh, BTW, I keep everything below 80Hz for ever going into the MC275 and hence the 804S and instead goes into a pair of Rythmik subs. 804S, and most speakers in this size, can play below 80Hz but they don't really do that very well. Significant distortion, I think. Let alone anything below 40Hz.
I drive 804S with a McIntosh MC275 (tubes) and I'm very happy. And tubed pre (Lamm LL2). At the time I was deciding I preferred these tubes to a Mc solid state (MC252) but that ss also sounded good. I have also heard this speaker driven by othe SS amps and didn't like the sound - it came through a little too brittle for my taste.
Yet most people tend to say B&W 800-series should be driven by solid state...
Oh, BTW, I keep everything below 80Hz for ever going into the MC275 and hence the 804S and instead goes into a pair of Rythmik subs. 804S, and most speakers in this size, can play below 80Hz but they don't really do that very well. Significant distortion, I think. Let alone anything below 40Hz.