Folks I'm blown away with 802's at my recent audition at a friends home (with 501 by the way!) so I'm definetely getting them. Are there better "bang for the buck" speaker-amp combos? Sure, but I simply love those. Everest_audio is right, I have a large open room and I love to crank it loud. Also I love the open easy flowing sound that flies out of the speakers and fills the entire room. Hence my original question - how better 501 does the job than 402 considering the price difference? 1.2 KW are totally out of my budget and from my knowledge are usually used with 801/800. Even B&W themselves specifies 802 model's appetite up to 500 Watts. Sure they can handle more but my real choice is between 402 and 501.
Mac 402 or 501 for B&W 802D?
I'm now firmly set on purchasing B&W 802D (a friend upgrades to the new Diamond model and sells his pair for a good price) so the question is - how better Mcintosh 501 monoblocks are with 802 compared to Mac 402? Nearly twice the price where I live - is it as better or the law of diminishing results kicks in big time here?