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New amp for B&W 803s - Classe or Mac or ???

I know, I know - B&W/Classe is a "classic" pairing from the same audio group. But in spite of a comfortable budget I have to keep my costs in mind.

I'm replacing 3 x Musical Fidelity XP-200s (LCR, 200w each bridged) and a Rotel 1562 (100wpc). I have 2 x B&W 803s, an HTM2 center and a pair of B&W in-ceiling rears rounded out with a Paradigm sub. The front end is a Meridian G61R/HD621. The room is about 17 x 18, carpeted, draped, and has a couple offset angles along with a large micro-fiber covered u-shaped sectional.

Maybe it's old age, but I'm finding that when pushed a bit in our new TV room (SIM2 Mico50 and Carada 114" screen) the 803s have a bit of an edge. The room is great and it loads the bass really well while remaining tight and controlled. Voices are good, midrange is good - it's the "edge" that seems to have crept in that I'm trying to get a handle on.

I can't afford a full gear swap out and I've tried some interconnect and cable cable swaps with no luck. I thought about a Meridian swap to DSP-5200s but that would still set me back about $12K after selling out the amps and B&Ws. So it's a Classe CT-5300 or a Mac 205 (again, a bit of apples to oranges from a power perspective).

Thoughts?
(Note I have some dealer loyalty here, so it's Classe, Mac, or NAD and Audio Research is out of my league).

gordon
beaverlake

Showing 3 responses by beaverlake

beaverlake OP
9 posts
 
Direct and to the point and you may be right. I've had other advice to move to a NAD Master series amp and dump the 803s for 803d (or re-evaluate my years-long liking of B&Ws). Thanks.

gordon
beaverlake OP
9 posts
 
Room is 17 wide, 18 deep, 8 foot ceilings. Rear wall is actually not "flat" but imagine that each corner has a 3' wide by 4' deep chunk taken out and that recess has an 11 foot wide u-shaped sectional. Behind the sectional is a 96" wide window covered with a heavy curtain. The left wall (looking at the screen) has a 96" window with a heavy curtain. To the right of the screen is a door to my equipement room. Covering that door is a heavy curtain with a matching curtain on the left side. Room is neutral with only a slight clap echo no matter where you clap (no STD jokes please). Speaker placement was done with help of local sales guy prior to putting in the carpet spikes. Room eq done twice w/Meridian SW w/help from sales guy (who has about 20 years exp, about 12 w/B&W and Meridian). If you know Seattle you know who the dealer is.

So room is dedicated, dark (indigo walls/ceiling, dark gray carpet, reasonably heavy dark curtains - not that the color impacts the sound!). I do have a blanket that I can use to drape the screen - which, although not the solution of course - would provide another data point.

I've been messing with this stuff since Radio Shack in Chicago sold Scott and HeathKit recievers (yes, I'm in my 60's) and had a "high end" department. It never ceases to amaze me how many variables we have to deal with and how, even after the most studied efforts, "audio nirvana" always seems to have an element of luck that separates very good from OMG!!!

Again - thanks for the time you took for a thoughtful response. I'll futz with a blanket tomorrow (a rainy Seattle Saturday) and post results and whenever I finish this mini-journey I'll close out this thread.

gordon
beaverlake OP
9 posts
 
Zd - thanks for the follow up. I haven't been as sensitive to this issue until the last couple/three months and we've been in the house since April. The only change since we moved in is that I "wire loomed" all the dangling, messy cables. I routed all the power cables down one side fo my 6/5' high rack and all the other cables down the opposite side. Anytime I had to cross power and an interconnect I crossed at right angles. The amps are on the lowest shelf and I'm using the entry-level Transparent interconnect. And on and on. I have no idea if this project created the situation or if so, why. That said - I'm coming to the same conclusion.

Once I have satisfied my 2012 obligation to my friends in Washington DC, set aside a bit of my Q4 incentive towards our mortgage principal, finished with the last few pieces of furniture, and decided on a couple other purchases I'll see what, if any, I have left to contribute to my "fix the high frequency fund" and new speakers are on my list of options. This is finally the "forever house" and sometime this year I *will* get this resolved.

I think I'll close down this thread - I've had good input here and elsewhere and virtually all the input has confirmed what I really didn't want to hear. Heck, maybe I should just keep the MF's and the Rotel and go speaker shopping. Know anyone who wants a very clean B&W 803s LCR setup? ;-)

gordon
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