What is a B&W 801M?

Yah - these are ported - think they might be first generation Matrix 801s. I remember the matrix cabnet making a big difference in bass and midrange clarity on these.

You had better have a amp with very healthy output for these to work well....also, they are very bass heavy. I've seen them working with a Crown 1000 watt amp, and pegging the meters.

When I sold the original 801s I used the Crown SA2 [I think this was the designation], it would pulse 1600 watts at 2 ohms and it never felt like too much amp. B&W used the same amp at CES.

Well aware of the power needs. Talked to John Bowers about this issue at one of the Chicago CES shows - a long time ago.Had just finished being blown away by how good these speakers sounded at their demo.B&W were using something humongo ( big class A mono's IRR?) - simply stunning! Had to point out to Mr. Bowers that on my sales floor - customers weren't put off by the price - but were trying to drive 'em with things like the famous/notorious Carver Cube and big Receivers - he seemed very puzzled by this and pointed out that it wasn't rational to expect this kind of combination to sound good.He was a real Gentleman and certainly one of the more patient people I ever ran into in the upper echelons of the industry.
At any rate- have a old Counterpoint SA-20 which I think might be up to the task.