Amp for B&W Matrix 803 S2


Hello!

Go a pair of very nice 803 Matrix and now searching for an amp for them. Firstly was looking for Classe CAP 2100 but also got advices to pay attention to Luxman M600-A or Simaudio Moon 600. My budget is around 3-4 UDS/EUR (for a used one of course)... So I would like to hear additional opinions and advices)

Regards,
Alex
alex_bolotnikov
Hi Alex

Congrats..nice speakers. I personally owned them at one time.

Soundstage review

You will find 27 "actual user" reviews of the speakers.
here

As you know the speakers will work with 50 -250 wpc.
They are also 90 db efficiency and dip just below 4 ohms (3.7 ohms) .
My personal experience is that they will work with tube amps as well as Solid State amps when using the 4 ohms tap with a tube amp.
But it depends on.

Your room size (volume)
Where will speakers be placed in the room and where will you be sitting in relation to them.
Your listening habits and the kind of music you listen to. If you can give more info here then amps can be recommended.

Important

Bass takes the most energy from the amp.
All 800 matrix series speakers were designed to be used with the BASS ALIGNMENT FILTER for best results.

803 Matrix S2 Bass loadiing.
Direct from the manual.

WITH BAF filter - sixth order butterworth with 25 hz cutoff.

WITHOUT the BAF filter - overdamped fourth order -6db at 28 hz.

You can see without the filter, as is, they are " -6db at 28 hz " - quite a drop. We can discuss why this is if you like.

If used for 2 channel music, with the BAF in use, you may not need a sub.

But it will depend on room/listening factors I mentioned above.

Hope this helps. Cheers
Thanx for so detailed reply! The room is a very small - about 3,5x5 meters. Please find the attached picture - red dots are the ACs, and green dot is me)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zu11EN6OSaM/VUusP3EX6AI/AAAAAAAAHSw/4WIZyCR4k4c/w503-h360-no/IMG_20140507_200054149.jpg

Talking about the kind of music - classic and modern rock, hard rock and metal, maybe jazz...

Regarding BAF filters. It's very contradictory information in the Internet. Someone says that they aren't necessary for 803 S2. Anyway I guess it's not easy to find them nowadays especially here in Russia...
Get something with 300 w/ch or greater and decent quality - does not have to be new. These speakers need power.
I ran my 802 s3 with a 40 watt/ch Pass Aleph. It had no problem at all driving the 802's.