Ideal amp for B&W matrix 800


Hello everyone, I am looking for a great amp for my B&W MATRIX 800 speakers (the tall ones with the angular shaped bass cabinets, not the nautilus ones!).
I have a tight budget and live in Belgium.
My cd is Accuphase 500, preamp is solid state, no tone controls magnum Mp330.
I am looking for a 3d soundstage with lots of depth and emotional music playing. I therefore think of class A amps.
Hence... older krells? Tube amps would be a bad match as the speakers each have two 12 inch woofers. They are 4Ohms, with an impedance dip to 3 ohms in 100-200 Hz region. they are 93 dB/1W sensitivity though...
I could spend about 2000 euro but would prefer around 1000-1500 so I have budget for an accuphase preamp for phono (a c-280 or so). Would appreciate your input guys!
At the moment I localised a krell KSA-100 MKii for 850 e, a Krell KSA-200 S for 1750 e, a Krell FPB for 2000 e...
Or a Pass X250 for 2400 e.... Other suggestions are very welcomen these or just the ones that I found on sale some place now... I have never heard any of these amps...
blueskywalker
Hi @tattooedtrackman, thx for the reply, I did not get any mail notification of a reply in my thread, sorry.
I am just now discovering the importance of good power cables...
blueskywalker
Ideal amp for B&W matrix 800

Between 55hz to 250hz (most of the bass) they have a load (impedance plus - phase angle) that demands current from an amp to get the best out of them. Amps that can almost double their 8ohm wattage to 4ohm and again to 2ohms.
https://www.stereophile.com/images/archivesart/88B800fig1.jpg

But because they are 94db efficient they don’t need a lot of watts an amp of 100watts into 8ohms will do, even the very old 25watt at 8ohm Mark Levinson ML2 monoblocks will sound great to a certain level because they can keep doubling wattage down to to 1ohm!!! https://img.ukaudiomart.com/uploads/large/2229206-mark-levinson-ml2.jpg

Amps today that will be nice would be the Gryphon Diablo Integrateds 120 or the 300, they can do the doubling act. Also the D’Agostino’s , Parasound John Curl Halo’s, Krell’s these are all bi-polar output that can do big current down to 2ohms.

https://gryphon-audio.dk/shop/integrated-amplifiers/diablo-120/

https://gryphon-audio.dk/shop/integrated-amplifiers/gryphon-diablo-300-integrated-amplifier/

Cheers George



@georgehifi  thx for the reply, I use Rowland 725 amps now and looking for good powercords for them as they matter a lot.
they do not have 2 ohm specs though... would they be less then optimal? 
they do not have 2 ohm specs though... would they be less then optimal?
Hard to say blueskywalker usually if there’s no 2ohm wattage spec, by manufacturer or by testing it means it better not to divulge it.

They are linear amps that’s in their favor.
They have smp power supplies which "can" be good, most are not.
We don’t know if they use bi-polar or mosfet outputs transistors, there’s enough of them 16 per channel would be in your favor if they were bi-polar.
Really the only way to tell if they are as optimal as the ones I mentioned above, would be to a/b them and pay particular attention to the bass area between 55hz to 250hz (most of the low/mid bass)

Cheers George
Just found out on a Polish site they use Saken Darlington output devices, not in your favor, they've never been taken too by the other guru's of the hifi world, and possibly why there’s no 2ohm spec anywhere.

Cheers George