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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
bikerduud
75 posts
 
You are correct that the Brystons don't weigh as much as some amps. But, they are among the most powerful I have ever used and this includes sound staging and imaging. My former amps, the Pass Lab x-600's, weighed much more but were not near as strong as the Brystons on these speakers. But if you want to find this out yourself, go ahead. I've enjoyed these speakers for over 12 years, and with this combo, I expect many more years of great listening. Good luck!
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I would also look at the Musical Fidelity big integrated amps, NuVista, TriVista, 500 and 550. My NuVista drove my friends Wilson Sasha speakers very well so should have no trouble with the B&Ws. I was a dealer for B&W and Krell in the old days, I think the MF are a big step up from the Krells you mention. If you find you like your present pre better you can use the amp section by itself, there is an internal RCA jumper; I found the preamp section to be very good myself. The MFs are very powerful at low impedance's and have an excellent sound, there are many reviews on the net.
4bucc
14 posts
 
I owned these wonderful speakers for many years. You are on the right track getting a high current amp but if you can afford it, get an active electronic crossover (I used a Marchand) and a tube amp so you can bi-amp with the tubes on the mid/tweeters and the high current amp on the woofers (you have to disable the woofer crossovers-it's easy). It makes a huge difference. I'm sorry I ever got rid of these speakers-they're amazing!
blueskywalker OP
91 posts
 
4bucc, can u describe the exact amps you used in the active system? my former system was active (altec 512 triamped towers) and the bass was indeed very good, better then my 800's... lower and tighter...
Stanwall, wich improvements do you think the musical fidelitys have over the krells? What was the best krell in combo with the b&w's 800?
Bikerduud, could u describe your system (preamp,cd?)
Rwwrear, my preamp is not balanced, will a fpb be an improvement over the older krells, opinions seem to be different on this?
bikerduud
75 posts
 
Since you asked, my Matrix 800's are driven by a system which includes a matching Bryston BP-26 preamp. My main source is a Linn LP12, heavily modified. I also have a Bryston BCD-1 disc player. My cabling is all MIT, with Oracle V2.1 biwire, which these speakers love. I also use a Shunyata power conditioner. I used to sell B&W speakers and have owned many of them over the years. Unlike the Matrix 801's, the 800's are much more efficient and require a different amp to sound it's best. The 801's definitely need a high current amp to sound their best. However, the 800's are a totally different speaker. I believe that the 800's sound their best with a higher voltage amplifier like the Brystons, than the higher-current amplifiers like the Pass. In past experiences, my speakers have been hooked up to Threshold, Levinson, and Pass electronics which all are high-current and Class A designs. If you have your heart set on Krell, I would guess the FPB series would sound excellent on these speakers.
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