B&W800D3 - Opinions on Amplifier
 

I am relatively new to the new group and this is my first post. I would greatly appreciate your insights and recommendations.

I am in the process of conducting a major overhaul of our system which we use for both Home Theater and 2 channel listening. I am replacing my B&W CDM7SEs with B&W 800D3s. I am considering MC1.25KWs or MC901s to power the fronts. Which would you choose and why?

Thanks in advance for your input.

I’m guessing you already have secured the 800D3’s.
You’ll get lots of responses on what amp works best. You may want to provide some parameters such as pricing limits. Many folks are using Mac amps and your choice for MC1.25’s would be awesome! Lots of great reviews.

I’ll chime in and suggest Bryston 28 Cubed. Is was hoping to get 800D3 and HTM1 D3 in the same colour that I wanted but all sold out in NA. So waiting on D4’s.

First post and already all the banners up! :thumbsup:
Welcome to AA!

Your 800D3s are quite power hungry.
But they will sound good with a lot of brands if you give them enough juice and a good source.
Good luck!

B&W800D3 - Opinions on Amplifier
 

+1

McIntosh and B&W are a match made in heaven. You won’t be let down with either choice, trust me! The MC901’s are relatively new so we’d LOVE your detailed review if you chose that route. :)

901!

Thanks for the reply. I am leaning toward the 901s and will definitely post a review if/when everything is set-up. We have some work to do on the room before we are ready to install. I like the idea of bi-amping - using the tubes to drive the mid and high frequencies and the solid state to drive the low end. My only question is whether the 600 watts will be sufficient to drive the woofers?

Yes, they will. :yes:

Drove my 802's with a pair of 601's without a problem as well.

Ed

Kjay - That's a pretty tough choice....either will work well with the B&Ws. Without having auditioned either model, I'm partial to the MC 1.25KW as monos in your setup. I will admit it's personal preference, but I'm just not a big fan of the looks of the 901s...I prefer the classic look of the 1.25s but that's just me. Any possible dealer in our area that you'd be able to audition?

- Buck

I tried the previous model 601’s and then heard the previous model 1.2KW mono amps and it was an easy decision - the 1.2’s were just better and enabled the speakers to really open up with plenty of headroom