Amps for B&W 805 Diamond: Rogue Audio or Krell, Pass labs, ML, Accuphase


I had 2 choices for my B&W 805 D2 speakers: 

- Rogue Audio Medusa

- Krell KSA 100s

Also I was advised for Pass Labs X150, ML 252, Accuphase 530. Could you help to advise which one will be best suited for the speakers. Thx so much.

truongv0ky

Showing 6 responses by truongv0ky

Thx soix for your advice a lot. May I ask in detail why Medusa might not suitable for B&W. Rogue Audio is very good for bass so I suppose it is ok with B&W, isn’t it?

My type of music are quite variety from slow music like pop ballad, country to soft rock like The Eagles. 

My most important sound characteristics are deep, soft, neat bass. Also a thick, warm mid-low and sparkling treble.

My systems include Dac Chord QuTest, NAD M3 amplifier, 805 Diamond, Sub Rel S510. Speaker cable is Ansuz X

My room is ~ 20m2 but it's a living room so sometimes I must open small volume but I still need the detail with that kind of volume.

Hope to have your reply soon, & thx for your very generous advices

Thx Soix so much for your rich expertise. Unfortunately, in my country, only Krell, Mcintosh, Passlabs, Rogue Audio, Plinius are available. Would you mind share the sound difference for each of those.

Thx @soix ​​​​@audphile1. I’m doing the research for those.

Thx @avanti1960, what model of McIntosh will be suitable for 805 Diamond?? I am also looking for the hybrid ones such as MA252 or the solid ones such as 6600, 6800, 6900, 7000, but do we need to stay away from the ones that are too old (more than 30 years old)

@audphile1 If it takes 1 hour to warm up a class A Pass Lab amplifier so it will be a problem for many persons. This issue only happens with Pass or for any other class A of other brands?

@buckheadmac Yeah, I know the MA252 is very good but it is only 100W. Is it enough for 805 Diamond? Normally I see people use 150W or more amplifier?

@jafant which one would u suggest. E530, E550, etc..? I know that Accuphase sound very good but I'm only afraid that Accuphase is hard to bring the liveliness and joyful of the song to us