Ps68,
You are correct in a way where setup and ancillaries male a difference. Perhaps you have not had the pleasure of listening to these speakers exactly measured in a dedicated room woth first rate electronics. I state this overlooked fact from my responses, I have had B&W 802's with tubes and B&W800's, still do, with tubes and the system sounds glorious. I have demoed custom built amps, ML33H's, ASR's (amps and phono), big giant Krells's, various Avalon speakers, MBL101's, Wilson Watt Puppy 7's, and a host of other electronics. But at end of the day, it was the tubes and 800's that sounded the best to me. I know from my own experience and base my statements about those experiences, I am sure there are plenty of speakers out there that initially might sound better because they were setup properly or had the best synergy from the other electronics. Lets be honest here, how many people "Really" get to here electronics or speakers at home to make an informed decision based on their own room and setup? Not that many and of those that do, how many really have the sepakers setup properly to conduct a proper audition. It is not impossible, but it takes time, lots of time.
The OP will find that out when he attempts to demo at home. The speakers that stand out in the shop, might not be the best ones at home, and you are correct about it all being about personal taste, but in addition, the amount of synergy that all of the combined components bring to the table is what the listener is going to focus one.
Bottom line, YES, the ASR can drive the B&W802d's and easily, the same thing can be said about the electronics, there are better electronics from my perspective at the same price point.
Ciao,
Audioquest4life
