B W 802N how much power?

I have 802Ns in a large room (18x33 w/vaulted ceiling. I have tried McCormak 225, Plinius 100 Mk.III, Joule Elec. 150 watt vamp, Rowland 10, Clayton S-40, and currently have Clayton M-100 monos and a MacIntosh MC352. The 802s can take a huge amount of power and sound better and better--they are fabulous speakers. I like the MC352 best of the lot because of the synergy: the tonal balance is just superb. But of course there is the rest of the system contributing. I am sure you will like the sound of your speakers with the Levinson. I am also sure you will desire to extract even more performance from the bottom. The only real compromise in the speaker is the extreme bass. That limitation doesn't get in the way from a music lovers point of view though. And only occasionaly from an audiophile point of view. Overall I think the talk about needing more power than you already have is over the top. Your speakers are going to sound great.

Some excellent commentary, about excellent speakers and amps.

I'm running N802s with the B&K 250wpc monoblocks. These amps are designed with higher transient power to reach down for the transient lower note requirements: and they are fine in doing so. At my listening levels, which are modest most of the time, the B&Ks are a great value. When I move into larger environs though, I'll opt for either the Bryston 7b-st or bi-amp with the new Bryston 6b-st (250wpc) on the LF and a 3b-st (125-150wpc) for the mids and highs.

Having said this, the 250 from the B&Ks are more than enough to shake the walls. My guess is that the 150wpc and below range might be too thin to really drive the dynamics: below a certain listening level, the human ear is less resonsive to Bass.

I hope everyone continues to enjoy these great speakers.
mdorsam

ROCKY: You got my attention with the N-802's. In my oppinion, you will own the ultimate best speaker that is made in that price range. Perfect sound in the audio&video world, which is extremely hard to do. O.K. I will get of your speaker's or I will be on that subject all day- you will soooooooo enjoy them. Now going on with your amp situation. Your heart, & soul, or brains, & brawm of your system. Your amp & pre-amp processor. You are forgetting that your 802's are extremely efficient. So the levinson335 amp that you have will just make those 802's sing [your soul & brawn] Now what we need is your pre-amp processor [your heart, & brains] of your system to make your system sing. I envey you, with this system, it will just kick ass. To answer your question... yes your levinson 335 is plenty. I just got a little excited and took some time to show it.

Hello
I currently have the 801N and 804N but have had several B&W 800 line of speakers. All sounded better with more Power (with in reason). However the biggest Gain I have found is to BI-AMP. Your 802N should do real well with around 200 to 250 X 2 EA speaker BI-AMPED. I am currently BI-AMPING MY 801N with 350 X 2 EA speaker. I simply use 1 AMP for each speaker. To me BI-AMPING the B&W 800 line really makes all things better. You seperate the crossovers, let the mid range open up and extend the bass. I find more detail more depth and a larger sound stage. You could use more power to control the Bass driver and less for the mid and tweeter. But amp gain matching and other promlems has caused me to just use a single 2 channel amp for each speaker.
Good Luck Bob

I really thought 200 watts was enough power. But, a bigger amplifier just give so much more of a relaxed and dynamic performance. It sort of like having a V12 engine. Because you have one does not mean you are going to drive fast but when you get ready to change lanes it so much easier. I am using a California Audio Labs MCA 2500 which is 500 watts times 5 . Everyone asks me why do you need so much power. I really purchased the amp because my surround processor could turn it on. But now the sound is so much better. I don't listen at loud volumes. I mainly listen to jazz. But the amplifier pushed my system a gaint step forward. It offers better performance than I ever expected at the price. It replaced an Aragon 8008 and 8002 which I was very happy with. So, I think the extra power may serve you well. I have never heard anyone buy an amplifier and complain that it had too much power.