B&W 803D and Pathos Classic One

I was think the same thing that Pathos Classic one is little under power for the speakers. I might step to the Logos or other type of Amp system perfer tube type.

I used to drive KEF Q1's (typical 8 ohm, 2 way monitor) with a mighty Almarro 3 watt/ch integrated (EL84 tubes).
I could play them louder than I needed with this amp.

I don't see why 80 watts/ch would be "underpowered" unless you're trying to reproduce Ted Nugent in your living room.

P. S. Try before you buy...

I am the Pathos agent is South Africa, and would only like to add that according to my knowledge Pathos use some of the B&W models in their development work. Not 100% sure the details, but in a response to a similar question from my side Pathos replied that Classic One sounds good on a pair of B&w 802.
Regards Stefan

I heard this speaker with MAC integrated which is 75w/ch. Sounded nice but was not able to play them at realistic levels. MAC would give up. Heard them in another store with MAC 100/ch solid state amp, it gave up playing Metallica at a relatively good level, but I would not call it too loud, or in that matter, it was not near reproducing James Hetfield in the room. Actually a right channel on that amp completely shut off. At another place I heard these speakers with C-J CT6 tube preamp and Premier-140 tube amp and it was really good, but we never went too loud. I liked it a lot with the C-J stuff. Smooth and strong at normal volume.
Personally, having owned the N803 for number of years, I had them set up at various times with McCormack DNA-0.5 Deluxe, then DNA-125 and now DNA-225, which is a really nice match. The more power the better for these speakers. B&Ws are power hungry. Keep that in mind. They will sure play with that Pathos amp, but I doubt 70w/ch would make the speakers or you happy. I would go for a tube pre and solid state amp. BAT tube pre and solid state amp would most likely be a very good match for these speakers. Or that C-J combo I mentioned above. Good luck.

I am running these with Sunfire signature 5 channel amp...system rocks