B&W Matrix 800: Bi-amping thoughts?

I agree with the similar caliber, but you would want more power if you want the bass to really do what it can.  Those speakers are rated to 800 watts power handling capability and while you don't need 800 watts, you will want more than 100 watts, especially if you enjoy listening at higher volumes.

I kind of assume your pop didn't listen to hard driving music much using only the Defy7.

When I bought my N801s I thought that my 300 watt Mcintosh would get me by but it only took about 10 minutes of listening to realize that the speakers sounded kind of starved in the low frequencies.

I ended up biamping with 130 watts on the highs and 1k watts on the woofers.  This is probably overkill but at the time I wasn't sure how much I really needed and I didn't want to disappoint myself a second time.

The monoblocks really opened up the low end and I have never regretted the purchase.

If I were you I would look for at least 400 watts or more for your low end, and really the more the better if you like to thrash.

Bill

I forgot to add that those are wonderful speakers.  You are a lucky person.

Bill

@wbs Hi Bill,

I don't disagree with the "more power is better" approach most times. However at 93db sensitivity they are fairly easy to drive. Even being set up with 100wpc running in full range, they did push out some impressive SPL.

I also have pop's Mark Levinson ML335 (which needs to be serviced) He used it for a brief period and I considered using that with its 500wpc into 4ohms muscle. However the Defy7 is simply magic in the mid and upper frequencies. I can only imagine what it might be if I could liberate it from having to drive those woofers and instead assign that duty to a robust SS amp of sufficient caliber. 

Consider this: Bi-amping the 800s the way I'm considering would also double the power.

Happy listening.

From what I can find, the woofer crosses over to the midbass at around 300hz, which is smack in the middle of both male and female vocals, which will make it more critical to blend well between two amps. 

If done well, it could help improve the clarity of the midbass/tweeter amps by relieving it of low bass duties, but will require a woofer amp with not only ample power and the ability to handle large woofer excursions, it’ll also need to have good lower midrange sonics to get it blend well.  You’ll likely want the ability to blend the gain of the two amps to match.  

Please keep us posted on your progress.  

I can only speak about my own experience.  My N801s are 91db.  The recommended power range is 50 to 1000 watts.  Using my 300 watt amp, volume levels would go high (SPL) but the bass just didn't keep up.  I think a high power high current amp is what will bring those woofers to life.  However, YMMV.

Bill