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Do Any High End Speakers Boogie/Rock? BW 804 Blues

Hello Fellow Audiogoners: I am interested in hearing if any audiophile sytems (speaker plus amplification) that can boogie and rock! What I mean here is a detailed but coherent and rich sound, not like a bunch of separate instruments that don't gell together. And not biased so brightly that symbols and highs dominate, making a thin and grating sound. I wonder if it is possible in what appears to be the analytical world of high end audio.

I'm a frustrated B&W Nautilis 804 owner that likes rock/blues/ok recorded cds in addition to jazz, classical, vocal etc, and I'm not interested in endless tweaking of cables/amplifiers/source to try to get these revealing speakers to sound good on a majority of my music collection.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
jeffsel

Showing 7 responses by jeffsel

jeffsel OP
16 posts
 
Sogood, my reason for having floor standers with two woofers is so that I don't have to get a sub. Before the 804s I had Avid two ways for fifteen years and never felt the need for a sub--artifical mid bass hump? Also, my concern with a Sub and the 804s is that the highs will still be unforgiving.
thx,
Jeff
jeffsel OP
16 posts
 
I have the following system:
Musical Fidelity A3 Pre Amp
Rotel 1080 Power Amp
Cary 202/200 CD
Harmonic Tech Truthlink Cables

This system sounds good for Classical, Jazz Ensemble, Vocals, but not 80% of my rock and blues collection.
jeffsel OP
16 posts
 
Tim and Audiobugged: What's wrong with 200 watts. it's at the top of B&Ws recommended amp power rating. My problem is that I get fine sound on a few of my recordings top to bottom, but on many the sound is tilted up. I don't see how more power is going to solve this problem. Thx, Jeff
jeffsel OP
16 posts
 
I would like to stay with something in the size and shape range as the 804 ie the aerial 94 or Van schw 2vr, due to my wife and room constraints. Any other suggestions in this direction? thx jeff
jeffsel OP
16 posts
 
Audiobugged: The problem is too may variables. How much of this is the preamp vs the amp vs the cables? I live in a remote area (Aspen, co) and even if I drove 3 hrs to the big city, the dealers all cary narrow lines, so I dont have a good way to demo all of these changes.
thx,
jeff
jeffsel OP
16 posts
 
Thanks everyone for such a great response. I appreciate the diversity of opinions here and I'm getting some good ideas.

On the larger amp side, I'm not just after more bass, but a fuller, more coherent sound. I'm sure bass would help but I'm not sure it would do the trick. Audiobugged: thx for such an amazing offer. To make it easier, first, I will call some of the dealers in Denver to see if they will let me borrow and ship me a larger amp.

On the speaker front, I would like to see something in the same size range as my 804s and the recommendations along that vein seem to be the Von Schw 2s and the Aerial 9s, among others. Any thoughts on PSB Golds, Paradigm Studios, Kef? Keep it coming. Best Regards, Jeff
jeffsel OP
16 posts
 
Audiobugged: My truthlinks are copper and I have Tara Labs Prime 1000 speaker cables, also copper. What kind of amp are you thinking? I had a Musical Fidelity a3 that was very lean, and replaced with Rotel and things got somewhat better. Wondering if an integrated would make sense, that way I could try it without the a3 pre?
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