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Intergrated Amp suggestions for B&W 805d4

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum and to any music forum for that matter.  I have been reading a lot of threads here that I have been informative and helpful.

I am looking to match an intergrated amp with the new 805s, and would very much appreciate any suggestions or recommendations.

I have listened with the Naim Atom and Nova and personally, whilst  I liked the detail, I found it too forward and fatiguing.  With the Hegel 390, I found the bass rounder but top end more forward. With the Musical Fidelity M5si, I much preferred this sound as it was rounder and softer yet detailed but less detailed than the Naim.  (Apologies if I use the wrong audiophile terminology, I am unfamiliar with these terms but I am only using what I feel best fits with my discription of sound)

A few people have recommended the MA252 and MA 352 from McIntosh as they advised that this will soften the diamond tweeter and also bring warmth and extension to the bass.  Others have recommended tube amps like Prima Luna.

i have never owned or had any experience with tube amps.

Any suggestions, info or advice  for a good amp to match my speakers?

Thank you in advance.

 

ezikl

Showing 1 response by ryder

ryder
1,746 posts
 
duckworp’s avatar
duckworp
219 posts

I had 804D with Naim amplification and I agree it sounds a little harsh. I demoed a few amps. The best that went with the 804D was a Vitus RI100 (now called RI101) for a clean but smooth sound. One stage further were amps from Luxman, whose sound is very warm, almost tube like. The Luxman lost some of the detail that the Vitus brought however.
Both were far better than the Naim 552 pre with a 250 power amp.

 

It is interesting that the Luxman C-700u / M-700u and Vitus RI-100 sound better than Naim NAC 552 / NAP 250. I wonder how the Luxman integrateds say 590AXII or 509X would compare to the C-700U / M-700u separates. Since you mentioned the Luxman separates did not sound as detailed as the Vitus RI-100, I presume the Luxman integrateds will sound even less detailed than the Vitus.

I have not listened to any Vitus amp before but the Luxman L-590AXII is very impressive, sounding astonishingly refined and detailed although it’s just an integrated amp. The L-590AXII actually sounded more refined than the Naim NAC282 and NAP 250DR separates which I also own when matched to some Marten speakers.

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