Intergrated Amp suggestions for B&W 805d4

I like my Ayre AX-5 Twenty integrated amp very much. The sound is different in that the sound is MORE natural and less ’exaggerated’ than my previous amps. This is very hard to put into words. The sound is there with no artificial extra stuff around it. The music is normal meaning it makes music, never adding color or stripping the musical recordings of their textures, feelings, and dynamics. The music from the AX-5 Twenty amp is relaxed and smooth without sounding dark or laid-back. The Ayre Acoustics AX-5 Twenty amp is excellent.

BTW, there is an Ayre AX-5 Twenty amp listed for sale on Audiogon. Another less expensive alternative is the Ayre EX-8 2.0 integrated amp. I hope this helps.

I have a pair of the B&W 805D3 speakers.

Have paired my B&W's with two different integrated amps: McIntosh MA252 and Raven Osprey. Currently using a Pass Labs XA30.8 (with both Conrad Johnson ET3 and PS Audio BHK for preamps).

All combinations worked well, but Pass Labs amp and BHK preamp is by far the best. No listening fatigue, great detail, wonderful full sound (with Pass phono preamp and MHDT Pagoda DAC). Big advantage of separates is the ability to keep mixing and matching.....

However, one change that really changed/tamed the 805D3's more than anything else was placing them on IsoAcoustic Gaia feet.

  -GAR

Hi Gareent. Thank you for your input.  I think Pass separates is outside my budget.  Would the Int-60 (just outside my budget) be able to drive the 805s?  cheers 

ezikl

a former 805 owner here. I owned Rotel gear matched to those early 805 monitors.

An excellent combination that will not break the bank. Excellent suggestions as above. Solid-state or Tubes, you cannot go wrong. Audition as much gear as possible.

Happy Listening!

I know that the B&W 805s have come a long way since I bought my pair of 805 Matrix speakers 25 or so years ago.  But I liked all three of the amps that I have owned with those speakers, and they were all tube amps.  My first tube amp was probably what you would call entry level; it was a Cary SLA 70 and although I liked it a lot, it was the one that was lacking of most sonic aspects that one would listen for in a system.  Next I had a pair of ARC VTM 120s, and that amp/speaker combination could rock out or play quiet.  I am now driving those same speakers with a Cary V12 (50 wpc in triode mode or 100 in ultralinear) and I cannot remember the last time I switched to the ultralinear mode.

But with all that typed, and with absolutely no sarcasm intended, it is quite possible that my ears are not as well tuned as yours and therefore that I am not as discriminating.  It is also possible that I am easier to please regarding presentations of sound that you might not tolerate.