2. amps-preamps
  3. 1340841167

Need advice for B&W 804 diamond amplification

Hello all,

I purchased a pair of B&W 804 diamond towers about a year ago. At the time I purchased them, I also got a rotel rsp-1570 processor and a rmb-1575 5-channel amp. The rotel amp delivers 250 wpc all channels driven @8 ohm. Rotel calls this amp a true high current amp but doesn't list the current capacity in the specs. This amp is also a class D. I have lived with this amp for over a year now and have never really been satisfied with it. I have read alot of bad press about class D equipment in general. I hope to find some owners of the 804D here to gain some knowledge from. My main goal is to improve my 2-channel listening experience. I have set aside roughly 15k to upgrade with. I have done a bit of searching and I like the parasound JC1 mono amps and the JC2 pre-amp with the bypass option. This equipment is appealing to me because I have the B&W towers as part of a 5.1 setup. The JC2 would allow me to bypass the rotel processor and go to the amps during 2-channel listening. I could then switch it back for TV/Theater use. From the reviews I have read on the JC1 amps they seem to be good quality equipment that is in my price range. They are a class A/B amp but, they operate in pure class A up to 25 watts. I like to listen to my music fairly loud. Not enough to disturb the neighbors but still pretty loud. I'm just not sure how loud this would allow me to play without exceeding the 25watt class A operation. If I understand correctly, at the point it surpasses the 25w it then operates in class A/B. I'm not quite sure how that works. The B&W 804D does have a dual set of mounting post for bi-amping. I Guess to take advantage of this I would need either two seperate amps or a dual mono. would it be worthwile to purchase a stereo 2-channel amp and use it to bi-amp with or, should I just find the best mono amp that pairs up with these specific towers and use the included jumper cables. Another option would be to use a monoblock with a single output and run a cable that splits to four connectors and bi-wire them. Is there really any benefit to this over using the jumper cables that came with the speakers? I'm sorry for the long winded post. I am about to spend alot of money, atleast for me. I just want to make sure I am getting the most out of it. To make a long story short, If you owned the rotel Processor/Amp combo and the B&W 804 towers, what upgrades would you make to the system with a 15k budget? Please limit yourself to pre-amp,processor,amps,powerline conditioners and interconnects. I am not looking to upgrade source components at this time. All of my source equipment is pretty good. Thats another story for another time when I have more money. Thank you in advance for your suggestions and advice.

Andy Price
andyprice44

Showing 1 response by dhl93449

dhl93449
455 posts
 
Andy:

I have the system you contemplate. I use Parasound JC1 monoblocks with a JC2 preamp. I have used both B&W 804s and now have 803Ds. The 804s were actually quite good, with a nice sound stage and good imaging. Some sources can sound a bit on the bright side, depending on how the recording is mic'd (particularly silibance on female vocals). The 803ds have a better lower midrange and bass, and a larger soundstage as you can place them further apart. They benefit strongly by using a thick maple plinth with heavy brass footers, both below the speaker and between the plinth and floor/carpet. The plinth will really tighten up bass transients and provide resolving clarity all they way to the high frequrncies.

I did not find a dramatic difference between the diamond tweeter and the "s" version, in either detailing, air, or harshness. Some may disagree with me here. I almost could live with the 804 over the 803, since I use a powered sub (a HSU) in my system to supplement bass response. I think the diamond series does have better crossover components, however.
More to discover