Power setup for 803D's Family Room

I would  stay away from the Sony A/V Rec it's going to sound mechanical and the amps don't have the balls to drive those speakers to their potential. A preamp and amp combo will outperform any massmarket A/V Rec. Company's like Anthem,NAD,Arcam,Rotel and Marantz will offer better performance and make your system more enjoyable. You can even step it up to higher performance Audio company's than the ones mentioned if you are willing.

Is there a good AV Reciever that will power those speakers, really is the main question.  yes i agree that a good pre w/amp is the best way to go which is what i'm doing in the theater room.  But looking for simplicity and quality for the family room.  I already have a lot of equipment so trying to keep it to a minimum

Impedance reaches a minimum of 3.65 ohms at 99 Hz and a phase angle of –56.23 degrees at 50 Hz.
Read more at http://www.soundandvision.com/content/bw-803d-speaker-system-ht-labs-measures#M4GiYesABpc1cULl.99

With these sort of impedances and -phase angles in the bass, you'll need an AV receiver that's special with good current. Not your mainstream ones. Look to Krell and such for an AV receiver that will get the best out of your 803's

Cheers George 

If your not worried about Dolby atmos or DTS X check out the Primare SPA23 4KVM AV. The Anthem MRX 1120, Marantz SR 7011 or Arcam AV 860 would be A/V Rec to check out.

titannero,

803D's are amazing speakers.  This may sound crazy but have you consider SONOS? I switched from receiver based 5.1 system in my family and living rooms to SONOS. This is by far the best 2K investment I'hv made based on sound and convenience.  Plus you get the streaming capabilities of great sounding music. I love the clutter free / decor friendly wireless setup and the system sounds amazing on 2-ch music and movies alike.  

My SONOS system in each of these rooms consist of,
PLAYBAR, SUB and a pair of PLAY:1.  

The cost of each room setup was $2100 including Optical digital cable and mounting brackets.   

Happy Holidays!!!

I seriously doubt there is any A/V receiver that can power the 803D adequately. They need a very stable high current amp.

Not true at all the Arcam is a very high current receiver, we use these in the shop I work at Audio Doctor, Jersey City, and the Arcam has the ability to drive any load we throw at at and sounds great in the process, the only caveat is it is a $6,000.00 receiver, it can deliver the power no problem.

Class G and Class H employ dual power rails so they can alternate between a high bias class A for low wattage and switch to very high current Class A/B  for demanding passages and they can handle low impedance loads. 

Audio Control's new line of Receivers made in the same factory as the Arcam employs an even more sophisticated Class H amplifying stage and we prefer it even over the Arcam, either way two of the best receivers on the market. 

We sell quite a number of high end surround receivers, give my friend and boss Dave a call at the shop 877 428 2873, we sell more brands of high end surround receivers then most dealers including: Nad, Cambridge Audio, Primare, Arcam, Audio Control, and Anthem. Ask for the owner Dave

@titannero

This would be good Parsound Halo John Curl design 60amp current, bi-polar output, 250w x 5ch, use whatever your HT receiver as the preamp still.

http://www.parasound.com/a51.php

Cheers George

I agree with George on the Parasound amp.  Just make sure your AVR has a full set of preouts and you'll be in business. 

After reading i was also considering doing a Martanz AV8801 for this room with a Sunfire Cinema Grand. 

Thoughts? 

After reading i was also considering doing a Martanz AV8801 for this room with a Sunfire Cinema Grand.

Marantz is good, but those B&W 803D's would be far better served with the Parasound Halo A51.

Cheers George  

The Parasound for a family room puts me at an astronomical price vs the sunfire which is why i was considering that route 

titannero, you have a very good speaker in the 803 Diamond, it would be a shame not to partner it with an amp that is probably going to drive it almost as good as it can be, for not too much money relative to what's best for it.

Cheers George