used amp or amps for B&W 801's in home theater

You may want to clarify which 801 model you are talking about. I think there have been at least three: Matrix 801, 801 Nautilus, and 801D. In any event, if you are thinking of tube amplification, don't. For any 801, you'll be better served with solid state. You are not going to want to skimp on power. Probably the more power, the better. As for brand, conventional wisdom is that B&W speakers sound best with Classe or McIntosh amps. But I am sure there are other good possibilities. For example, I use a Musical Fidelity M6PRX (which is a 2 channel amp) with my 804 Diamonds, and it's a very satisfying match. Since the headline in your post indicates home theater, you may also want to clarify how may channels you need to amplify.

clarification... 801 nautilus, the first series after the matrix.. i was just thinking about amping the 801's and use my receiver for the center and rears. volume should remain the same if i just amp the fronts.correct? or if i just amp the fronts will they over power the rest of the system?

Gz3827

"For any 801, you'll be better served with solid state."

Not totally true. The 801F sounded amazing with an Audio Research D-79B.

"Probably the more power, the better."

Again not totally true. The best I have heard 801s was with 100 watt Class A monos in a very large room.

Being just a 2 channel fellow without any real HT experience, I don't know the answer to your question about the volume implication of using your a/v receiver to power your center and rears while using a separate power amp for the fronts. Hopefully someone else can chime in on that. Going back to your original post, you may find some other good amp ideas by searching out old online reviews on the 801 Nautilus as reviewers often include commentary amplifier matching. Best of luck!

home theater please not two channel.

For your home theater use you will use your pre-outs on the Elite to interconnect to your power amp which will drive your B&W...I would suggest nothing less than 250wpc to run those speakers. There is all kinds of discussion on which because of the sound they produce etc and its really towards the ear you have for music and sound reproduction. For the movie experience its really not going to matter as much because movies are recorded a bit differently and your Elite will drive those sounds to its destination accordingly. You can use mono amps as well like Bel Cantos or McIntosh that will drive those speakers with ease. I personally use B&K reference 200.7 to run my speakers using the preouts on my Elite because I need the extra juice to drive them.

Are the B&W 801 or 802 over kill for Home theater only? Also what model number for the amps?

Overkill??? If you are just looking for home theater and you do not have a designated home theater room per say and this is going to be integrated within your family room..yes this might be overkill IMHO. You could be just as well off with a nice pair of B&W CDM series or the 602 or 603 series bookshelfs on stands with a nice sub for the low end and a matching center channel speaker which is very important in home theater. I was very happy with this type of setup for my movies until I went 2 channel for more of a musical setup.

If you are looking towards the amps for the 801s I would suggest Bel Canto REF500s or McIntosh MC252

home theater dedicated room 25' by 25' all open but use half for pool.

Jiminee crickets...A room that size you will need two subs or at minimum a JL Audio Fathom 13 or SVS PB13 Ultra just to achieve the bass from movies. No speaker can fill a room that size with authority or support of bass management. If going the B&W route I would highly suggest the HTM1 center channel and get a three channel amp to run power to your 801s and the center channel. I suggest the McIntosh MC303 as it will be your power source to run these efficiently.

I was on a tight budget when I bought my used 801f's. I tried some Carver amps and they were pitiful, a transister pocket radio would have been as good. Then I got an Adcom 555 and the sound was amazing. Not extreme high end but it sounded like it was. But DO NOT believe any mfg's claims of "peak" power on an amp, what these speakers need is brute power on a sustained basis.

Baran, I don't understand. You say you're looking for amps for the 801s and using your receiver to drive the center and rear channels, then you say "please no two channel". ?!?

If a stereo or pair of mono blocs may be considered, the best "bang for the buck" combination I've heard with the 801s (in an audio system, not home theater) was a pair of Eagle EKSC 400 mono blocs. They fully controlled the big B&W woofers and presented an overall musical and detailed sound stage. Should be available for well under $2K.