B & W speakers

[kohill]

I was at my local Rotel dealer the other day. I wanted to listen to a RB 1080 amp. They don't sell Klipsch. So it was B & W. I listened to 601's, 603's, and 703's. Very nice sounding speakers. A little pricy, but I wouldn't turn down a pair. The amp was wonderful, I need one. (or at least I want one)

[Speedball]

Our local dealer sells Rotel and B&W together. The 803's are an amazing speaker.

[jdm56]

I've got 703's myself. I'm very happy with them so far, but they definitely need more juice than klipsch. Mine go plenty loud enough for me, though.

Before I got mine, I listened to the Klipsch RB-75 and the B&W 601, 602, 604, CDM-1NT, the 805 and the 703. I guess the fact I ended up with the 703 pretty much says it all - I thought they were the best value of all, although the 604 was darned good at about half the price. Still, the 700 series has that something extra, a three-dimensionality that I thought the 600 series lacked, yet for quite a bit less moolah than the 800's.

[arthurs]

I have N802's, N804's for rears and an HTM1 center. They'll cart these out of my house only after the ME pronounces me. Even then, they'll be some splainin to my wife...the RSW-15 is a lifer here as well.

[Mighty Favog]

kohill-

I'm using an RB1080 amp with a pair of KLF20's (most other front end equipment is McIntosh).

The RB1080 is indeed a nice amp for the money. I think I paid about $900 for mine two or three years ago. Nice solid bass and sound staging when the right speaker position is found. It did get a little hot to the touch when I first got it but from what I've read that just might be from it breaking in. It's better now.

The only thing I DON'T like about it is that it looses almost all it's low end, sound staging, live presence etc. until the volume is turned up a bit. So the times I want to listen to music while reading a book can be distracting from the print in front of me. And for speakers that have a 100db sensitivity that can get a little loud before the sound comes alive.

I'd really like to have a Mac MC202 to replace it but today I'm just a bill sitting on Capitol Hill.

Just some thoughts to consider....

[kohill]

Tom, So should I go with something smaller? I'm going to use the amp to power the front channels of my HT. They are currently RB-5's, but I thought if I bought a big enough amp I could upgrade to anything and still drive them. Even though these are fronts in my HT, I still listen to music 95% of the time. Thanks Kevin

[jwc]

Guys, I had an interesting experience. My wife and I were contemplating a puchase of B & W Nautilus 801's. My wife loves they way they look. I have good relations with a dealer locally since I have bought a bunch of McIntosh stuff there.

We took in some CD's from home and listened to several songs on the 801's. They were run by the MAC MX135 and MX402. No sub runnin.

We really expected to drop about 8 grand on these. Strange enough, we wern't too overwhelmed with the sound. Yes they sounded outstanding but not like I had expected.

I own a pair of Klipsch La scalas with ALK networks made by AL. Honestly, the mids and highs were about par with the 801's. The bass was waaaayy better on the 801's.

Now I'm not here to make the statement that the upgraded heritage series is in the same league as the high end B&W Nautilus. This was just our experience.

jc

[Mighty Favog]

Kev,You would be fine with the RB5's and the RB1080. Just don't expect too much at low volume levels. If you used speakers that were a little less efficient (low to mid 90's db) that problem would probably disappear.One thing I did do was using the balanced inputs on the amp being converted be a pair of unbalanced to balanced adaptors (my preamp only has unbalanced connections) and wherever else I could do so in the system. It lowered the noise floor quite a bit and added some resistance. Sounds weird but it worked. I bought them at a recording studio store near me (http://www.icbaudio.com ) for around $6 each.

As far as upgrading speaker later on, it shouldnt be a problem with this amp. Just remember how to figure sensitivity to volume ratio:

With an 87db/1watt/1 meter speaker it looks like this:

87db = 1 watt

90db = 2 watts

93db = 4

96db = 8

99db = 16

102db = 32

105db = 64

108db = 128 (you won't be going this loud)

111db = 256 (are you nuts!)

With a 100db/1watt/1 meter speaker it looks like this:

100db = 1 watt

103db = 2 watts

106db = 4

109db = 8

111db = 16

So for every 3db increase in volume, the power required is doubled. However there are the occasional transients that need some extra power and also for the occasional fluctuation in resistance. That's why it's good to have a little overkill in power. So since the RB1080 is capable of 200wpc (conservatively rated) it would be a balance of having enough reserve power for the high demand transients to listening to your music at a minimum volume level that clears that darn sound lag at lower volume levels.

Make any sense??

[pauln]

Gooooo Virgil!!!!!!!!!