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2 Channel amp for my B&W 703s2's


tomE

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Morning Team,

 

As the title suggests i am after a power amp for my B&W 703 series2.

I am currently running them with a Marantz 7011 and using an oppo 205 as my cd player (and for what its worth chord odyssey 2 speaker cables)

I have the marantz connected to a 5.1.2 setup in my HT Room and its great but for a flagship receiver i feel it lacks a little in 2 channel listening.

Maybe its not the reciever the B&W may just be a bit more power hungry than i anticipated, wither way i will use the Marantz as a pre and add a power amp to the mix and i am hoping i get the drive i am after.

My research has come up with;

1. Primare a32

2. Rotel 1590

3.  Parasound Halo a21

 

...but i am happy to add a few more to the list and audition them over the coming weeks. I just feel i need a bit of a game play before i have a demo as i tend to get over whelmed and sucked into to a million different directions.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as music and HT is a love but not something i have a lot of knowledge about.

 

Let me know if i can provide any other info that may help; Thanks and enjoy your Sunday

Tommy

 

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I know this must sound crazy but if it was black I would have snapped it up.
All my other gear is black and when you are trying to sneak things in so your wife doesn’t notice... but i will have a listen to one this week and may be swayed.

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I own a Primare I32. I find it quite transparent and detailed. Bass is tight and deep. I think they are very good value also and well built.

My system comprises  Primare CD21, SRM TT with Rega 220 and Goldring 2100. Primare I32 into Monitor Audio Sliver 8s. No special speaker cables.

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Look into that RB-1590, beast of a power amp, I use RB-1581 monos on 805D3s and it’s pretty bloody good, being that the 1590 is newer, it might even be better. 

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I own a Primare I32. I find it quite transparent and detailed. Bass is tight and deep. I think they are very good value also and well built.
My system comprises  Primare CD21, SRM TT with Rega 220 and Goldring 2100. Primare I32 into Monitor Audio Sliver 8s. No special speaker cables.

I am a fan of the Primare gear.
Great system btw
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Look into that RB-1590, beast of a power amp, I use RB-1581 monos on 805D3s and it’s pretty bloody good, being that the 1590 is newer, it might even be better. 

Yeah I am fired up to check the 1590 out. Might check out your monos whilst I’m at it.
I had the 1080 back in the day it was built like a tank!
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Quick update, had a listen to the Primare a32 today and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, very impressive!
Don’t want to jump the gun but I think it is going to be tough to beat- but I will look at a few more for peace of
mind.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi tomE,

 

Can you elaborate a bit more on your experience with the Primare e32 and how does it compare with your Marantz AVR? Everywhere I have read the B&W are generally power hungry and the more power they get the better they sound. My experience is with my Luxman 590ax can drive it pretty easily, at -42db it gets pretty loud/detailed perhaps bit bright and decent bass from 2.5m siting distance. I am still running in the speakers (< 10hrs play time) so I can only imagine it gets better.

 

I am very intrigue on what a 200w+ per channel would deliver on the 703 s2 as I have not experience it yet and will be following your search with high interest :)

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Hi @Nhuhoai

Sorry for the slow response this thread was from early last year.

From my experience the B&W's never complain when you provide therm with more power, so driving them with my marantz 7011 was great for HT use but for 2 channel listening i felt they were not getting the power they needed to sing.

 

So thankyou for the offer @mpearce38 I ended up going down the parasound path and got at A21 power amp and a JC2 pre amp with HT Bypass and havent looked back.

 

I find now I can not only play my music a little louder but the speakers aren't pushing and the sound is more open and much more detailed.

 

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On 13/03/2019 at 11:46 PM, mpearce38 said:

I have my Parasound integrated listed the classifieds atm (in black), welcome to bring your speakers over for a demo.

Ideal suggestion if you have the money for this amp, all Focals need a bit of current from the amp to get the very best out of the bass from them.

 

Cheers George  

Edited by georgehifi
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