Shmick141 Posted December 1, 2019 Share Posted December 1, 2019 Can anybody suggest a suitable amp for the B&W 703'S2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irek Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Budget? New or second hand? Any extras (DAC, streamer)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janjuggler Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 (edited) Hi, Rotel amps usually pair well with B&W speakers, and depending on room size and requirements there is the RB 1552 Mk II @ 120w/channel or the RB 1582 Mk II @ 200w/channel. Also what @Irek said. There is a 350w/channel Rotel Power Amp in the classifieds, in Melbourne for $2900 JJ Edited December 2, 2019 by Janjuc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJGopal Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Depends on budget. Rotel is a great value for money option and pairs well, Plinius will take them to the next level... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenden_G Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 I currently have an Emotiva XPA2 Gen3. Good value for money, plenty of clean power to drive most things. It is pretty weighty and runs very cool which is nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmick141 Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 Looking for new Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessandkerry Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Said to be similar to the 702 to drive, this means it will need an amp that has good current delivery in the bass, especially in the low bass where the -phase angle is quite severe. Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_mike Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 I've heard these with a Musical Fidelity A3cr and it was very good match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeming42 Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 I have the B&W 683 S2's with a Rotel RC 1590 pre and a Rotel RB 1552 Mk 2 works really well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Macfarlane Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 On 01/12/2019 at 6:55 PM, Shmick141 said: Can anybody suggest a suitable amp for the B&W 703'S2 I agree that the Rotel power amps are a good match for the B&W speakers however after 10 ish years of owning 703's I think the 1582 ia an absolute minimum to get the best out of them. When I originally got the speakers I was using an RB1080 which is very similar to the current 1582 and found the sound underwhelming , I also had a Yamaha M60 which while better than the 1080 at low levels it simply didn't have the drive capability once the volume was turned up. Eventually I got a Rotel Mich RHB10 and that drove the speakers beautifully. The nearest equivalent in Rotels current line up is the RB 1590 at $4000 here in Australia. The 'on paper' output of the 1080 and Michi are very similar but the Michi has a much bigger power supply which I believe is the key to making these speakers work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanRM Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 I have had B&W CM10 s2 for a few years and originally used an Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 3 but they never sounded right. The Emotiva amp went Phht one day during a listening session and the local repair guy here in Canberra said it might take some time to get parts as it needed a new switch mode power supply. Being impatient I went looking for an upgrade and settled on one of Arthur Rappos’ Elektra HD Reference two channel amplifiers. The change was very obvious.... the bass is much better and the sound I get from the speakers is much much better. I am a big fan of Elektra now! BTW, still have the Emotiva and it is doing a great job in the home theatre setup. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoOneHasThisUserName Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Hi, I have a pair of CM10 s2, and am running them with the Rotel RC/RB-1590 combo. No shortage of power — it stays clean at levels where it’s too (painful) loud to stay in the room. For sources, I use an Allo USBridge into the preamp DAC (using Roon), or a technics 1200 with an Ortofon 2M Black. To my ears, It sounds great. Only criticism is that it needs a bit of volume to bring things to life, but I think this is more about the speakers than the amp. For perspective, I also have the integrated RA-1592 into a pair of B&W 600s (the big ones). That’s 200W, so not short of heft either. But the 1590 power amp is clearly ahead. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 (edited) I've had a fair bit of B&W stuff in the past, and the CM9/CM10's do like to be driven. They are not a particularly sensitive speaker and they do sound their best when pushed. Bookshelf B&W's on the other hand, you need to be a bit careful. Yes there's a story You'd want 200w/ch ideally. I run my CM10Mk2 with a 450w/ch amp and they really do sound great when being driven @ around 200w. I've pushed them to 400w on a few occasions and they took a solid beating without smoking the coils. Can't say the PM1's like the same punishment Rotel 200w amp is a really good choice. Edited December 9, 2019 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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