Stereo Amp for B&W 685

[Flash]

My Partner is heading to HongKong on the 9th for 5 days. I have asked him to pick up a Stereo Amp for me


My Question is
Which Stereo Amp would pair well with the B&W 685. ?
This would basically be a blind purchase as I will not be able to audition the amps
I am contemplating Marantz PM6004/PM7004 for now
What are my other options in a similar price band that would match the B&W685.
Source for now is a TEAC CDP , but will add a decent CDP later + a dedicated PC for Stereo which i will as a transport and will either use ASUS Essensce ST/STX or Esi Jul@


NOTE : Budget for Integrated Stereo Amp is a constraint:sad:

 

[spirovious]

B&W matches well with Rotel.

 

[deepakgang]

I have heard that Rotel Amps pairs well with B&W. Did you search the forum - I remember a similar topic being discussed few months ago.

 

[deepakgang]

@spirovious - You beat me!

 

[Flash]

B&W matches well with Rotel.

@Spiro, Yes my first thoughts were Rotel. They match perfectly with B&W's match made in Heaven . However the price puts me off. Basically you get a lot less as compared to similar priced products

@Deepak, I guess I kinda missed that . However considering my budget and lets assume we rule Rotel out of the picture as well as Marantz since thats my first choice.

Since the B&W 685 is somewhat of a warm speaker which other amps can I look at ?
I will pick up my amp on what you guys say. A complete blind purchase.

 

[doors666]

why dont you goto some B&W showroom and give it a listen. AVI in bangalore has both. I dont know where u are located.

I personally never liked rotel or the B&W-rotel combo. Its more of a marketing BS as far as I am concerned. Now maybe the story is different for the 8 series with the high end rotels. I find most of the rotels I've heard as too dry, kinda like the life of the music got sucked out. I suggest you give it a listen before you decide on rotel.

 

[tirthankar]

I have read good things about roksan kandy k2 and rega brio r with b&w.
Also i dont have any idea about 2nd hand market over there but the quad prepower and b&w is said to mate very well.

My 2 cents..

 

[Flash]

why dont you goto some B&W showroom and give it a listen. AVI in bangalore has both. I dont know where u are located.

I personally never liked rotel or the B&W-rotel combo. Its more of a marketing BS as far as I am concerned. Now maybe the story is different for the 8 series with the high end rotels. I find most of the rotels I've heard as too dry, kinda like the life of the music got sucked out. I suggest you give it a listen before you decide on rotel.

Thanks .
Yes I have Rotel with B&W and kinda the same observation. Dark and too safe. as u rightly said with the lower end Rotel's as just hype, basically lofi products with the price of midfi.
I am based in Pune rite now and will start auditioning Stereo Amps
I have shortlisted
1. NAD 356
2. Audiolab
3. Marantz PM6004/7004
4. Yamaha A-S500/A-S700
5. ?????
any further suggestions

 

[Kittu]

You can add Arcam also to the list.

 

[CeeKay]

Doors,

Can you expand AVI and let me know the location.

Thanks
Charan

AVI in bangalore has both.

 

[tirthankar]

Doors,

Can you expand AVI and let me know the location.

Thanks
Charan

I think that will be Audio Vision India
audiovisionindia.com/contact/

 

[harsha64]

i recently bought marantz pm6004 for my B&W 685,ppl suggest rotel because its the sister company of B&W so they prefer the parent company, i did not buy rotel because i thought it would be to bright for my taste but i liked the design though and i did not get marantz 7004 because i have a small room..
^^^ he cannot get roksan k2 because 685 has a max power handling of 100 watts and k2 is a 125 watt amp.

 

[mpw]

i recently bought marantz pm6004 for my B&W 685,ppl suggest rotel because its the sister company of B&W so they prefer the parent company, i did not buy rotel because i thought it would be to bright for my taste but i liked the design though and i did not get marantz 7004 because i have a small room..
^^^ he cannot get roksan k2 because 685 has a max power handling of 100 watts and k2 is a 125 watt amp.

============================================

why cant he get the roksan ? because of more power ?

Amps capable of bit more power delivery that specified by the speakers can be actually better. Underpowered amps ( as compared to speaker requirement ) can be a bother.


rgds,
mpw

 

[Flash]

i recently bought marantz pm6004 for my B&W 685,ppl suggest rotel because its the sister company of B&W so they prefer the parent company, i did not buy rotel because i thought it would be to bright for my taste but i liked the design though and i did not get marantz 7004 because i have a small room..
^^^ he cannot get roksan k2 because 685 has a max power handling of 100 watts and k2 is a 125 watt amp.

I agree with mpw.. using a higher power amp will not damage the speaker. Infact even using a 200 watt amp with a 100 watt speaker is perfect . More Amp power would be preferable .

However price does come into the picture .

Can you please Share your experience of the Marantz , B&W synergy.
The B&W685 is warm by nature. Does the marantz combo sound too warm or dark or would it be better to go in for a brighter amp.
Any idea how much the Roksan K2 costs here in India ?

 

[S.P.KRISHNA]

Flash.
I personally auditioned cambridge AZUR 650A, AS 500 & maarantz pm 6003 amps with B&W 685. None of these amps made them alive. But once they were switched to ROtel they have come alive. These speakers requires more power to drive . If you want to retain the speakers choose ROTEL , NAIM/NAIT Etc. If you choose Marantz / yamaha / cambridge etc then change the speakers for justification.

 

[spirovious]

i did not buy rotel because i thought it would be to bright for my taste but i liked the design though and i did not get marantz 7004 because i have a small room..
.

Well when I heard Rotel RA05 & 06 with B&W BS last time ,they sounded beautiful & balanced to my ears.It was some English instrumental.
well A.R.Rehman's CD was not sounding that good.I found some dullness.It may be due rotel cdp which is not considered as best by many reviewrs.

 

[Flash]

Flash.
I personally auditioned cambridge AZUR 650A, AS 500 & maarantz pm 6003 amps with B&W 685. None of these amps made them alive. But once they were switched to ROtel they have come alive. These speakers requires more power to drive . If you want to retain the speakers choose ROTEL , NAIM/NAIT Etc. If you choose Marantz / yamaha / cambridge etc then change the speakers for justification.

Blunt and precise I appreciate it.
I have read a lot of Rotel and B&W synergy
Which Rotel amp were the 685's paired with.
Hopefully its within my budget.

 

[hifipal4all]

B&Ws are unique from other brands. It is not so easy to get the best out of it unless & until you try and succeed in getting the right matching component. But once you are done, it can outperform almost 90% of other brand speakers in its price league.

Priority for the B&Ws is POWER followed by QUALITY. Either you have to pair them with a high powered integrated amp or with a pre-power combo. Later would be better bcoz you would have options to try/upgrade different preamps/poweramps.

I personally own a B&W 603 S3 floorstanders (150 watts @ 8 ohms, 89db sensitivity) for about 5 years & I had the opportunity to try them with the following electronics.

Mark Levinson 380S pre / 484 mono blocks
Bryston BP25 pre / 7BSST mono blocks
Roksan Caspian M1 series pre/power
Sugden A28 pre / Lexicon 212 poweramp
Plinius 9200 Integrated

Well its quite obvious that sound signature would differ with each component but overall, all of them sounded very good. I personally liked the Roksan combo over the others and the Roksans that I listened were Made in UK. The latest models are not made in UK and I personally feel they are not powerful as per the product specifications.

Currently I have paired my B&Ws with a DIY tube preamplifier & a NAD 216 THX power amplfier (125 watts @ 8 ohms per channel) & it sounds decent. I am extremely satisfied with my preamp but I will be upgrading my power amp to a (200 to 250 watts per channel) poweramp bcoz with a higher power amp I have clearly noticed that there is a considerable difference in detailing & dynamics at a very low volume level.

In the mid-level segment, bcoz of their high-current design the NAD power amps are good at handling high powered speakers even though the refinement of sound is not as clean as high-end poweramps but this deficiency can be balanced with a good preamp & a right interconnects & speaker cables.

Cheers

 

[net_cmd]

Agree with hifipal4all.

Try a pre+power combination. I use Quad Pre+Power amps to drive my B&W's.

Cheers

 

[harsha64]

============================================

why cant he get the roksan ? because of more power ?

Amps capable of bit more power delivery that specified by the speakers can be actually better. Underpowered amps ( as compared to speaker requirement ) can be a bother.

oops..all this time i thought a higher power amp would fry the speaker..

@ flash.. i just got the amp, i still did not connect it..i have to go and get the wires and all..