[Rod_S]

Hello;

I am looking for some advice in amp choice and would appreciate some opinions. I am about to get the new Bowers & Wilkins 802 Diamonds and once those are completely paid off I am thinking of doing one of two things, one would be to continue upgrading the rest of my speakers to the new Diamond series or hold off on that a bit and get new amps for the 802s. For amps I am looking at going from my 4B-SST to either 2 7B-SST² amps or 2 28B-SST² amps. The specs for the speakers are:

Sensitivity of 90dB spl (2.83V, 1m)
Nominal impedance of 8Ω (minimum 3.5Ω)
Recommended amp power 50w-500w
Frequency response of 34Hz – 28kHz ±3dB on reference axis

Would going with the 28s make a noticeable difference in sound?

Thanks,

Rod

[Laundrew]

Greetings Rod 

Will you mostly be using the system for home theatre or 2 channel music?

Be well...

[95Dyna]

Hi Rod,

Forgive me in advance for taking a dry, boring, unemotional approach to your question.  I'm assuming since you borrowed the money for the speakers that money is at least an important consideration.  You will certainly hear subtle but noticeable performance advantages with the 28's as well you should for the $8K premium. The question is will it be commensurate with the almost 100% premium.  Most would place the improvement at 10% +/-.  If it were me I would go with the 7's and get an $8K leg up on converting the rest of your speakers to the B & W's.

Regards,

Bill

[Rod_S]

Greetings Rod 

Will you mostly be using the system for home theatre or 2 channel music?

Be well...

Mostly for home theater

Thanks

[Rod_S]

Hi Rod,

Forgive me in advance for taking a dry, boring, unemotional approach to your question.  I'm assuming since you borrowed the money for the speakers that money is at least an important consideration.  You will certainly hear subtle but noticeable performance advantages with the 28's as well you should for the $8K premium. The question is will it be commensurate with the almost 100% premium.  Most would place the improvement at 10% =/-.  If it were me I would go with the 7's and get an $8K leg up on converting the rest of your speakers to the B & W's.

Regards,

Bill

Thanks Bill, very fine advice, both financial and practical.

[mclsound]

Absolutely ""NOT"" the 28's on 802(800d is a yes) and in HT at that.
just my opinion Rod
I have heard the 802d's with a 14bsst and Krell 402(didnt love the sound with either really) and a pair of Mac 501 mono's(stupid$$$$$$$) and for HT the 7bsst(non squared) is all you will need(my opinion-save $$$)...

.......BUT if you do alot of 2ch,then sell everything and get a pair of 28's and the 800D's

[Laundrew]

Mostly for home theater

Thanks

In this case, I would stay with the 7B SST² amplifiers and as Bill said earlier, put the cash you would save toward your speakers. I have a pair of 28B SST² amplifiers that I very much enjoy daily for 2 channel music but I would not use them for home theatre applications.

Be well…

[werd]

Hi

If Ht is most important... (and i think the 28's would be a definite strategy upgrade for those 802's). I would concentrate more on your front end and look at maybe the SP-3, if it every comes out, over power amps. Different HT control centers is where a big improvement will be had when considering your priorities.

[drummermitchell]

I use my 28's for both,but knowing my 7B-sst(which I use for my centre)is no slouch,
If I  could get the  speakers that I'd be happy with for a long time,then I'd probably go with the 7's.
Butttt I don't have to,so I'll probably upgrade my 7sst to a 28(just cause).
                       Whatever you think will make YOU happy,THAT's THE TICKET .

[vegasdave]

7B or 14B.

[Rod_S]

Hi

If Ht is most important... (and i think the 28's would be a definite strategy upgrade for those 802's). I would concentrate more on your front end and look at maybe the SP-3, if it every comes out, over power amps. Different HT control centers is where a big improvement will be had when considering your priorities.

I have no issues with my front end so I'm good there and taken care of. My center channel is the new Bowers & Wilkins HTM2 Diamond and my SSP is a Lexicon MC-12BEQ and will be upgraded to the new platform when it gets released, hopefully this year. I guess that's something else I totally forgot to mention, the new Lexicon will take priority over any additional speakers or amps are purchased providing it's released or officially announced at least with a date on or before I have my 802s paid for.

[Rod_S]

Thanks for all of the replies. I agree, if I was getting the 800 Diamonds the 28B would be a no brainer especially because their power rating is higher than the 802s and are rated up to 1000 watts.

I definitely love my music but home theater is my priority and with the Lexicon I listen almost exclusively in surround using Logic 7 even for stereo sources like CDs. It's possible that might change once I get the 802 diamonds as they are a huge step up from my Paradigm Reference Studio 100v2. Going from the Paradigm Reference Studio CCv2 to the HTM2 Diamond was an astonishing improvement, I made that upgrade in February.

[Rod_S]

Would it be worth while down the road to power my HTM2 Diamond with a 7 as well or is my 6B SST enough? The specs are:

Sensitivity of 90dB spl (2.83V, 1m)
Nominal impedance of 8Ω (minimum 3.5Ω)
Recommended amp power 50w-300w
Frequency response of 41Hz – 28kHz ±3dB on reference axis

Thanks

[budt]

 That is WAY WAY over kill (imo) and not necessary at all, 125 watts is more than enough...
  get a bryston bp26 preamp.That will make a HUGE difference over any pre/pro.Then after that get a good source. I can't stress the importance of the pre enough.

[Laundrew]

That is WAY WAY over kill (imo) and not necessary at all, 125 watts is more than enough...
 

My SR-19 Marantz receiver is in around the 100 watt power range and I find that this works great in our home theatre system - loads of power.

Be well...

[Mag]

That is WAY WAY over kill (imo) and not necessary at all, 125 watts is more than enough...
  get a bryston bp26 preamp.That will make a HUGE difference over any pre/pro.Then after that get a good source. I can't stress the importance of the pre enough.

I respectfully disagree, another assumption the dedicated 2 channel trumps MC HT application.

If setup properly and I don't know why it wouldn't be, it will put to shame most 2 channel rigs. So if it makes sense to beef up a 2 channel rig, it makes more sense to beef up his HT rig that kicks 2 channel butt!!

[budt]

  Well, that is your opinion and of course you are entitled to it BUT MOST recordings are 2 channel.I have owned some top flight pre/pros and they cannot compare to a dedicated stereo preamp like the Bryston BP26(imo).

[Mag]

From what I read the Lexicon is used in Rolls Royce cars, so you know right there its a good product. The MC-12EQ is over $10,000 with a recent price reduction, that  maximizes 2 channel sources to MC.

Dang, I'm envious, that's gotta sound sweet!

[VOLKS]

From what I read the Lexicon is used in Rolls Royce cars, so you know right there its a good product.

lol i dont know about that....Bose speakers are found factory installed in Porsche/Maserati and Cadillac.....just cause a product is mixed in with a High End brand.......that doesent make it "High End" in any way,cause Bose is NOT in the same league as the Cars they are in.

[Rod_S]

lol i dont know about that....Bose speakers are found factory installed in Porsche/Maserati and Cadillac.....just cause a product is mixed in with a High End brand.......that doesent make it "High End" in any way,cause Bose is NOT in the same league as the Cars they are in.

I really hope you are not comparing Bose to Lexicon because that would be one major insult to Lexicon