Scotty, I gotta have more cowbell!

[aardvarkbark]

or so I would imagine Christopher Walken barking to the Enterprise Chief Engineer in an amalgam of classic TV lines when attempting to drive 803 D2s with an 125 wpc integrated.

All the comments about B&W requiring power appear to be valid.

Enter Pass INT-250 and oh my my...

Lenny has invited the bass section back into the hall

Jarrett and DeJohnette have let Peacock out of the cloak room to play with them on the same stage

the bass posts ARE connected to the drivers

my sternum does have nerves attached.....

Sounds like I spent the last few hundred hours breaking in only half of my speakers. The tweeters and mid-range drivers are razzing the woofers telling them it's about time they did some work around here.

Bass extension aside (as welcome as it is), the Pass has eliminated the edge ('harshness', 'brittleness'?) that the Ayre AX5Twenty was imparting, but without loss of sufficient detail. Also, much more breadth, depth and height.

What a treat when things work together well. (source remains Esoteric K03X).

[soastrup]

I can imagine how good this feels and fully agree with your comment on power. I ran the Nautilus 802 with a 100w integrated Gryphon for years before switching to Musical Fidelity M8. Every aspect of sound quality improved particularly in the bass region. Sensitivity is only part of the issue when selecting power plants! (In my cottage I run a set of second hand 803S with the MF M5 which I chose over the M3 to make sure I dont run out of steam.) Enjoy.

[aardvarkbark]

I hadn't really considered just how dependent speaker reviews are on the amp they're mated with (and vice versa, I imagine). I previously had the 803S's mated with Classe Delta integrated and CD player. A decade ago, I auditioned those together before buying and liked the detail. I couldn't justify the premium price for the diamonds at the time, but when such glowing reviews of the D2's came out, figured those would be my next upgrade, though I had read some criticism on forum posts about how the diamond tweeters seemed overly bright.

When I decided to grab one of the last NIB 803D2's following the release of the D3's, I figured I'd replace amp and source too. Initial impression was thin bass and brittle highs and upper mids, but I was told these would correct with break-in. But that never happened. After 600+ hours of play, I was pretty sure it never would.

I decided I'd replace the amp first, so the hunt began for an integrated with more power, and I also started exploring speakers which were reported to have warmer high end. I'm glad I went one piece at a time, and started with the amp.

These 803 D2's are absolutely fantastic. With the new amp in place, bass was a little boomy at first, but it finally was there. Fifty hours later, it's tightened up, and the sound across the entire spectrum is delightful, especially the mellowed high end. No brittleness at all.

But had I not changed amp, I wouldn't know what these B&W's are capable of sounding like. It really calls into question the whole auditioning process. If one doesn't have the benefit of finding a dealer with the speakers and amp of choice, one won't know for sure if those same speakers will sound with the amp at home, not to mention the impact of room difference. What an eye (and ear) opener.

[joey_v]

That's the beauty about these later BW.... they really take the shape of the upstreams. I hear ya about the amps. Once I plugged in my Boulder, there was no turning back.

Whatever I thought my previous 802D2 could do with regards to my previous Classe M600 and Cary 211Fe amps were blown to smithereens.