Hi all,
I recently picked up some B&W 802ds and looking to upgrade my amplification as I need more power to drive these.
Current set up choices are either:
Cyrus 8XPD Qx or Arcam Alpha 10
Cyrus is 70W and Arcam 100W so neither sufficient for these speakers.
I’m looking for an upgrade path from here.
Options I am looking at:
(1) Adding additional Cyrus power amp eg X Power to bi-amp. Benefit is that it is relatively cheap but doesn’t add that much power. Cost c £400
(2) Adding Cyrus X300 signature monoblocs. Add a lot of power but not sure if I can use my Cyrus 8 as a pre amp with these? Cost c £2.5k
(3) completely different set up (eg Classe pre/ AMP2 could be picked up for about 2k)
I’m leaning towards trying to use my Cyrus 8 as it has a built in DAC and I mainly just stream so helpful for that but open to other options.
Thanks for any advice.
Hi which version of the D series are they? I am an owner of 802 D2. Not being funny neither of your current amplification will cut it.
I am not so sure that the x300 will drive them how they can potentially sound. Let me elaborate...
There are no/ any Diamond 802 D1/D2 users that I know of who use anything outside of Mcintosh, Classe or Burmester. There are a number of reasons why. The Diamond series are extremely forward sounding at least the D1/D2 series are. We are literally talking about putting the musical performance smack bang in your face. There are some sonic differences between the 802 D1 and 802 D2. The D1 variants are brighter than the D2's.
The bass on the 802 is a lot and lesser amplifiers can't control it. 801 d2 in comparison is more controlled. The 802 D2 are for the people who love a lot of bass.
The impedance can drop as low as 1.8 ohms and is an extremely tough amp to drive.
The speaker is very very picky about amps. Hence why most owners stick to Mcintosh, Burmester or Classe. Lets take a dive into each brands pro and cons. I have never came across a speaker before which sounds terrible with everything else regardless of cost besides those 3 brands. Tried a 8k integrated which didn't sound all that bad with it. But just didn't make them sing.
So a Bowers Diamonds speaker is extremely sterile sounding, it's not a musical speaker like say a Pm-1 or the old 805 signature series speaker. So most diamond owners go with amplification go with something that adds a bit of tonal warmth/smoothness. Take the Mcintosh lovely tonal sound but I never liked the bass handling of really really bass heavy tracks. Could never control the bass like a Burmester or Classe could. Fine for jazz, easy listening type of music. you would also need the monoblocks to drive the diamonds. Would cost you quite a bit. Probably around 10k for the latest monos although you could buy used on the older monos.
Classe Nice smooth sound and controls the bass quite nicely although I did find it lacked that oomph for my tastes. Prices are pretty reasonable and you could certainly do it on a more wallet friendly budget. I liked the Mcintosh sound more overall even though it didn't tick all of the boxes for me.
Then we have Burmester. The most expensive of the three options listed. It far more expensive than the McIntosh but probably the one that ticks most of the boxes. It very smooth sounding but not as tonally warm as the Mcintosh. I do like tonally warm sounding setups in general but this was just so sublime. ANd it handled the Diamonds bass and the extreme nature of the diamonds forward sounding musical performance the best out of the three. You would be look at the likes of something like 911 mk3 or 2x956 mk2. The 911 mk3 is more capable then the 2x956 mk 2 but it is a lot more.
There maybe some viable other alternatives that I have not tried the the Audio Research Mono's or maybe pass labs (although they run stupidly hot).
I am not gonna lie. It been a total pain in the butt on my journey with 802 D's but the end sounding result has been worth it. It has terribly hard to make them really sing. Far more than other speakers/setups I have owned. But in general I have always found that to be true of the Bowers speakers compared to say other manufacturers. When I was looking for a speaker many moons ago before I got the Diamonds the other one I had shortlisted was the JBL 4355 fully restored from Kenrick Sound, Japan. I even got in touch with them to find about cost, shipping, warranty service and all that.
And as you are about to find out way way more costlier than other setups you have owned. The world is your oyster when it comes to pre-amp/dac but you should be aware you have a fairly high end speaker and it very nature sound wise will expose your setup unapologetically.
If you have any other quieries feel free to msg me either here or personal message.
I also forgot to add when doing the post in the early hours I have been a Cyrus user in the past so am fairly familiar with the sound.
As for pre-amps/dacs I have had good experience when using the chord hugo dac TT and all sorts ranging from £400-£14k that I have owned and from long term ownership. The chord dac was affordable and more than capable. While the Diamonds are kinda old now and have been surpassed by the Wilson Sofias and Martens speakers in terms of resolving the sound and transparency it was at one time the most used speaker in recording studios and post sound production.
Can the Cyrus 8 you own do it justice? Not even close but can you enjoy it is an entirely different question.
Whenever someone ask should I get the old D1/D2 variants I always tell them no.
They are picky about placement, they are picky about amps and requires at least 5 figures invested into it. Go onto google and search for any 801/802 D2 setup and none of those setups are sub £20k.
Even used the speakers hold their value the current market price average is around 5.5k-6.5k.
