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Hi ! First time posting here but have been fan of B&W for quite a while. I have been going though a recent major upgrade/update on my system and finally settled on what I believe it is good configuration but I am still wondering and I appreciate some of your expert advice...
My old system had been 804s for front, HTM1 for center, 805s for rear driven by Proceed PAV/PDSD AMP2/3 sony 9000ES sharp Z9000 (yes...kind of classic by now)...it has been stable for quite a long time but as full HD comes in trend and changing my projector to new VW100, my research triggered me for a major update...now I purchased N802s for front, HTM1 for center, four N805s for sides and rears driven by Lexicon MC8B, Classe CAV-180 for center and rear and CA-400 for the fronts. I will be updating my source unit but waiting for Bluray to come up.
First, I would like to ask your experts opinion on this new configuration and especially about CA-400 for the fronts..if I should have tried for CA-M350 or CAM-250 or at least CA-401 (besides the design matching issue :W ) yes...budget is an issue and I do not think I can afford Omicron or Delta series. I am on 80% movie 20% music.
How would it be considered the difference to drive performance of N802s between CA-400 and CA-M350 or CA-M250 or CA-401 as the generation or products differs? I just hit a very good deal on CA-400 and grabbed it but if the difference is considerable, I would like to sell it after trying to a bit and upgrade to more recent model.
I am also wondering if there is a difference in sonic characteristic between CAV-180 and CA-400 with its difference in generation and being multi-channel vs 2 channel..? Should I have tried CA-401 or other alternatives from this perspective as well?
Second...this is more fundamental question...but how would you compare Classe with ML 3XX series to drive nautilus speakers. (This must be very very classic question in this forum and I did some search but could not get a clear answer...) How would you consider the amp configuration like following....ML332 (or 335) for N802s, ML331 for HTM1 (passive bi-amped) and Proceed BPA x2 for side/rear 805s....This was my alternative configuration with a bit of streached budget and the challenge was what type of amps I can use for the rear to match the fronts...as I can not afford ML all around for 7 channels.
Would it be positive to try mixing up ML and Classe such as ML332 (335) for front and Classe CAV-180 for center/side/rears? I just assume that amps for at least fronts and center should be matched in its sonic characteristics and this might not bring a good front stage continuity...but I would like to hear your opinion.
Excuse me for asking many questions on my first post and I understand I am touching to somewhat subjective area (ML vs Classe type questions) but any of your comments/suggestions are highly appreciated. I do not change my set up so often and would like to make this update worthwhile.
Thank you in advance ;x(
My old system had been 804s for front, HTM1 for center, 805s for rear driven by Proceed PAV/PDSD AMP2/3 sony 9000ES sharp Z9000 (yes...kind of classic by now)...it has been stable for quite a long time but as full HD comes in trend and changing my projector to new VW100, my research triggered me for a major update...now I purchased N802s for front, HTM1 for center, four N805s for sides and rears driven by Lexicon MC8B, Classe CAV-180 for center and rear and CA-400 for the fronts. I will be updating my source unit but waiting for Bluray to come up.
First, I would like to ask your experts opinion on this new configuration and especially about CA-400 for the fronts..if I should have tried for CA-M350 or CAM-250 or at least CA-401 (besides the design matching issue :W ) yes...budget is an issue and I do not think I can afford Omicron or Delta series. I am on 80% movie 20% music.
How would it be considered the difference to drive performance of N802s between CA-400 and CA-M350 or CA-M250 or CA-401 as the generation or products differs? I just hit a very good deal on CA-400 and grabbed it but if the difference is considerable, I would like to sell it after trying to a bit and upgrade to more recent model.
I am also wondering if there is a difference in sonic characteristic between CAV-180 and CA-400 with its difference in generation and being multi-channel vs 2 channel..? Should I have tried CA-401 or other alternatives from this perspective as well?
Second...this is more fundamental question...but how would you compare Classe with ML 3XX series to drive nautilus speakers. (This must be very very classic question in this forum and I did some search but could not get a clear answer...) How would you consider the amp configuration like following....ML332 (or 335) for N802s, ML331 for HTM1 (passive bi-amped) and Proceed BPA x2 for side/rear 805s....This was my alternative configuration with a bit of streached budget and the challenge was what type of amps I can use for the rear to match the fronts...as I can not afford ML all around for 7 channels.
Would it be positive to try mixing up ML and Classe such as ML332 (335) for front and Classe CAV-180 for center/side/rears? I just assume that amps for at least fronts and center should be matched in its sonic characteristics and this might not bring a good front stage continuity...but I would like to hear your opinion.
Excuse me for asking many questions on my first post and I understand I am touching to somewhat subjective area (ML vs Classe type questions) but any of your comments/suggestions are highly appreciated. I do not change my set up so often and would like to make this update worthwhile.
Thank you in advance ;x(
I'm not qualified to answer them all, but I can comment generically on the Classe vs Mark Levinson stuff. I've listened to both and have a Levinson 432 driving m N802. (A Proceed Amp 3 does the work on my N805 and HTM2.)
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