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In Reply to: Looking for Speaker Recommendations for a Classe CAP-101 posted by Carl6 on July 28, 2002 at 18:36:05:
Try Sonus Faber Grand Pianos (the original). For some reason they make a great balance. Or the Electa Amator I! Avoid the B&W like the plague, unless you're going for the silver signature bookshelf, because the way the nautilus tweeter is implemented on lesser models may drive you insane when paired with the cap-101.love the cap-101, have fun with it
Follow Ups:
I personally own a Classe CA200 with the CP47.5 preamp using biwired speaker cable driving Nautilus 802's. The sound is sweet and smooth, with plenty of bottom end. Even though the Classe amp you are looking for is lower in power the sound quality should be similar. I have had other amps such as Bryston and Tandberg which did not sound anywhere near as good. The Bryston 4BST in particular was fairly harsh and sounded as though the speakers were shouting at me. The Classe made the 802's sound fluid and organic in nature. Amps do make a huge difference along with the source. If you are getting harsh sound from B&W's look to your source and the rest of your ancillaries. The speakers are very tranparent and will reveal weakness in everything upstream.
I believe the 802 is a much more neutral speaker than the 804... which is why I made that recommendation. As I mentioned earlier, the implementaiton of the Nautilus tweeter on less expensive models tends to produce a spitty sound. The 802 and 801 are fantastic, used in many recording studios, including the folks who do the mastering at Lucasfilm! Still, being from the school of thought that speakers should be as neutral as possible and to let your front end do the 'coloring', naturally I am not as big a fan of B&W - I do however recognize the skill of their engineers.The older Classe is different from some of the newer Classe pieces... my advice was based on my experience with their integrated amps. Also, your gear is far superior to the CAP-101. I own an old Classe CA-100 and have also experienced less grain as is present in the current line of integrateds. It is very slight but I believe is worth noting in reference to lesser B&W speakers.
Fantastic stuff the Classe is, now and in the past. have you tried looking into Dunlavy, Meadowlark, or Merlin speakers?
-phil-
I have listened to the Dunlavy SC-IV which sounded quite nice and have not heard the others. I still perferred the 802's especially in the midrange for vocals. The WAF also helped make the final decision easy. My wife did not like the tall square box look and felt the 802's looked like a nice piece of art that would blend much better with our decor.I can honestly say the 802's have been the best investment I have made in the 30 years of being into audio. No regrets.
Thanks Phil,I'll add the Grand Piano and the Vienna Mozart to my list. Can you explain a bit about the problems with B&W? They seem to generate alot of controversy and I haven't figured it out.
Carl
Carl,Not to take anything away from the B&Ws, they are good speakers in the right system. The reason I don't recommend the B&W with the Classe is that the nautilus tweeter has a tendency to be spitty... pair that with some of the treble grain the Classe has and you potentially have a mismatch.
The Classe is not a neutral amplifier, it definitely has a tubey coloration going on, which I happen to like. I think it's preferable to look for a more neutral speaker, or a speaker with a flatter frequency response... and then let your amp perform the coloration of sound that you desire. Hence, why I like the original SF Grand Piano. I also like Dunlavys... have heard good things about Meadowlark but haven't heard them and don't care much for their cosmetics anyway. Your system is more tweakable to your preferences with this method, in my opinion.
You may find that the overall balance of the Classe may mate okay with a B&W. We had good results pairing the Classe with NHT 2.5i, a speaker with a hard sounding tweeter. But better results with the SF. You should get some demos and check out the combination to see what you like best!
Happy listening!
-phil-
Thanks again,I see your point, the only problem with the Classe is the treble, a bit prominent and not so integrated with the rest of the audio spectrum. Do you think the B&W's 804's would be a problem? I remmeber liking the NHT's long ago, but think that the sweet spot is smallish.
Yes the NHT 2.5i has a very narrow sweet spot. I do think the 804 would be a problem... you've got to get up the scale before you avoid this problem... Of course, you should always audition if you get the chance. And, this is only because the treble is especially more prominent in B&Ws. The slight grain of that Classe piece is hardly, if at all noticeable in most configurations.On a side note, in my opinion the bang for the buck in B&Ws line up stops at the Nautilus 805. Do you have to have B&Ws?
Not at all, it's just that the Classe/B&W combo is said elsewhere on this site to be a good match. You've been greatly helpful. That JM Reynaud Evolution closeout seems to have had good reviews, but I don't think I want to buy just now, until I get a good feel for the sound in the price range.
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