[Paul D. K.]

I'm half way through my theater/music room upgrade and I'm second guessing myself. I have Nautilus 802's, HTM1, and 803's (may upgrade to 802's in the future) for speakers. I've ordered a B&K Ref. 50 for my Pre/Pro. Planned on five B&K Ref. 200.1 mono-blocks for amplification.

Here's the question, in reading many threads on-line, people are recommending Bryston, Classe', Krell, etc. for use with the 802's. I can't afford those solutions. In addition, I wanted mono-blocks or separate amplifiers so that I can run short speaker wires and take advantage of the balanced interconnects (two of the runs are 60+ feet). My local B&M dealer carries Rotel and B&K.

I've narrowed my choices down to two options:

Rotel RMB 1090. Has 380 watts per channel; not sure of current and can't be used as a mono-block. I could bi-amp but wouldn't be able to use the balanced interconnects.

or

B&K Ref. 200.1 - 200 watts per channel; 150 amps peak to peak - active balanced circuit/interconnects - and can bi-wire due to the mono-block's configuration while still utilizing the balanced interconnects.

Based on my Pre/pro, speakers, etc. - which solution would you recommend? Room is 23'8" X 24'X 8'.

Thanks.

[Stephen M]

You should be happy with the B&K. Rotel is very good but IMO they are brighter in the upper mids than B&K.

[Ted Pugh]

I think I answered this over at AVS but check out the Musical Fidelity Mono's. They retail for $1250 bucks so they are a little less than the B&K.

[Paul D. K.]

Ted -

I sent you a reply on AVS but now I'm curious. What mono-blocks are you referring to? The only one's I found on their web-site is the KW series which is very expensive. Am I missing something?

[JohnSmith]

Musical Fidelity M250? About £800 each.

http://www.guidetohometheater.com/amplifiers/89/

[Paul D. K.]

John -

Great review - but - the M250 doesn't seem to still be offered. Web-site no longer lists the M250 - seems to have gone the same way as Classe's CAM350 which I had decided to buy.

What do you think about the Rotel vs. B&K?

[Ted Pugh]

Paul D.K. I think they are still producing the M250. I will check with a dealer friend of mine and see.

[Paul D. K.]

Thanks - I would appreciate that. I tried to look up a dealer in Michigan but the Distributor's web-site didn't list one - just launched an e-mail - which I didn't send.

[Ted Pugh]

Paul D.K.,

I am sure they are still making the M250. It was just rated AAAA in the recent Stereophile Guide to Home Theater recommended components for 2004.

Check them out. By the way the price is $1200 not $1250 so they are about $300 less than the B&K but I am sure a B&K dealer will negotiate better for them then Musical Fidelity. Hope this helps.

They sound very clean in the upper mids and highs with a very satisfying deep end. They will make your 802's stand out IMO.

B&W and Rotel have a working relationship where each company uses the others products for testing...which essentially means that according to B&W Rotel amps are tailor made for the job

[Tom Camlioglu]

B&W Rotel amps are tailor made for the job

While I have coincidentally paired my Anthem with it's MCA amps ...

In the end it, all depends on how it sounds to the owner.

After all I'm sure (IMO) that Anthem/Bryston would sound good too ...

../TC