I owned some 804Ns, cherry veneer, and felt they were superb in every way imaginable ... design appeal, construction, and sound. I never felt cheated by the bass, as some did, nor did they strike me as too forward. I used a small class-A Musical Fidelity 20-watter amp and then switched to a Classé CAP101. They sounded better with the MF, but there you go. I did sell them after 18 months or so solely because they would only come to life with some watts, which means that I didn't enjoy them at lower volumes, such as soft music for early Sunday morning paper/coffee. I switched to Tyler Taylo Refs and found that I could smile happily at low volumes. The B&Ws, though, were worth the money to me.