The Ever-Changing HT - Page 11

I'm a stickler for build quality and I have a thing for authenticity. If one is going to pay a premium for something, it should not only have top notch performance, it should be built to a higher level, and no detail should be left unturned. Likewise, if a speaker is being marketing as a high-end offering, it should live up to all of the expectations that go along with that. It is surprising how often corners are cut even in very expensive speakers.

One of my pet peeves is the use of wood screws to mount the drivers into MDF. It is quite common, and even the $16K a pair of Revel Studio2's I owned took this approach. It may be functionally fine (until you over-tighten them), but it is the quick and dirty way to mount a driver. The right way to do it is to to fit the face of the speaker with threaded inserts and use machine screws to fasten the drivers to the cabinet.

I took the liberty of removing one of the screws from the face of the mid-bass driver on the 805Di and I was relieved to see that they have used machine screws. Its sad that this should make me more satisfied with my purchase, but it does.

And everything about the speaker is built to this level. Custom binding posts; custom binding post cup; custom jumpers; custom ports; metal driver trim rings to give the face of the driver a finished appearance; a glass-smooth finish; Mundorf's best Silver/Gold caps; magnetic grill attachments to hide the attachment point when the speaker is "naked"; a cast metal tweeter enclosure; and of course the man made diamond tweeter. Even all of the screw heads are painted gloss black. No detail has been overlooked. All of these things inspire pride of ownership and support the high-end price of admission.

Whether or not someone feels the sound quality matches the price is subjective, but at least you can't argue that the fit and finish don't live up to the expectation for a speaker of this caliber.

Hey Craw -

Still waiting on the matching stands and the rest of the speakers. More pics to come, once I have something worth showing.

Yes, quite a few actually. The "Di" model line is the newest revision to the 800 series. Whereas only the 803D through the 800D had diamond tweeters before, now every model in the 800 line has a diamond tweeter. The motor design for the tweeter and the bass drivers has been changed from D to Di, the crossover has been redesigned, and there have been several cosmetic changes to the cabinet, the fittings and the finish. Gloss black was not offered in the previous D series.

Hey Scott -

Great question. I've always been torn between the smoothness / sweetness of soft dome tweets vs. the detail / precision of hard domes. I tried a few Beryllium tweets, thinking that they would be better behaved than the aluminum domes I had heard prior, while also providing better resolution, but that gamble didn't work out to well for me with the Focal Be's. The Revels were much better behaved but frankly, nothing special up top, and the overall character of that speaker was too dry and analytical.

Jump forward a bit to my time with the Dynaudio Sapphire. I really liked the treble in that speaker, much better than the Revels, but the soundstage was a bit narrow. It was at this point that I decided I really didn't need or want large tower speakers. So my next logical choice was Dynaudio C1. Then by chance I stumbled across a set of speakers on Agon that I had always been curious about--the WB Discoverys. They didn't have quite the sparkly treble I was after, but the midrange was just so organic and the soundstage so broad, that I decided to go with those.

Jump ahead another year and I listen to the B&W Signature Diamonds at a special presentation at a local dealer. Wow! These speakers had everything I was after. The sparkly, super detailed presentation, no harshness, and a sense of scale / soundstage that greatly outclassed its modest size and single 7" mid/bass driver. But damn, they are $18K a pair and there is no matching center or surrounds.

Another year later, I get the wild hair up my arse to "scale back" my system to something more modest, and during the process B&W announces the release of the new 800 Diamond line. My thoughts of buying budget speakers goes out the window, replaced by the thought of capturing some of that Diamond Signature sound for a quarter of the cost.

Have you posted your thoughts anywhere on AVS?

Thanks Tony. Things are taking a while to come together, but within a couple of weeks there should be more progress.

Though I think the Denon needs to be replaced / repaired. Audyssey isn't correcting the sub channel.

Yes, a great new speaker line overall. Wonderful resolution and soundstage, though I have yet to have anything in my home that beats the WBs for a natural sounding midrange.

CLS -

I did post my early impressions of the 805Di's anc compared them to the WBs a page back.

Here ya go: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post18425807

Yes, as high-end stand mounts go, you could pay considerably more for a lot less. And to these ears, the 805Di are the not-so-baby brother to the Signature Diamonds. The only real difference is in the bass extension, which is still very competent on the 805Di.

Hey DJ!

I'll be using another pair of 805Di for the rears, but one of the things I haven't mentioned yet, is that I've come up with a rather creative semi-custom wall-mount for them. Its a combination of articulating TV mount with a set of brackets I had custom made to fit the 805Dis. The TV mount I selected looks very similar in design and finish to the matching B&W stands for the fronts, and it also matches my Kuro TV mount.

I scoured the internet for a speaker wall mount that I could use, and while some were passable, most of them just look cheap as hell. I really wanted something that had the fit and finish that looked like it belonged with the 805Dis. As you know, I'm very particular about the details, so I just couldn't go with an off-the-shelf solution.

Here's a peek.



The custom L bracket I had made will attach to the wall mount in the above pic.

You'll notice that the TV mount uses oval tubing covered in the same matte textured black finish as the 805Di stands below.



Look for pictures in the upcoming weeks.

Identical speakers all around. That is the goal isn't it?

The second set of 805Di's arrive on Monday, the HTM4Di center a week later, and the stands for the front a week after that.

Tell me about it. I've been stuck in the day before X-mas mindset for three months now!