B&W Owner's Thread - Page 399

My question, and I mean this legitimately as a question, can you hear it? If we did ABX testing, could you pick out banana plugs vs. bare wire more than, say 65% of the time? Or is it more of an issue that you don't want to bother with the potential of a problem in exchange for a rarely used convenience?

I'll say this, I had my HTM2D2 set at 60Hz and it experienced issues with a few movies and it is a more low frequency capable speaker than the 805 and HTM4 so in fear of risking damage to the 805 and HTM4 I suggest nothing lower than 70Hz with those.

the "D" was more accurate in bass area, with better presentation of the vocals (I assume that new xover have the fault here) and the tweeter diamond is in one word: perfect, I like that my music sound like it should be and the sound of the 804S although is good sadly is not in the same league like the 804D. I have the 805D too so I think with them you will have the same result if you compare this with the old version.

Probably not immediately. After year or two contact may degrade to the point when you be able to hear it (or you may experience complete failure with one channel silent until you re-plug it again).

You are right in all aspects.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

Are the B&W speakers the best in the world? They are the most famous high-end speakers as far as I know. I own a pair of the 800 series for many years, and they are still great! Can you tell me which speakersbrands are better? Is there a upgrade possible or are the 800-series B&W already the best there is.

i busted one of my diamond tweeters on an 804.

can anyone tell me the standard operating procedure on what to do here?

I had a broken tweeter on one of my 804 diamonds when I took delivery. I called the dealer and they had me bring in the broken tweeter parts (to return to B&W) and they promptly repaired it under warranty. If it breaks within the warranty period, you may have a case for replacement. Otherwise, I understand it's about $1100 for the part alone. Keep us advised.

I'm not sure about needing a new preamp at the moment, the rxa2020 is pretty capable, and if I were to upgrade I wouldn't go with an Emotiva, just me. I'm thinking the PM1's need better power than what the yamaha can provide, hoping for suggestions here

yeah, i called a diamond dealer and bought a replacement. i mean, i broke it - it was my fault, so not gonna even try the warranty route.

it was $1270.

i guess that little shiny dome really is made of diamonds.

how did i break it? i gently laid the speaker face down on my carpet in order to access the back of the speaker. i hadnt noticed that the diamond tweeter sticks out about 1/2" past the speaker face. crushed. i'm sure there is some magically special reason for them sticking it out 1/2" but yeah, that design cost me $1270 today.

and in case anyone was wondering, yes, you can tell a pretty big difference in the sound when it's broken.

You do not need new PREAMP, get new power amplifier. I suggest something in 400-500W range for 8 ohms. Make sure that it specified to work down to 2 ohms.

400-500 per channel? That's overkill for what I need I think

Is this a repair you can do yourself? (I also wondered if you could really hear a lot of sound quality difference with a broken diamond tweeter.)

what speaker will be fed with this "new" 500W amp? the PM1 only will get to 5Ω Hz of minimal impedance so You don't need a bigger amp. it is hard to belive but the preamp is one the major component in a stereo set up(I read that you only are setting a 2.1 set up) so I wondering why you chose a 9.2 preamp? if you really want that your new speaker sing, you have to give a good source and better preamp. my rotel RB1582 do not brought to my set up better sound but when I asked borrow to my dealer a high end preamp I could see a huge impruvement in sound, better midrage and deep bass output(obviously with the rotel amp)

sure, the repair is easy if a i have the new tweeter dome unit. the repair will take 2 minutes. the problem is the cost of the replacement part!!

and like i said, yeah, you can definitely hear a difference between the two speakers now. the one with the busted tweeter doesnt sound *horrible* - it's just very clearly missing some sound that the other speaker produces.

I purchased the 9.2 as i will use more channels in the future, just not needed now, and I can biamp with it now. It has very good components as well, it's no slouch, just not as good as I was expecting. What preamp did you go with?

For multichannel I will keep my denon that although is not good, it have a decent performance in this field, but for real listening music in two channel I will go with a classe CP800(I'm saving for it ). have you the possibility to ask borrow a preamp? if so you could give a try. But one thing I'm sure you don't have a power problem.

Preamp should be as transparent as straight wire. I do not believe that 3311 in "pure direct" is not transparent enough. If you want to use bass management only feed it with digital signal. Almost all AVRs are piss poor in digitizing analog sources.

Just one of the best. There are many "BEST'.

No upgrades needed if they already SUBJECTIVELY sound great to you. It would otherwise be a waste of money.

Don't question the audyssey system for this, It just reports back the results to the receiver/pre-pro. Its the brand that decides what todo with the results and how to set the crossover's and other results. You can change them (and should) without any effect on the audyssey results and settings. In this case 9 out of 10 you should move them to large if you have a good sub system.

Daniel.

READ THIS (WRITTEN BY CHRIS,ONE OF THE AUDYSSEY FOUNDERS)

http://www.audyssey.com/blog/2009/05/small-vs-large

"Best in the world" is very subjective at best. I love my 800 Series Diamonds (802's and HTM2) but definitely don't think they are the best. If I was rich I would be using speakers like Sonus Faber Aida's, Wilson Alexandria XLF's or Focal Grande Utopia III EM's. There is only one speaker that B&W makes above the 800 Diamond and that's the Nautilus but in that price range I think I would prefer Wilson Maxx speakers or for a bit less money Sonus Faber Stradivari, Wilson Alexia or Focal Maestro Utopia. Wilson, Sonus Faber and Focal are just three high end manufacturers producing amazig speakers but there are many more, those are just the three that have always had my interest.

If a sub is being used then you set them to small to engage the crossover otherwise setting to large doesn't apply a crossover.

I think you reach a point of diminishing returns with all this stuff. Are some of those "high end speakers" that much better than your 800 series diamonds? I'm not too sure I could hear the difference. Maybe you can, but for how much more $$?
For me, I feel very lucky to have my 804 diamonds. They are the best I have (and probably will) ever own. I'm glad to have them. (and they were a gift from my wife, too.)

I have two 805N's and I can confirm that sometimes Audyssey XT32 does read these little guys as "Large" I can tell you the 805s (All series) are very affected by room placement. Regardess though, most EQ's show 60 Hz. My rear surrounds (Which are SMC1s) are also often read to crossover at 60Hz. Bottom line is the smallest 800 series speaker has a fairly good low end. Do they compete with my 803S's that handle L/R duty? Sort of, you don't get the same sensitivity for sure and therefore not the same potential maximum volume. OTH, the 805s really need to be fed with lots of power to get great performance. When I switched from internal power and played around with Emo XPA-1 monoblocks I was surprised how clear and loud the 805s can play. More than enough for any sane person in any normal size room.

All said and done, I'd cross over the 805s and SCM1s (I have) at 80Hz or 60Hz. I can't really sense any sub issues with going to 80Hz. 100Hz is too high.

Here is the measurement of the Stradivari:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/sonus-faber-stradivari-homage-loudspeaker-measurements

Objectively, it measures worse than the B&W 802D/ 800D2.


Here is the Wilson Maxx3:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/wilson-audio-specialties-maxx-series-3-loudspeaker-measurements

Objectively, it is one of the worst measured speakers I've ever seen - much worse than the 800/ 802. The Wilson's measure very poorly like Vienna Acoustics. The only speaker I've seen measured worse is the Zu Audio, which measures as bad as Bose.


Here is the Focal Maestro Utopia III:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/focal-maestro-utopia-iii-loudspeaker-measurements

Objectively, it doesn't measure any better than the 800/ 802.


Objectively, the speakers that measure a lot better than the B&W include the KEF Reference 207/2, Revel Salon2, and TAD Reference1.


But subjectively, pure personal preference, it is anybody's call.
Edited by AcuDefTechGuy - 11/10/12 at 9:47am

Ok for movies crossing over makes sense, but for music unless organ music is all you play, I don't get it especially with B&W 800 Diamonds.

B&W recomendation is cross over at 30 or 40hz for movies and full range for music, I agree otherwise it might be best to just buy 805D all around and 4 subs. For a dedicated hometheater used only for movies that would be a great room.

To be honest when I put on a good SACD recording the 800 Diamond are extremely good

At a certain level, yes personal preferences and your ears are what matters. Who care how many reviews, just like there are movies that are total bust in the theater but have cult followers Brazil is one of them:D

On an other note http://www.abbeyroad.com/Studio/7/Studio-Three

http://www.abbeyroad.com/Studio/5/Studio-One

In all their rooms monitoring is provided by five B&W Nautilus 800D speakers.

I think they know something about music, you don't see KEF, Sonus Faber, Wilson, YG Acoustic, Magico, or any of the others there They can buy what ever they want especially since they record s many movies, concerts, music...

http://www.abbeyroad.com/News/Article/264/The-Gramophone-Awards-2012

Yeah the numbers mean very little to me when it comes right down to it, it's what is heard that counts and for me looks also rank right up there. As popular as they are and as much great feedback as there is I'm not a fan of the Wilson Sophia or Sasha look. The mid/high frequency enclosure just doesn't do it cosmetically for me. What is done on the Maxx, Alexandria and to a lesser degree the new Alexia I do like though. Cosmetically the Stradivari and Elipsa look really nice as do the Amati anniversario and Aida. I like the Ultima Salon and Focal Maestro, Stella and Grande Utopia looks as well.

Cosmetically for me my choice of speaker in the 20kish to 30kish range is the 800D2 (over say the Sasha, Elipsa SE and Ultima Salon) and in the 10kish to 20kish range I like the 802D2 (over say the Studio Salon, Elipsa, Sophia, Cremona M). I would love to have an opportunity to hear all of these speakers but alas that will never happen. My dealer sells Focal but doesn't have the Utopia series on hand. Having now owned my 802's for about a year and a half I would love to be able to get a comparison of the Scala and Maestro towers.