B&W Owner's Thread - Page 419

For those interested, i've updated the photos in my theater thread (link in sig) show the "almost" all Diamond confirmation...(still working on 805 heights...)

Very good. Yes, it's cool to disagree. No problem at all. We can agree to disagree.

It is just a hobby for fun.

I know it's tough to swallow spending a chunk of change on just "surrounds". But, to me, a matched setup is just so mush more satisfying. Myself I would look for a used set of CM5/7/8/9 to complete the setup. Speakers have by far the most longevity of any equipment in a home theater setup. New surround formats are added, connectors change, and formats change, but speakers will last. A good set of speakers, in my opinion, are worth the up front investment to get as good a setup as you can. You will probably be happy cutting a few corners to get to a 5.1 setup initially. But down the road you may find yourself enjoying mutichannel music, concerts, or a sweeping orchestral film score and find yourself wondering how it would sound with a setup that really creates an almost seamless envelope of sound. And, at least with me, once a nagging thought like that gets into your brain it never leaves. Or heck you may be happy with a mixed setup for the duration. Everyone is different. Just think it through and consider this as a long term investment in the enjoyment of this hobby.

I just wanted to say how I got what I wanted from my speakers, of course in my humble opinion, therefore cables showed up, but you are right, let's move on.
As for evidence, I am a doctor and read many publications with trials, with results frequently cited as evidence for or against something. You have to try hard though to sieve good and bad studies with many flaws, there are special methods and scores for that. Results frequently depend on, e.g. the institution that finances the trial or beliefs of the trialist (see controversies around autism and vaccines, evidence says against any relationship and common belief says quite opposite).
I do not feel comfortable (contrary to medical trials) in assessing DBT in audio settings, therefore I cannot say if it is evidence or quasi-evidence because of possible flaws in many studies.
Well put, Happy New Year.

I have a question for Blondas.

Do you have much difficulty in Poland purchasing audio products at a somewhat reasonable price? Do you have to travel to other parts of Europe to find what you want? Thanks.

First apologies, the notion that people can "hear" difference at this nuanced level you claim is what I consider silly. I apologies if it seemed as a direct attack at you. Lots of audiophiles (again not saying you are one) make this claim without any substantiation.
Back to the original point: for clarity, you are claiming that you CAN hear the differences in cables correct?
I like to reading your opinions in general, and on this topic I am genuinely interested to learn if you believe you (or anyone) can hear the differences in sound based on the cable?

Again I am a true amateur that knows nothing about audio and simply rely on what I hear and what sounds pleasing to me, and in the short time I've been researching the topic I've come to the conclusion that the most important (and probably only) things that matter, in order of priority are:

1. The listening room
2. 1. The speakers
3. The source

Nothing else matters

My budget grounds my wish list, which includes
A pair of CM9s (or used 805s), pair of CM5s and a CMC2 + sub setup driven by a yamaha of somekind.
Cheers, and happy new year to all!

I believe amps CAN make a difference. My experiences confirm that. I also agree with Blondas that the test can influence the results. Music to me is a right brain enjoyment and ABX are left brain exercises. While I have heard improvements in RCA interconnects going from Monster to Audioquest 20 years ago I have no speaker wire comparisons. My speaker wire is simple 12 gauge and my interconnects are good quality but not exotic. I can't say speaker wire makes a difference but I don't discount it either. Speakers, room and source then everything else is minor I agree.

I would nuance this. The other components do matter. But it is possible to get the other components to the point of functional perfection (to the point that they color the output in no audible way), and after such a point any spending for improvements is wasted money. For cable it's about keeping cable resistance <5% of the speaker's resistance. For an amp it's about not clipping the power supply or running out of current.

OTOH, there is no such thing as the perfect speaker nor the perfect room. There are always compromises and so room for improvement (or at least change which is not objectively worse)

Just to comment about speaker wire, amps, speakers, bananna plugs, etc.

My Cm5s sound a whole lot better with a nice glass of wine...... and definitely sound awesome when my wife is not yelling at me to turn it down.... lol..

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Silly question about 804D2s. What does that tiny aluminum circular device, about 2 inches in diameter, located about four inches down from the top rear of the wood cabinet, do for the sound? Is it some type of very small baffle?
Edited by SugarmillMan - 1/1/13 at 6:26am

I believe that secures the midrange driver....there is a small set screw installed when shipping which should be removed, but the silver disk remains snug

Thank you. I never knew what it was for. Are you recommending I remove the small aluminum screw and not use?

It's possible the 804's are different, but all my Diamonds came with the a shipping screw and instructions to remove it

My 804D had a shipping screw, but it was at the rear, a black plastic job secured to a silver ring.

You only need to remove the screw with the plastic protector, the silver screw is for tight the midrange driver and this will fall out if you remove the silver screw.

yes this is the way that they had to be.

So I need to leave the large silver screw in and tight. Thanks for clarifiying that. I just ordered a new amp to power them better. I am selling my Rotel amps and getting a Parasound Halo.
Happy New Year too!

Yes it is, please let me know when you get your new amp and how is it, I'm saving for the classe gear but I'm too open to get other advice.
Happy new year.

Classe makes great amps but they are a bit above my paygrade. I'll post a brief review when my new Parasound amp is up and running.

Let us know about the sound, I am considering a one year old mcintosh mc 303 for about $8000 usd..

Oh, c'mon Jim! Even I (who don't believe in amps, preamps, wires, cables differences) have Kimber Kable speaker wires.

Sad, is it not?
Edited by jima4a - 1/1/13 at 5:13pm

Matter of time. Matter of time.

Which one did you get? I've been doing some more research on the A31. Not sure an extra 50w will make that much of a difference over the mono blocks I have...

I am eyeing this amp but it baffles me that the 303 costs 20% more per channel than the 302.


I need to learn more about amps. I certainly do not "need" more amps. The other day I did an experiemnt, with the TV on etc, I played everything as loud as I could stand it. I only got the draw to 9.xx amps. Maybe I don't know what I am looking for but to me it still sounded good - just loud. So I could use bigger amps for "headroom" but not because I need to play louder, and I don't know how to tell that "headroom" sounds better.

I have ordered a Parasound A31 with a black faceplate. It's backordered right now so I can't tell you very much about it's qualities. I'll let you know how the sound is with my B&W 804s.
Edited by SugarmillMan - 1/2/13 at 3:55pm

Kal, how much break in if any on the MC 303?

Poland is a normal, civilised country, and you can buy here everything, and usually in normal, European prices, which regrettably are higher and in the US. Probably there are few brands that cou cannot buy. And we have normal sales and discounts, like everyone else, like my CM9s were bought for about $2300 per pair, Yamaha RX-A2010 for $1400.
Yes, I claim that I can hear differences in speaker cables (probably not all, they must be different), and all in the same environment. Initally after demoing CM9s with my all cables I remained with the old ones because they sounded more powerful, however at home later they lacked clarity (perhaps because of my room acoustics, which could be better), with some experiments I obtained the clarity I demanded, and it was without any influence of any salesman. I simply borrowed cables and could return them freely. If I had not believed in improvement, I would have returned them. It could be a matter of suggestion and wishes, but if you don't try, you will never know and think, what if.... Even cheap cables can be great, so usually there is no need to buy some expensive stuff.
I never could hear differences in interconnects and in digital cables; quite recently I compared analog and HDMI input from my BD player to AVR, and could not hear any difference either. What surprised me is that when I connected CM9s to the yamaha and did YPAO callibration with different cables, I got completely different parametric equalizer curves, and I clearly heard that the sound changed, what required some manual adjustment to my liking, and now I am 100% happy. You will like CM9s, they play wonderfully even at low volume at night, when all my folks are asleep.

 

??? You are asking the wrong guy.

You're never the wrong guy to ask...

You use the 303 up front, right?