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B&W Speakers?


philly0116

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Anyone have experience with the B&W speakers? They look pretty cool, spec sheets (I know you cant hear a spec sheet) look good. I'd kind of like to try a pair if they are worth it. I see $600/pair to $10k a pair! Lol. Obviously I would sample the lower end of the scale. 

Edited by philly0116
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youthman has had a pair he liked but left and were replaced with rf-7ii's. 

 

i have heard the 802's on numerous occasions. they are pretty awesome. however id have to side by side them with my stuff to see which i preferred. plus i heard them on a 100K worth of macintosh gear. 

 

i have also some of their installed series. some if it was crap and the top of the line stuff was amazing. but at 15k per main and they had 3 of them with 4 very high end in walls it was way out of my price range. 

 

stuff in my range new prices at least would be the 600 series and id take a klipsch any day over them. but i am also more a movie guy than music. if i were the other way around may take a set of the bowers then. but then again if i were strictly music there are about 5 speakers i would be after and have all in one room for different genres of music.  :D

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youthman has had a pair he liked but left and were replaced with rf-7ii's. 

 

i have heard the 802's on numerous occasions. they are pretty awesome. however id have to side by side them with my stuff to see which i preferred. plus i heard them on a 100K worth of macintosh gear. 

 

i have also some of their installed series. some if it was crap and the top of the line stuff was amazing. but at 15k per main and they had 3 of them with 4 very high end in walls it was way out of my price range. 

 

stuff in my range new prices at least would be the 600 series and id take a klipsch any day over them. but i am also more a movie guy than music. if i were the other way around may take a set of the bowers then. but then again if i were strictly music there are about 5 speakers i would be after and have all in one room for different genres of music.  :D

I'll never abandon Klipsch....I would like to delve into some other speakers just to hear them. B&W just kind of jumped out at me! One thing I immediately noticed was the efficiency of the B&W is well below that of our beloved Klipsch! I have the gear to drive them but Im curious now how hard I would have to drive them to make the magic! 

Edited by philly0116
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funny cause i think they "look" awful. cabinet color is great driver color and baffle is terrible looking  :blink:

 

Lol! Let me say, they look like they would sound awesome!! 

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lol ok that might make more sense to me. i have heard the 686, 685, 684, 683. cm-1, cm-5. those are all the ones that i could afford. and of the bunch i enjoyed the 686 and the cm-1 the most. they do make great "small" bookshelves. at least for the demo material i took in that day they sounded great and i preferred them two small bookshelves over all the rest of them. 

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lol ok that might make more sense to me. i have heard the 686, 685, 684, 683. cm-1, cm-5. those are all the ones that i could afford. and of the bunch i enjoyed the 686 and the cm-1 the most. they do make great "small" bookshelves. at least for the demo material i took in that day they sounded great and i preferred them two small bookshelves over all the rest of them. 

I took in a pair of 802 series 2 about 2 years ago on a trade for La Scalas, the guy gave me the B&w's and $900 for a pair of La Scalas I had. I hooked them up for about 30 seconds to a Marantz 2265 to make sure they worked and that was it. A guy bought them from me that same afternoon. In hind sight I wish I had taken some time with them.  :sad: . I really need to open my mind and experience some different sound. 

Edited by philly0116
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Way back when at the old Marvin Electronics in Fort Worth... I had a chance to spend some time with what was then, the new Diamond 800 series. I thought they sounded great. Very smooth, laid back, but with a huge sound stage.

They were also hooked up to some extremely impressive McIntosh systems... One set was on a MC 352 I believe and another set was on a pair of monoblocks. Way out of my price range then and now. In fact the only times I've seen and listened to B&W's (only the 800 series) in a retail setting, they were always hooked up to McIntosh systems, with the huge, high-powered McIntosh amps.

And though I'm a Klipsch lifer as well. If I had the cash, I would probably have a room with some B&W's hooked up to a McIntosh amp. Or maybe with a giant pair of Martin Logan electrostatics... something about those big panels and the sound they put out.

Edited by GPBusa
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As a kid, my buddy and I would pummel his Dad's pair of DM630i with their laser disc player. Whatever we could throw at it, they could take, and get loud enough to scare the crap out of us without issue. Driving them with a massive Sansui "B" series power amp in a small'ish room didn't hurt either.

 

Listened to several since then...802D, Nautilius, etc...

 

I'd agree with GPB....Smooth, laid back. Require a stout amp to sound their best.  Owners tend to take care of them, so finding older towers in great condition is always a possibility.

 

Not Heritage though... ;)

 

92831-bw_dm630_speakers__bw_dm5_speakers

Edited by Quiet_Hollow
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youthman has had a pair he liked but left and were replaced with rf-7ii's. 

 

i have heard the 802's on numerous occasions. they are pretty awesome. however id have to side by side them with my stuff to see which i preferred. plus i heard them on a 100K worth of macintosh gear. 

 

i have also some of their installed series. some if it was crap and the top of the line stuff was amazing. but at 15k per main and they had 3 of them with 4 very high end in walls it was way out of my price range. 

 

stuff in my range new prices at least would be the 600 series and id take a klipsch any day over them. but i am also more a movie guy than music. if i were the other way around may take a set of the bowers then. but then again if i were strictly music there are about 5 speakers i would be after and have all in one room for different genres of music.  :D

I'll never abandon Klipsch....I would like to delve into some other speakers just to hear them. B&W just kind of jumped out at me! One thing I immediately noticed was the efficiency of the B&W is well below that of our beloved Klipsch! I have the gear to drive them but Im curious now how hard I would have to drive them to make the magic! 

 

 

If my calculations are correct, to match the SPL of 100 watts into Khorns, the B&Ws shown would need about 3,000 watts!

 

The B&Ws may be smoother than some Klipsch, but may sound less clear and effortless.  At least that was true a long time ago when I made an A/B  comparison of a top of the line B&W (801F, I think) to Klipschorns of that time.

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When I was buying my speakers, I narrowed my choice to B&W685 and Klipsch RF42 II.

 

Both paires connected to receivers in about the same price range (B&W with Marantz SR5023 - Stereo Receiver and Klipsch with Onkyo TX 8050). I could have gone out of the shop with any of those sets and be satisfied. But I chose Klipsch because there was a bit more clarity in higher frequencies and separation between the instruments whan auditioning the classical music.

You realise that these are the budget speakers, not big floorstanders.

 

On the other hand, I had conversation with the guy the other day that sells very expensive hi-fi equipment (eg. Tannoy, Horning, Chord, Shindo...). His preferencies are quality listeting at low volume, so he prefers very efficient speakers with low-power tube amplification. Taking his reasoning into acocunt, he would take Tannoys, Australian WHT loudspeakers or Kipsch LaScala before B&W.

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When I was buying my speakers, I narrowed my choice to B&W685 and Klipsch RF42 II.

 

Both paires connected to receivers in about the same price range (B&W with Marantz SR5023 - Stereo Receiver and Klipsch with Onkyo TX 8050). I could have gone out of the shop with any of those sets and be satisfied. But I chose Klipsch because there was a bit more clarity in higher frequencies and separation between the instruments whan auditioning the classical music.

You realise that these are the budget speakers, not big floorstanders.

 

On the other hand, I had conversation with the guy the other day that sells very expensive hi-fi equipment (eg. Tannoy, Horning, Chord, Shindo...). His preferencies are quality listeting at low volume, so he prefers very efficient speakers with low-power tube amplification. Taking his reasoning into acocunt, he would take Tannoys, Australian WHT loudspeakers or Kipsch LaScala before B&W.

Thats been my line of thinking. Klipsch are so efficient you get a lot of sound with very little power, the B&W's, at least the ones I could afford to play around with are in the 88-91 efficiency scale. Thats a big change from 102!! I have just adopted this total mindset that if a speaker isn't big and heavy or doesn't have a horn, then its worthless! I need to branch out and be a bit more open minded!!

Edited by philly0116
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Anyone have experience with the B&W speakers? They look pretty cool, spec sheets (I know you cant hear a spec sheet) look good. I'd kind of like to try a pair if they are worth it. I see $600/pair to $10k a pair! Lol. Obviously I would sample the lower end of the scale. 

B&W speakers to me are to bright and I cant listen to them very long  Revel Salon2   Studio2  are better

Edited by A1UC
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Or maybe with a giant pair of Martin Logan electrostatics... something about those big panels and the sound they put out.

 

I used to own a pair of six-foot tall one-inch thick front/rear firing Magnapan magnaplaners.  They were the most accurate speakers I'd ever heard, but they were so critical to placement. 

 

They had to be so many feet apart, with a flat wall behind, angled up and in just the right amount, then the listener had to be exactly in the middle sitting down.  If you were even slightly off-axis or if you stood up, that great sound went completely away.

 

Be certain of what you wish for.  B)

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I own B&W 802D with matching sub. They are sitting in front of my K-Horns right now. I have the Nautilus center and a pair of B&W 805D for rears. I also have Klipschorns, Belles, La Scala, a couple of Epic series, and on and on. The B&W are amazing. Time-aligned and the bass is astounding. They require a minimum of 50 watts due to the difference in efficiency, but I have driven them with several vintage Sansui pieces. The B&W just sound great. Not that they out perform the Klipschorns (well they do on the top end), but the soundstage blows away the corner horns. They are wonderful, wonderful speakers. Accuracy is astounding. I find them very beautiful and the construction is a work of art. 

I am in the process of building another sound room to house my Klipsch speakers dedicated to vintage gear and mainly two-channel listening, but the room will be set up for multi-channel as well. Music is on at our place constantly. 

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I own B&W 802D with matching sub. They are sitting in front of my K-Horns right now. I have the Nautilus center and a pair of B&W 805D for rears. I also have Klipschorns, Belles, La Scala, a couple of Epic series, and on and on. The B&W are amazing. Time-aligned and the bass is astounding. They require a minimum of 50 watts due to the difference in efficiency, but I have driven them with several vintage Sansui pieces. The B&W just sound great. Not that they out perform the Klipschorns (well they do on the top end), but the soundstage blows away the corner horns. They are wonderful, wonderful speakers. Accuracy is astounding. I find them very beautiful and the construction is a work of art.

I am in the process of building another sound room to house my Klipsch speakers dedicated to vintage gear and mainly two-channel listening, but the room will be set up for multi-channel as well. Music is on at our place constantly.

I planned on running them on my Emotiva amp which is 125wpc @ 8ohm and 200wpc @ 4ohm, that should be sufficient to drive them then.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

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