Mission: Build sounding speakers then B&W 803s

[harrisni]

Hi All,

I am having trouble decided weather to buy the B&W 803s for $11k or build something using maybe Scan Speak drivers that will be just as good or better?

Can someone make some recommandations of what drivers?

[tade]

I think it would be cool to clone the B&W Nautilus 801 Loudspeakers.
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/bw_nautilus_801.htm
With one of these for bass crossed below 150:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=295-468
something from fostex for 150-3khz:
http://www.madisound.com/fostex.html
and one of these super low playing rubust dome tweeters for above:
http://www.diyaudio.gr/images/E011_sv.jpg

I would like to see the widerange for the middleand something really great above an below three way.
With low order crossovers!

[Jim85IROC]

I can't comment specifically on the 803s, but I have heard commentary that suggests that the 804s has up to a 6dB depression in the midrange compared to the 804s and the 803D, which are said to sound very similar. I have listened to the 804s and was very, very impressed. They are so far, the best sounding speakers that I've ever heard, at least for my tastes. I found that they provide explosive dynamics that few box speakers seem to be able to do, and they also provide a very large, but still pinpoint accurate soundstage. These are the only speakers that I've ever been able to get a sense of "height" from in the soundstage. Vocals were distinctly higher than the instruments.

Whether or not you could repeat their sound with drivers available to the DIY market may or may not be possible. Certainly you can find drivers of equal and even better quality, but I really think that their midrange, as well as their midrange enclosure, are both significant contributers to the overall sound. The midrange is a unique design in that it uses a low excursion motor, and a very non-standard suspension. Rather than the typical rubber or foam surround, it uses a foam barrier that sits behind the cone, sandwiched between it and the frame. This is only possible with a very low excursion driver. I suspect that this is a fairly rigid foam that causes the midrange cone to flex in a way similar to the Manger speakers, which would allow that large driver to still have the good off axis response that it seems to have, considering the relatively high frequency & very shallow first-order filter that the tweeter uses.

In addition, the rear chamber of the 804, as you know, is quite unique. If their engineers are half as proud of it as their marketing department, then I would say that it is a significant reason why the midrange is as good as it is.

But... if what I heard about the frequency response issues of the 804s are true, then at least that aspect of the design could be implimented into almost any speaker simply by designing the passive network to provide the desired response.

[Salas]

I have some friend who got very frustrated by owning 804s. He could not get any reality in instrument tone. I recommended Harbeth SHL5. Guess what. He traded in the 804s after an hour of listening to the Harbeth in his system. Now he is very happy.