Audiophilenoob said:
I don't understand how/why people say this. I had a pair of N805's home for a week and I found them quite neutral, and more to the warm side than harsh.
Anyway the 805S is supposed to be a better speaker than the N805. I haven't heard them, but a couple or my audiophile buddies who normally hate B&W loved the 805S.
I just want to add my 2 useless cents worth, since you bought such expensive speakers.
They're great! Sounds fantastic and looks super!
Hope that makes you feel better that your money was well spent.
hehehe
Disclaimer: I have not heard any B&W speakers except seeing them in some high gloss magazines while in a bookshop.
They're great! Sounds fantastic and looks super!
Hope that makes you feel better that your money was well spent.
hehehe Disclaimer: I have not heard any B&W speakers except seeing them in some high gloss magazines while in a bookshop.
Audiophilenoob said:
So let me get this straight, you listened once, hated them, then went back and listened to them again just to be sure?
ROFL
You'll be telling me the 801S sounds coloured next
herotongtong:
The B&W 805S are superb speakers, the diamond tweeters in particular are very smooth and distortion is nil. IMO an agile speaker that is amongst the best standmounts.
I listen to the B&W lineup pretty often. I was offered a job at a store that sold B&W actually, and I really enjoy their speakers.
I have 602s3, not quite as nice as yours . I love the midbass and their new speakers have been redone to mostly first order crossovers and even with their 3rd and 4th order crossover their immaging is still good. I love the midbass, but at times the tweeter can be harsh and I do think that it as not as detailed as many other tweeters. During David Grey's song "Please forgive me" he uses I think triangles and as the triangles vibrate, the 800 series and even with the diamond tweeter they don't seem to play the reverberation of the triangle as it rings across the room as much as other tweeters. The boxes as very well made especially yours with the matrix bracing. Their speakers will take a long time to break in.
Are you going to add a sub to them? What type of music do you listen to?
Hope you like them.
Josh
I have 602s3, not quite as nice as yours
. I love the midbass and their new speakers have been redone to mostly first order crossovers and even with their 3rd and 4th order crossover their immaging is still good. I love the midbass, but at times the tweeter can be harsh and I do think that it as not as detailed as many other tweeters. During David Grey's song "Please forgive me" he uses I think triangles and as the triangles vibrate, the 800 series and even with the diamond tweeter they don't seem to play the reverberation of the triangle as it rings across the room as much as other tweeters. The boxes as very well made especially yours with the matrix bracing. Their speakers will take a long time to break in.Are you going to add a sub to them? What type of music do you listen to?
Hope you like them.
Josh
edjosh23 said:
Why does everyone say they are harsh?!?
I thought them to be very smooth, certainly nothing like the frankly rubbish 600 or middling 700 series.
I guess its either partnering equipment that's at fault or maybe I just have a thing for sparkle that other's perceive as harsh.
Eitherway they are great speakers and anyone who disagrees would either own 20k+ speakers or be lying.
here it goes again, audiophile noob showing how well his nickname fits hit.
my guess it was associated equipment that made them sound harsh. you heard them twice for under an hour. ive listened to them for hours on end at least 3 times a week since they came out, and the previous ones for a year or more.
i actually just bought two pairs of 803D's and the diamond center channel (forgot the model). its an all around great sounding speaker lineup. not harsh at all. and im very very very picky with bright sounding speakers.
my guess it was associated equipment that made them sound harsh. you heard them twice for under an hour. ive listened to them for hours on end at least 3 times a week since they came out, and the previous ones for a year or more.
i actually just bought two pairs of 803D's and the diamond center channel (forgot the model). its an all around great sounding speaker lineup. not harsh at all. and im very very very picky with bright sounding speakers.
I enjoyed the 803d and the 802d at B&W Night when showing off the new speakers. I found the diamond tweeters to be very detailed, but not as natural as I hoped. I was superized that it wasn't harsh because of the material and it extension is great. I did run into some conflicting data during a lecture about the new speakers. In the spec sheet it says that they only go to 40khz, but a frequency responce graph that is in the DVD about the speakers says they go up 70khz and one reason they wanted that was for the SACD music and their harmonics in the upper khz frequencies. I was happy to listen to them for a long time and what I really enjoyed was that the representative from B&W decided not to play the typical showroom music ie. Norah Jones (no offence I love her music) but instead he played Earth, Wind and Fire along with Jimi Hendrix. One thing I decided to put into the cd player was the Tarzan soundrack which I love. It is Phil Collins with his amazing drums along with a mix of very familiar sounds such as like dishs clanking together, broken glass, zippers, and the sound stage is very prodominate. I really suggest the soundtrack to to anyone that wants to spend a couple of dollars on a cd that will stimulate your memory of sounds with good lows and highs to test your speakers with.
What equipment do you all's B&W dealers sell? The setups I have heard are on McIntosh and Rotel only. The Diamond series are only on McIntosh but the other series are on Rotels.
Josh
What equipment do you all's B&W dealers sell? The setups I have heard are on McIntosh and Rotel only. The Diamond series are only on McIntosh but the other series are on Rotels.
Josh
ShinOBIWAN said:
So let me get this straight, you listened once, hated them, then went back and listened to them again just to be sure?
ROFL
You'll be telling me the 801S sounds coloured next
herotongtong:
The B&W 805S are superb speakers, the diamond tweeters in particular are very smooth and distortion is nil. IMO an agile speaker that is amongst the best standmounts.
lol actually... I listened to them at two different shops... I never said I hated them... in fact I liked parts of them...
the salesman wanted to do a direct comparison in the 2nd shop to the Watt puppy 7's sitting next to them... with the same amp, preamp, etc... just to show the instant difference...
I heard the 800 also... you should have read my post awhile back about my auditioning of most major brands under $30,000...
800 was significantly improved over the 805... but I didn't necessarily like the sort of "flattish" sound it had...
In it's price range there are so many speakers better that I've HEARD off a chase amplifier and preamp (same equipment for as the B&W's for the Wilson's)
The ML summit
Paradigm S8
Watt Puppy 7
Wilson Sophia
Thanks alot ShinOBIWAN,cowanrg and audiobomber you guys are right the 805S are really wonderful and warm , I using the Conrad johnson PV14L as pre-amp and The Classe CA-2200 for power-amp,Meridian G08 CD player . after 200 hours they sounds so smooth and warm already , Can't even feel ANY harsh at all !! I like to listen to the vocal and jazz. The 805S Bass is superb and very nice balance.Great soundstage . ShinOBIWAN is right just some people using those crap gear it makes the speakers sounds bad !!! I believe in my own ear !! Thanks again ShinOBIWAN,cowanrg and audiobomber >
I like tube equipments, vinyl, (distortions ha-ha) and easy to listen detailed and realistic sound and not b&w in general because the higher end models sounds flat, but the 805D is exceptional and doesn’t sound like the previous 805 which let me cold. I will probably buy it after comparing with more harbeths.
Zombie thread... this was a 2005 thread. I agree with the person that stated that the paradigm S8's are > B&W diamond series. I've heard the 805s/804s/803D/802D/801D/800D (with a variety of amps, Rotel 1091's, classe ???, and some Makintosh tube amps. They were also in ideal listening position in an ideal treated room. The S8's and S6's were in a relatively bad listening room and mixed with other speakers. IMO they outperformed all but the 800D's which they were are par with. The s8's were on an amp I don't remember and the s6's were on a Yamaha receiver of all things. These were the V2's a long while back.
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