What magic does Bowers & Wilkins use to get two 6.5's to 24hz?

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
There 804 d3 spec sheet says the frequency response is 24hz to 28khz, 24hz from two 6.5's?

The Danley TH-SPUD gets down to 15hz using two eights. It can be done.

Note that the B&W enclosure is narrow, but the volume is still quite high.

This is something that I've noticed when picking out speakers with my wife; she won't complain about a five foot tall speaker that's 8" wide and has a volume of 2.5 cubic feet.

But a 1.5" cubic foot bookshelf speaker that's 12" wide, THAT she doesn't like. The width of the box seems to be a big issue with WAF, not necessarily the height.
 
Yeah they've used an EBS alignment and tuned low. Hopefully the room will compensate, but compared to a more traditional tuning, these will sound bass light even if they actually reach quite deep.

How that reviewer can say that the speaker has no negative points about it I do not know. These speakers have several glaring issues that are going to colour the sound.
 
Just refoamed the midrange drivers in a pair of Mordant short Pageant 3 speakers and the customer said he measured output down to the low 20s with his iPhone , yeah ..sure.. but blow me down, they rattle some of my tools on a wall mounted pegboard at 26hz.. must also be an EBS alignment, not bad for a single 8" driver
cheers, Arthur
 
Well, some people think driving 82 dB speaker with 500W amp is better than 98dB with 10W. ;)

Well technically speaking neither is better it's just which suits your application.

These days watts are cheap and people don't like large cabinets. There's definitely something to be said for the semi-active speakers, with plate amps driving their bass sections, leaving the mid/tweeter for your main hifi amp. That way you can keep the mid/top efficient and then have some actively driven 80dB bass section below it that goes low, in a tiny box, with lots of class D watts.

This appeases the audiophile too because they feel like they are getting the best of both worlds, a semi sub-woofer built into their main speakers + flexibility of the main amplifier with the mid/top.
 
Well technically speaking neither is better it's just which suits your application.

These days watts are cheap and people don't like large cabinets. There's definitely something to be said for the semi-active speakers, with plate amps driving their bass sections, leaving the mid/tweeter for your main hifi amp. That way you can keep the mid/top efficient and then have some actively driven 80dB bass section below it that goes low, in a tiny box, with lots of class D watts.

This appeases the audiophile too because they feel like they are getting the best of both worlds, a semi sub-woofer built into their main speakers + flexibility of the main amplifier with the mid/top.

I've never been a fan of big amps, I've always leaned to modest amplifiers and fairly high efficiency speakers.

I bought some Yamaha powered speakers that are something like one thousand watts, and I gotta admit, it's hard to go back. I find myself browsing eBay and trying to figure out how to put together a DIY 1000 watt amp.

It's a ridiculous amount of power, but the absolute effortlessness of the Yamahas is seductive.

On the downside, it has got to be the noisiest speaker I've ever owned. I'm guessing the combination of "big power" + "compression driver tweeter" = NOISE
 
I think this loudspeaker (B&W 804 D3) and a somewhat similar model I heard recently (B&W 683 S2) are design-driven by the all too practical cost driver of shipping. A lighter weight, smaller package will incur fewer damages from drops, etc. so losses are also reduced there. It is a business after all...

These speakers feature twin 6.5" bass units in a vented box. There is only so much bass you can squeeze out of this configuration due to displacement limiting of the drivers AND the fact that the box is only so big (e.g. Hoffman's Iron Law kind of limitations). Also, when total Sd is about the same, multiple smaller drivers will likely have higher distortion, all other things being equal.

Gone are the days of the Monkey Coffin. That type of design, while taking up much more floor and visual real estate, did have its advantages WRT efficiency and raw bass output potential.
 
Well technically speaking neither is better it's just which suits your application.

Hi,

I can't think of an application where 82dB with 500W would trump 98dB with 10W.

They are both at the same SPL under those specs...108-109 dB, but that's assuming there is no compression running at 500W...almost impossible.

Distortion has to be higher on a 82dB speaker running +27dB to its 1W spec.
The 98dB at 10W is loafing +10dB, probably clean as a whistle still, with lots of headroom left.

Plus, what says the 98 is limited to 10W...it's bound to get much louder than the 82...

Is there an app where the 82 works better? Am I missing something?
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.