I have B&W 804S, an earlier version of the 804 D3. Mine has aluminum tweeter, an earlier version of the FST midrange, and twin 6.5" in the same vented box.
I used to run them straight from a 2 channel tube amp and liked them. In fact, when I was shopping for amps I listened in the same shop/room/system with McIntosh MC252 (250Wpc solid state) and MC275 (75Wpc tubed) and liked the tubes better - I listened to bass heavy music too. Bought the MC275 and very happy.
10 years later I'm running them in an active setup: below them stereo 12" sealed subs, the twin 6.5" from 80 to 350Hz directly connected to a Hypex UcD400 and vents blocked, the MC275 driving the midrange and tweeter (this passive xo is still in there). I like a tilted frequency response. Bass significantly higher. Plus use bass traps.
Relieving the 6.5" from reproducing below 80Hz makes a big difference. The system also has a lot of headroom vs running it all from the MC275, so that helps too. But adjusting the bass/midbass frequency response to my taste made a huge difference. Plus the bass traps. These now sound a lot bigger than they used to.
Conclusion: no magic involved. Specs might be accurate, but they don't fully represent what you hear. Such a long post to conclude stating the obvious...oh well
I used to run them straight from a 2 channel tube amp and liked them. In fact, when I was shopping for amps I listened in the same shop/room/system with McIntosh MC252 (250Wpc solid state) and MC275 (75Wpc tubed) and liked the tubes better - I listened to bass heavy music too. Bought the MC275 and very happy.
10 years later I'm running them in an active setup: below them stereo 12" sealed subs, the twin 6.5" from 80 to 350Hz directly connected to a Hypex UcD400 and vents blocked, the MC275 driving the midrange and tweeter (this passive xo is still in there). I like a tilted frequency response. Bass significantly higher. Plus use bass traps.
Relieving the 6.5" from reproducing below 80Hz makes a big difference. The system also has a lot of headroom vs running it all from the MC275, so that helps too. But adjusting the bass/midbass frequency response to my taste made a huge difference. Plus the bass traps. These now sound a lot bigger than they used to.
Conclusion: no magic involved. Specs might be accurate, but they don't fully represent what you hear. Such a long post to conclude stating the obvious...oh well
In a small room, where you can only install a diminutive loudspeaker (for whatever reason), but it must go low and reasonably, but not THX reference, loud. I'd install an 8" or even 7" 500 W subwoofer that goes down to 25 Hz and does 100 dB at 1 m in my bedroom, but I'd never install an 18" 500W subwoofer that does THX reference there. That 18" stays in my living room, thank you very much
But then again, maybe I'm not truly crazy, yet.
Speaking of the B&W 804, I've heard them, and I have to admit I liked their bass, both quantity and quality. The amp was not a powerhouse, maybe a Naim Nait 5i, but in that small-ish room it worked very well. Sounded tight and not boomy, but not too lean either. Overall I don't find B&W very neutral sounding, they sure have a sound "signature", and that works (psychoacoustically) for a lot of people. Maybe they're, I dare say, Bose done right?
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