B&W Speakers - Bowers & Wilkins

[Webmaster]

Just curious how many people out there have or going to get or even want B&W speakers.

I have the 805's from about 4 years ago and it rocks. Not only does it sound great to me anyway - but my wife likes the way they look. Very important for a sound marriage.

I used to upgrade speakers almost every year but things have slowed down a bit due to having kids.

Lately, I have been thinking up of upgrading my system again. I'll have to look at the B&W new line to see if there is anything exciting - has anyone recently purchased B&W speakers?

For those interested, here are some ther links & resources for B&W speakers. I'll update this thread as I find more interesting information.

• Stereo|411 - B&W Company
• More B&W Speaker information.

[dotcomguy]

I was looking at the B&W DM602 S3 Speaker for my current system. mainly for the larger cabinet it provides and the (7-in) woven Kevlar® cone bass / midrange driver, that should really annoy the neigbours

[Webmaster]

Yeah the kelvar cone really rocks. I have a 1k watt sub from B&W and thank god I don't live in an apartment - but then again I have kids so how often do I get to really use it.

The Matrix is just awesome when it is cranked!

[AutoAudio]

i have the 602 s3's and I find them to be pretty nice. I think the highs could be a little more to my liking, they sound kind of thin. I'm hoping a lot of that has to do with my super el cheapo cd player and that an upgrade will fix it. I surely wouldn't say the 7" cone will be annoying any of my neighbors though.

[Webmaster]

Depends where those 7" are located and what kind of amp you have . I use to have the 601s and when I lived in an apartment - I have some friends and some enemies .

Yeah but to really annoy and get great bass you need to have a separate subwoofer or 2 depending on the size of the room of course.

[AutoAudio]

i push them on a nad 320bee.. I'm not even sure what that puts out any more.. its only like 50 watts? The lowend is ok when cranked I guess.. but I have my subwoofer to really annoy the neighbors under my christmas tree.

[Webmaster]

I run my B&W 805's with a Rotel RSX-965 5.1 receiver. Sweet to my ears. Still would like to hear from some others who have recently purchased a new pair speakers, a home theater set or a sub from B&W.

Maybe I don't want to hear until after Christmas !

[AutoAudio]

I just noticed you were in Boston. Where in Boston are you? I'm in Brighton.

[Webmaster]

Live in Reading actually. Love Brighton - used to hand out a lot when I went to Boston College.

In any case, I have updated the orginial post to include some B&W links.

[hifi_blues]

Hello, I have owned many B&W in my time. I had a pair of 805 some time ago
And miss them very much. The 805 and the 801 are historic in the audiophile community.
The 805 are the 3rd generation of B&W’s attempt to eliminate internal standing waves. The first was dm 3000,
Then the matrix 1 and 2. There is no replacement for your speakers with B&W new line. Everybody
Here will disagree with me. The new 800 series or Nautilus line are marketed to the US
Consumer. There bright. The old matrix was musical, and natural. I sold my 805’s for the new
805 Nautilus. It was a big mistake. If you want to replace your Speakers I would recommend
the Matrix 802’s or 803. You can find them on Ebay and audiogon. The 805 were not meant
to Rock. The 804 803 802 801 could.
I guess in a nutshell what I’m saying is
Don’t Sell Your Speakers man.

HiFi_blues

[thebird756]

I work with B&W speakers every day and still can't get enough of them! the new 800D's reproduce sound so precisely it feels like the artist is recording right there. In my opinion the hole 800 series blows away any of Logan's lines. I use 805s's in my project studio, only cause I can't afford the higher end stuff, I'm not running Abbey Road here or anything. If any of you want to get in touch with me about purchasing in the 800 range, drop me an e-mail at volty756@yahoo.com, and I can surely help you out!!

[tweek]

Everybody
Here will disagree with me. The new 800 series or Nautilus line are marketed to the US
Consumer. There bright. The old matrix was musical, and natural. I sold my 805’s for the new
805 Nautilus. It was a big mistake. If you want to replace your Speakers I would recommend
the Matrix 802’s or 803. You can find them on Ebay and audiogon. The 805 were not meant
to Rock. The 804 803 802 801 could.
I guess in a nutshell what I’m saying is
Don’t Sell Your Speakers man.

HiFi_blues

New guy here. I just found this site and found a couple of topics I just had to respond to - including this one...

I have the N-805's as well, and also just recently purchased N-803's The only flaw I see in both is the slight harshness in the tweeter. Of course, the 803's do a much better job of reproducing bass and lower-mids, but that's what you would expect. Even with a sub, you will get a hole in the lower midrange with N-803's. However, I hear that the just-mentioned N-805Ds and N-803Ds to a great job of eliminating the tweeter problem.

There are better B&W models for rock out there, if that is the vast majority of what you listen to. I almost got something from the CD series for that purpose. (CD-9-something as I recall.) Nautilus has a fairly laid-back sound, but reproduces strings and wind instruments very well. Excellent for jazz and classical!

BTW - Almost got a new pair of Matrix back in the '80s. I would still highly recommend them!

- John