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B&W speakers. Underrated?

B&W do have a house sound that is to some peoples taste but not others. The best bet is to try them in your system and in your own home. They can be a little bass heavy and slightly subdued in the midrange. Only the 800 series are made in the UK now which is a shame. They have always been pretty good value for money. They are about as far as you can get from a pair of SX3s though. I have had 800 (802) series in my room which is pretty big (28' x 18') and they boomed even with a big amp behind them. I think the ATC are much better price for price. In the end I craved for something with better midrange and less bass. The Elex-R is a good amp but I wouldn't go anywhere near 800 series with one. 800 series need current and lots of it.
 
B&W is a very successful brand selling more speakers than most worldwide brands I would imagine. That does not happen by producing crap. Crap products cause firms to fold. Yes there will be the odd miss from pushing boundaries in either aesthetics or new technology/ materials.
I'm a great believer that you can get a very good sound from most well designed and engineered speakers with the correct system fronting them that suits their needs and of course a suitable room.
Some designs simply need POWER and current. I had a pair of N802 that needed the protection circuitry modified on my Naim 250/2 to work, that was not the fault of the speaker but my fault for choosing to partner it with the wrong amp ( thankfully Naim came along with a solution for my 250 and I went on to enjoy for years)
Bashing multinationals while praising the cottage industry always seems the way here.
But Ill bet there are more happy B&w owners worldwide than any other brand. I may be wrong
 
dna audio said:
B&W do have a house sound that is to some peoples taste but not others. The best bet is to try them in your system and in your own home. They can be a little bass heavy and slightly subdued in the midrange. Only the 800 series are made in the UK now which is a shame. They have always been pretty good value for money. They are about as far as you can get from a pair of SX3s though. I have had 800 (802) series in my room which is pretty big (28' x 18') and they boomed even with a big amp behind them. I think the ATC are much better price for price. In the end I craved for something with better midrange and less bass. The Elex-R is a good amp but I wouldn't go anywhere near 800 series with one. 800 series need current and lots of it.
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The ‘boom isn’t down speakers but to the room and it’s interaction with the speakers, it does appear that earlier B&W loudspeakers measured better than the current ( since kevlar driver ) designs, I would be interested to know why?
Keith
 
I own B&W 804 D3s since last summer.

I have auditioned a lot of speakers but have grown increasingly disillusioned with many smaller companies just producing a fancy cabinet (sometimes not even that) and using off the shelf drivers from the usual suspects such as Peerless, Vifa, Scan Speak etc., particularly when looking up how much those drivers actually cost when bought directly.

So started looking at companies that produce as much as possible - certainly the drivers - in house. This already narrowed down the field, and on several occasions I noticed I preferred the B&W in comparison to other speakers - the almost holographic projection of the sound into the room is something to behold. NB that I never really got on with earlier iterations of the 800 series.

The process was made easier by the fact that the Accuphase dealer I got (some of) the amplification & sources from is a long standing B&W dealer with a lot of experience with the brand, and Accuphase themselves use B&W 800D3s (or 802s, not sure) in their in-house demo room, so it was going to be a good match. BTW, they are certainly the speakers with the highest build quality I have ever owned.

Happy ever since.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
/\ Just clarinet here. Source was a Studer R2R, B62 or B67 IIRC
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Yup and I vaguely remember a pair of Quad power amps in 405 cases but no idea what the internals were.
Studer B67 looks familiar, they certainly used a more pro spec deck than the B77 that was around at the time.
I do remember having a chat with George Hooley who was a lovely gentleman.
 
I have a pair of B&W 800 D2's, and they work very well with my Bryston system, that is powered with a 14 Bsst power amp. They are everything I'd hoped they'd be, but I've enjoyed many different pairs of B&W's through the years, starting with a pair of P4's powered by Harman Kardon amplifier.
 
I bought 800D2’s a good few years ago after hearing them side by side to a pair of KEF Blades. In that room/system the B&W’s were in a different league to the Blades.

I eventually changed the 800’s to Revel Salon 2’s....they made the 800’s sound like high end disco speakers...
 
My experience of B and W is that they're quite accurate and revealing and will highlight flaws downstream thus it's easiest to blame the speakers in budget systems.
 
Blue Belle said:
I have a pair of B&W 800 D2's, and they work very well with my Bryston system, that is powered with a 14 Bsst power amp. They are everything I'd hoped they'd be, but I've enjoyed many different pairs of B&W's through the years, starting with a pair of P4's powered by Harman Kardon amplifier.
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I like B&W speakers. I bought a pair of P4's new in 1997. Still got them and they were my main speakers for 21 years. I externalised thecrossovers and relaid them on a larger board with some film caps instead of electro's and mills padding resistors. I thought that made them even better. I need to revisit them soon.

A friend who passed away a few years ago gave me a pair of CM1 a couple of years before he passed. I like them too and they are currently in my second system.

Ignore what others say, if you like them you like them. That is all that is important.
 
mega lord said:
I like B&W speakers. I bought a pair of P4's new in 1997.
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I bought a pair second-hand in 2001 and they were my main speakers until 2010. Went to AV duties until 2013 and now in the kids system.
My first hi-fi speakers were the 602 standmounts.
 
Purité Audio said:
The ‘boom isn’t down speakers but to the room and it’s interaction with the speakers, it does appear that earlier B&W loudspeakers measured better than the current ( since kevlar driver ) designs, I would be interested to know why?
Keith
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I know where you are coming from but I think the speaker design is largely responsible here as they have a port tuned to around 28hz I think that extends LF response. I now have a pair of speakers with better bass performance but no boom. The downwards fining port of the B&W I am sure is partly responsible. I went to B&W from isobariks, thought that the B&W were technically better but musically worse.
 
dspatterson said:
B&W is a very successful brand selling more speakers than most worldwide brands I would imagine. That does not happen by producing crap. Crap products cause firms to fold. Yes there will be the odd miss from pushing boundaries in either aesthetics or new technology/ materials.
I'm a great believer that you can get a very good sound from most well designed and engineered speakers with the correct system fronting them that suits their needs and of course a suitable room.
Some designs simply need POWER and current. I had a pair of N802 that needed the protection circuitry modified on my Naim 250/2 to work, that was not the fault of the speaker but my fault for choosing to partner it with the wrong amp ( thankfully Naim came along with a solution for my 250 and I went on to enjoy for years)
Bashing multinationals while praising the cottage industry always seems the way here.
But Ill bet there are more happy B&w owners worldwide than any other brand. I may be wrong
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B&W are a big mainstream company that are very successful and produce great quality products. This is a forum for enthusiasts who like to offer their personal opinion on things. We can only respond to our findings and offer advice. Music and Audio is very subjective. Supporting cottage industry can't be a bad thing as these companies are often driven by enthusiastic and quite often not commercially minded people. It does sometimes limit their potential but quite often delivers us great products that however niche they may be offer something different.
 
I took my N802 apart to discover that all the connections were just spade connectors, after a bit of handiwork every connection was soldered. Made them sound a lot better. Most cottage industry companies wouldn't even consider spades and always use solder connections but a big company quite often cannot or do not want to accommodate this kind of process on a production line. They would argue that it doesn't measure any different. It sure made them sound a lot better though.
 
vln said:
I own B&W 804 D3s since last summer.

I have auditioned a lot of speakers but have grown increasingly disillusioned with many smaller companies just producing a fancy cabinet (sometimes not even that) and using off the shelf drivers from the usual suspects such as Peerless, Vifa, Scan Speak etc., particularly when looking up how much those drivers actually cost when bought directly.

So started looking at companies that produce as much as possible - certainly the drivers - in house. This already narrowed down the field, and on several occasions I noticed I preferred the B&W in comparison to other speakers - the almost holographic projection of the sound into the room is something to behold. NB that I never really got on with earlier iterations of the 800 series.

The process was made easier by the fact that the Accuphase dealer I got (some of) the amplification & sources from is a long standing B&W dealer with a lot of experience with the brand, and Accuphase themselves use B&W 800D3s (or 802s, not sure) in their in-house demo room, so it was going to be a good match. BTW, they are certainly the speakers with the highest build quality I have ever owned.

Happy ever since.
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The build quality is stunning, It was what initially drew me to the N802 and subsequently 802D. I loved the look and build of them.
 
mega lord said:
A friend who passed away a few years ago gave me a pair of CM1 a couple of years before he passed. I like them too and they are currently in my second system.

Ignore what others say, if you like them you like them. That is all that is important.
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If I would do that, I would still be using my first real loudspeakers, the CM1's you mention. But I did not. I positioned the CM1's at almost any place in my living room and concluded that they sounded much better far from the walls. For an unknown reason I tried to Upgrade to CM5's. Same story.

Then I got SBL's and that was the start of advanced music in my living room.

I still have the CM1s, won't sell them because I know they are good, but now used for AV purposes which I think suits them better than hifi.

In the end, I'm an B&W fan too.
 
Lots of fans on here but the OP is right in that they are not really spoken about on here as speakers like Naim, Shahanian etc generally have first dibs. I think this may be related to the fact that the history of the forum is generally founded on Linn/Naim systems and their natural sidekicks. You see new speakers coming through especially those related to computer audio but that is where the trend is. The forum still has a base or core of long standing members who have been here from the beginning and who tend to own the aforementioned products. My entry into the forum was due to my past ownership of Naim products and the knowledge base on here. I think this is why certain products aren’t mentioned often. Similar re. Musical Fidelity who have some great products but I think relatively few on here own the brand and are therefore unable to comment therefore threads end prematurely.
 
I have owned two pairs of B&W speakers. I started off with the smallest in the range (which sounded superb in the hifi shop or I wouldn’t have bought them) but when I got them home I did not like them at all. The high frequencies were superb but there was no integration with the midrange. The bass was pretty decent but it did produce an odd sound overall.

It was suggested I change them for the next model up as this was bigger and would work better in my lounge (which is a lot bigger than the dem room). Same again but with more bass which made things even more strange.

Not considered the brand since but their other ranges/latest offerings may be better.
 
Glad I started this thread.

Seems to be many happy users and as with any brand, others which prefer other house sounds.

My own view is similar to Del Monaco is that they are a little overlooked and underrated.

I think there are a number of plus points jn buyjng speakers from a large established brand such as b&w.

1. Decades of experience
2. Economies of scale - both in research and manufacturing capability

Which I think makes them very good value.

(to note I totally agree in supporting smaller companies and that they are equally capable of producing great products. I think Neat for example are a great company)

Obviously every range of products has their sweet spots and misses, and with hifi a lot will depend on your room, rest of your hifi equipment and I think pre-conceptons to a degree.

I am back using my 685 s2 now I have moved house. The speakers are around 30cms from the back wall and approx 1m from side walls. The room is medium to large 5.5 x 5 x 3 m and there is no boom at all. Another thing which I really appreciate is the dispersion of the sound as I can sit in several locations and still hear the full soundstage.

I now also have a toddler and the speakers are pretty robust with the mesh grill over the tweeter. I also recently listened to the 706 s2 driven by an atom in a small room close to the back wall and again sounded very good to me. It's these reasons plus the good reviews which are really getting me interested in the 705 s2.. By chance does anyone have measurements on these?

Just my views.

I am also intending to audition a number of speakers before purchasing but it is great to hear all the views on b&w.

Thanks
 
wow&flutter said:
Interesting, I don’t remember a DM15. The DM12, DM14, DM16 & DM17 I know ok but not a 15, any more info?
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Very little info on them out there on the net.
Did find one picture.
They sit on an integral stand 8.5 ins tall, the enclosure is 10 in wide, 22 in high and 11 in deep.
One soft dome tweeter and two black plastic (bextrene?) 6 in mid bass units.
The upper mid/bass gets mid and bass whilst the lower gets bass only. It is not an ABR.
There is no port and the sound could be described as very polite.
 
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