Blown away by B&W 800D + Classe monoblocks!

[Yang1815]

Went to hang out at a friend's parents' house. He has a pair of B&W 800D hooked up to Classe monoblocks with surround B&W speakers hooked up to Classe 5 channel amp + Velodyne and its own amp fed by Pioneer (maybe Elite, didn't take a close look) and many other equipments. He played a heavy rock DVD-A, a Taiko drum track (which made me fall in love with pure drum recordings, in search of one right now), as well as an 18th century rock (never heard of this before, but think classical instruments + alternative without the vocal?!)

Anyways, you can hear every, single, beating, of the drum plus all of the details that you would hear at an actual concert on the front row. (you can practically see the hands holding the sticks and every subtle movement and the sound it generates) I was so humbled by the setup and the amazing detail and stage it produced. My ML sounds so... iPod now... I consider myself lucky to have heard the equipment in a private home. :bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

 

[Joey_V]

I heard everything you heard and described also.

I don't understand the love/hate relationship with audiophiles and BW speakers - especially the D series. They are great speakers and quite musical provided you have the proper upstreams (hey, that's the EXACT same thing with our Logans! Go figure...).

Anyway, I always thought the midbass of BW 802D and up speakers were always phenomenal. Some attribute this to some bloat, the port design... I dunno.

All I know is that I don't get the same midbass kick with what I have.

I attribute it to either the Summits being more accurate with the midbass OR perhaps the BW are the accurate ones and the Summits are the inaccurate ones?

Dunno.

Either way, the 802D (and 800D obviously) are good speakers. :bowdown:

 

[VanDaRo]

B&W suffers from many of the same complaints that Thiel does.... Too hot on the upper treble, ruthless in their revelation of detail, hard to drive adequately, etc, etc....

Nice speakers, though. Aesthetically, they fail to impress me.

~VDR

 

[Joey_V]

B&W suffers from many of the same complaints that Thiel does.... Too hot on the upper treble, ruthless in their revelation of detail, hard to drive adequately, etc, etc....

Nice speakers, though. Aesthetically, they fail to impress me.

~VDR

Which is why you need the right equipment to drive them... besides since when were Logans easy to drive? Remember the impedance dip below 1ohm as the Summits approach 20KHZ? Also, the upper treble is a non-existent problem with the diamonds from my experience. Aesthetically, though they may not impress you, the 802D and up are much more difficult to produce than an ML panel/box combo.

 

[Yang1815]

Aesthetically, they impress me. It's more of a personal preference.

 

[VanDaRo]

You both are absolutely correct. That was the point that I was trying, in my own words, to make.

I love good cabinetry -- and could care less if the run-of-the-mill consumer can't drive Logans (or any other "power hungry" speaker) with his Yamaha receiver... We audiophiles tend to purchase equipment that makes 1 ohm loads, low sensitivity, and voltage stability issues mute points.

B&W = recommended in my book. But I won't bring home a pair anytime soon due solely to my own, however ridiculous, idiosyncracies...

~VDR

 

[Bernard]

It is easy to get impressed by a speaker like that demoing a drum recording, but will tiredess set in at some point ?

When you uncork a bottle of fine wine, sit back in your Eames chair, and listen to some smooth Brazilian Jazz, do you need the B&W or are Joey's Summits better suited to the job at hand ? Personally I listen to demo disks perhaps just once or twice. My musical enjoyment comes from a lot of run-of-the-mill (vinyl) disks.

 

[Joey_V]

It is easy to get impressed by a speaker like that demoing a drum recording, but will tiredess set in at some point ?

When you uncork a bottle of fine wine, sit back in your Eames chair, and listen to some smooth Brazilian Jazz, do you need the B&W or are Joey's Summits better suited to the job at hand ? Personally I listen to demo disks perhaps just once or twice. My musical enjoyment comes from a lot of run-of-the-mill (vinyl) disks.

Alright... who's got the Eames chair..??? Speak up!



Yes, demos are one thing - but longevity is the other. How long before the "wows" fizzle away and you're left with a speaker that you can't really get a long with? BW 802D have always impressed me when run properly, as to whether they can replace these Summits? I dunno... I like my Summits as they are so it's hard to swallow the possibility that when I take a pair of 802D home that they will have the same longevity that these Summits have (had).

Great speakers, nonetheless.

:music:

PS
I still want an Eames chair... that post of yours, Bernard, really is like a knife to the heart.... damn financial restrictions!

 

[Yang1815]

Very well said. Longevity is an element to consider. That and I can shine some lights through my ML and it looks sooo perrrty

 

[Pcar928fan]

I don't care for the way they look or sound really. Maybe it was poor source material or poor room set up (though it WAS at a Home Theater store that deals in B&W). The lower level (and I am talking anything but TOP OF THE LINE B&W) they sound no just poor, but like total crap! The bottom end of the ESL line from ML is MUCH better than the mid/bottom end of B&W if you ask me!

 

[theWB]

, a Taiko drum track (which made me fall in love with pure drum recordings, in search of one right now),

Try Drumsex by Brent Lewis. You won't be disappointed.

http://www.amazon.com/DrumSex-Brent...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1211925556&sr=8-1

 

[amey01]

I've never really been impressed with B+W sound. I've heard all the models - 800D, 802D, 803D and some others.

To me, they seem to lack something - that last ounce of detail or clarity. They're just don't have that "There" sound of panels.

Maybe they weren't set up properly?

That said, I then thought maybe I just liked panels and that the dynamic speakers - well - I wasn't used to them. But I have heard dynamic speakers that I'd live with in a heartbeat - ANY of the Audio Physic line or ANY of the Avalon line (yes, a little more costly!).

I've also heard the top Focal line (Utopia Be, et al.) and I prefer those to the B+Ws. Same goes for a small pair of Goldmund speakers (Logos)...magic! So I don't think it is dynamic speakers I'm against.

Just for the cost of the 800 series, I prefer others!

Classé on the other hand - ROCKS!

 

[Bernard]

PS
I still want an Eames chair... that post of yours, Bernard, really is like a knife to the heart.... damn financial restrictions!

Joey, as I said before, that chair is cheaper than the Quads you are lusting over. :duh:

 

[Joey_V]

Joey, as I said before, that chair is cheaper than the Quads you are lusting over. :duh:

I quit with the Quads... but even so, where am I going to get the $4K for the Eames, huh?

No more audio budget for the rest of the year thanks to the Cary 306/200!!

 

[David Matz]

I quit with the Quads... but even so, where am I going to get the $4K for the Eames, huh?

No more audio budget for the rest of the year thanks to the Cary 306/200!!

Joey,

What's wrong with a used Eames Lounge? Many that are in great shape frequently pop up on Craig's list and ebay.

 

[David Matz]

Went to hang out at a friend's parents' house. He has a pair of B&W 800D hooked up to Classe monoblocks with surround B&W speakers hooked up to Classe 5 channel amp + Velodyne and its own amp fed by Pioneer (maybe Elite, didn't take a close look) and many other equipments. He played a heavy rock DVD-A, a Taiko drum track (which made me fall in love with pure drum recordings, in search of one right now), as well as an 18th century rock (never heard of this before, but think classical instruments + alternative without the vocal?!)

Anyways, you can hear every, single, beating, of the drum plus all of the details that you would hear at an actual concert on the front row. (you can practically see the hands holding the sticks and every subtle movement and the sound it generates) I was so humbled by the setup and the amazing detail and stage it produced. My ML sounds so... iPod now... I consider myself lucky to have heard the equipment in a private home. :bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

The B&W's are great, but if you did an apples to apples comparison of systems at similar price points in the same room, you might be amazed by ML.

 

[Yang1815]

The B&W's are great, but if you did an apples to apples comparison of systems at similar price points in the same room, you might be amazed by ML.

That's true. I can't imagine what a pair of $24k MLs would sound like?! There's not really a comparable model at that price right???

 

[amey01]

That's true. I can't imagine what a pair of $24k MLs would sound like?! There's not really a comparable model at that price right???

aaaah - the CLX.

 

[Joey_V]

That's true. I can't imagine what a pair of $24k MLs would sound like?! There's not really a comparable model at that price right???

You'd be surprised. ML is not the last word.

 

[Pcar928fan]

You'd be surprised. ML is not the last word.

True... MBL is the last word!