B&W 802F Specials

[emaidel]

I bought a pair of these speakers in 1984 after having been thoroughly satisfied with my Dahlquist DQ-10's, and unable to find a speaker I liked better that I could possibly ever hope to afford. The B&W's were very expensive (about $2,000 each), but I paid half of that, as an "industry insider."

I used the B&W's for years, and preferred them to the DQ-10's in numerous listening locations in the various homes I've lived in. As of now, after a woofer rebuild on the DQ-10's, and a move to a new home with a listening room with far better acoustics than anything I'd owned before, I've relegated the B&W's to my exercise room, because I much prefer the sound of the DQ-10's. And, oddly enough, in my several conversations with the service manager at Regnar, the speaker the DQ-10 is most often compared to today is indeed the 802.

So, with all that being said, I'm curious as to whether anyone out there owns these B&W's and has any suggestions for improving their sound. They're fine speakers indeed, but to my ears (and in my current listening environment) they have an excessive amount of midrange and upper-bass "bloom," regardless of how I set the controls on them.

Any comments?

[topspeed]

Have you tried treating your new room? Some tuned corner traps may aleviate some of the "bloom" you are experiencing and you should always address first order reflections whenever you can.

[emaidel]

Have you tried treating your new room? Some tuned corner traps may aleviate some of the "bloom" you are experiencing and you should always address first order reflections whenever you can.

I haven't treated any of the rooms in which I've used either of the speakers. The B&W's exhibit this characteristic in either of two rooms in which I've used them in my present home, as well as in the same room as the DQ-10's, in which the DQ-10's simply shine. And, before I reconnected the 10's, I thought the B&W's had never sounded better than they did in that room.

[jaimejdv]

Hi everybody, I've just bought my Yamaha HTR5890 and I am very disappointed with the today's speakers, so expensive and nothing like old speakers sound... are there any kind of speakers with the old sound? I remember my Technics stereo big speakers and perfect sound, I can't believe there are no excellent speakers under 800!!!! I already read some suggestions but I live in Miami and I only know Best Buy, Circuit City and Sound Advice..they don't have any of the speakers that I read..

Please help me to buy an excellent pair of speakers without wasting too much money

[topspeed]

I haven't treated any of the rooms in which I've used either of the speakers. The B&W's exhibit this characteristic in either of two rooms in which I've used them in my present home, as well as in the same room as the DQ-10's, in which the DQ-10's simply shine. And, before I reconnected the 10's, I thought the B&W's had never sounded better than they did in that room.

Considering your other posts, you seem to be a pretty knowledgeable guy, so naturally you realize the impact and importance of room interaction with any speaker. I would definitely consider some treatments, whether DIY, Auralex, or whatever, and start tuning your room. Both of the aforementioned speakers are well regarded and you can likely take them to another level with some simple mod's to your room.

[Geoffcin]

I bought a pair of these speakers in 1984 after having been thoroughly satisfied with my Dahlquist DQ-10's, and unable to find a speaker I liked better that I could possibly ever hope to afford. The B&W's were very expensive (about $2,000 each), but I paid half of that, as an "industry insider."

I used the B&W's for years, and preferred them to the DQ-10's in numerous listening locations in the various homes I've lived in. As of now, after a woofer rebuild on the DQ-10's, and a move to a new home with a listening room with far better acoustics than anything I'd owned before, I've relegated the B&W's to my exercise room, because I much prefer the sound of the DQ-10's. And, oddly enough, in my several conversations with the service manager at Regnar, the speaker the DQ-10 is most often compared to today is indeed the 802.

So, with all that being said, I'm curious as to whether anyone out there owns these B&W's and has any suggestions for improving their sound. They're fine speakers indeed, but to my ears (and in my current listening environment) they have an excessive amount of midrange and upper-bass "bloom," regardless of how I set the controls on them.

Any comments?

While you can compare any speaker to any other, the DQ-10's were designed to be compared to Quads. While I don't have any Quad experiance, I will say that the modded DQ-10's that I've heard would give a set of Magnepan 1.6qr's a run for their money in everything but hight of the soundstage. Perhaps better imaging than the 1.6qr too.

The N802's driven by massive Musical Fidelity power really shook the floors with bass authority. I never got this from the DQ-10's.

[emaidel]

Considering your other posts, you seem to be a pretty knowledgeable guy.

Fooled you, didn't I?