B&W 803N's

[manlystanley]

I have a set of B&W 803N's that I'm demoing for a week--while I figure out how to sell my magnepan 1.6's. I had heard that the 803N tweeters are 'bright and harsh' and now I see what that means. I've told the guy that I'll be bringing them back Saturday, but in the mean time I'm trying to see if I can make the 803N's work. What I've found is that:

-- Monoprice video cables make them very bright. But, if you can get through the sound of the screech there amazing.

-- Monoprice audio cables make them sound very smooth, at the expense of loosing lots of high end detail.

-- I'm currently listening to: one MonoP cable between CD player and pre-map; Then one monoP Video cable between pre-amp to my XPA -2. That sounds better, but it's still to bright for me.

-- If I toe them in about 1/2 inch, that works the best.

-- I've been meaning to upgrade to BJC cables, so I have a two sets of those on order. I'll need to see how they sound.

I've read that B&W 803N's do not sound good with 'cheap amplifiers', so I'm wondering about my XPA-2, if that that making the problem worse?

Anyways, I kind of wish I had my 684's back, good grief this is a pain in the neck and time sink. Knowing what I know now, I'd figure out a way to get my H/K 655 amp fixed.



BTW, when I auditioned them at his house, the 803N's, sounded: dull with bass being a bit boomy. But, he has carpeting, and lots of sound absorbing panels on the walls. This is why I took them to demo them, since they sounded so subdued and my room is bright (e.g. I thought my bright room would make the 803N's sound more alive). We'll they sound good, if I could only tone down the treble.

Worse come to worse, I'll drive back on Saturday and look for a plan 'C'.

Best Regards,
Stan