Full Review of the new B&W 800D

[thepogue]

And topspeed, without getting too close to you. But your system is so far away from High End that i dont think you can really eveluate those systems at all. You are properbly very impressed by a Nautilus 800.....actually the only reason why that old snell looking nautilus is there is because people cant afford it and settle for a cheap 7NT because it contains the same technology.....Can you say, "i fell for it" ?

If you grave for a 800 Nautilus, i can tell you that much. " You have no idea what your missing"....because that Diamond tweeter aint gonna give it to you.

-Flo

you go from making good points to name calling...makes your valid points kinda look lame..stop that or you'll be sent to your room...all of you...Lord Whatever and all your other names...with no dinner


Pogue

[Florian]

I apologize for my post, they were uncalled for. I am just stressed and ticked off at life, if i offended someone i am sorry.

-Flo

[StanleyMuso]

Like most audiophiles, I am interested in the technical aspects of the equipment that I'm interested in, but I have long ago discovered that good sound does not necessarily equate with the materials or technology used. There is obviously a lot of art involved as well to meld all the disperate components into something which sounds great. Just because all the materials are top class and all the technology is the latest, does not guarantee anything.

Of course B&W promotes its wares heavily. I would not expect anything different in our commercial world. Do you pan Merc, or Beemer, or Ford for that matter, for advertsing and promoting their wares? Its still up to us as consumers to weed out the chaff and find that special product which is just right for us. Of course, what is just right for me may be utter crap to my neighbour. Such is life - I married the girl that I did because she lit my fires, but I can't figure out what the guy next door could posibly see in the woman he married. That's what makes life so interesting.

Although this discussion has gone off track, I have on the whole found it interesting. What I personally find insulting is the obviously snobbish remarks creeping in about people who don't own, or can't afford, high end gear. I identify myself as middle class and due to family and other commitments, could never afford the type of gear I would like to own. Do I therefore deserve the derision of the high income snobs who have more money than good sense?

My choices have always revolved about the best equipment I could buy for what I could afford - in other words, value for money. Even if I win the lottery, I would never go for the really high end products. Frequently, value lies in the middle ranges, not at the top or bottom.

Confession time - 6 months ago I bought the B&W 703 (my hi-fi store offered me a deal I could not refuse, 30% off), after searching, on and off, for about five years to replace a set of speakers originally bought in 1980 and which had their tone altered when they were re-woofered. I really wanted to like a number of much cheaper speakers, but even many in the 703's price range, to my ear at least, sounded as if they were playing through cotton wool - muffled and indistinct. Side by side, originally starting with the CDM 9NT, I compared many speakers over the past 5 years, and initially, only listened to B&W for comparison because I did not think I could afford them. I like all type of music, but especially with songs, whether operatic or jazz, I found I could actually hear the words being sung, unlike a lot of speakers where I had to strain. Oops, this post is getting longer than I intended. Let me just summarise - after an initial period of disappointment where I thought I had made a mistake because at first the speakers sounded harsh, I now love them. Partly it was break in, but a lot was dependent on positioning - these have to be a long way from the back wall. They serve general duty for music, TV and DVD. For music at least, my sub has become redundent.

And, most of all, at my listening position, I do not detect that lack of integration between the seperate drivers alluded to by posters above. One last point - I actually listen to real music (live concerts, a lot). I used to play the violin, my daughter competed in international violin competions, my son plays jazz piano and clarinet and my wife teaches piano. My ears are attuned to real music, not just the canned artificial variety. My basis of comparison is always the live performance, and even the most expensive rigs fail to reproduce absolute realism.