B&W 804S vs. 805S with Sub?

[stevos2005]

I've been into audio/home theater for several years and am happy with my system, but want to upgrade to surround sound & the latest HD formats.

My current system consists of:

Yamaha RX-V2400 receiver (to be sold & upgraded to latest HD technology receiver)
B&W CDM 1NT main speakers (to be moved to surround duty)
Odyssey Audio Stratos Amp (to power main speakers)
Polk Audio PSW 650 subwoofer (to be sold)
Onkyo SP-1000 DVD/SACD Player (used for CDs & SACDs)
Sony PS3 (used for Blu-Ray, DVDs, and games)
Sony Bravia XBR4 46" HDTV


I have promised to sell the RX-V2400 receiver and the polk sub to a friend in August, so I'll need to make a decision by then.

I will be moving the B&W CDM 1NT bookshelf speakers to surround. I am debating either to pair new B&W 805S bookshelf speakers as mains with a B&W ASW700 sub or to get floorstanding B&W 804S speakers as mains and doing without a sub. I live in a condo, so I don't play music/movies very loud and can't shake the floor much. I use system for 50% music/ 50% movies & TV. Although the primary topic of discussion is the receiver, comments on the speaker selection are welcome and appreciated.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[AdrianMills]

Hi Steve,

I have the 804S (and a sub) and a friend of mine has the 805S with a small Rel sub which I've heard many times.

So what's "best"? Well, for midrange detail, the 804S win outright as you'd expect with the FST driver. Add a very good sub to the 805S (I don't really consider the Rel to be that good to be honest) and the low end of the 805S plus sub would beat the 804S but that's assuming you managed to integrate them properly.

For movies, you really should have a sub if you're into any sort of action genre but having said that you're limited by your neighbours so maybe that's not such a good idea?

The ideal is of course the 804S plus a good sub.

I'm not entirely sure why you want to change your receiver though?

I've been into audio/home theater for several years and am happy with my system, but want to upgrade to surround sound & the latest HD formats.

My current system consists of:

Yamaha RX-V2400 receiver (to be sold & upgraded to latest HD technology receiver)
B&W CDM 1NT main speakers (to be moved to surround duty)
Odyssey Audio Stratos Amp (to power main speakers)
Polk Audio PSW 650 subwoofer (to be sold)
Onkyo SP-1000 DVD/SACD Player (used for CDs & SACDs)
Sony PS3 (used for Blu-Ray, DVDs, and games)
Sony Bravia XBR4 46" HDTV


I have promised to sell the RX-V2400 receiver and the polk sub to a friend in August, so I'll need to make a decision by then.

I will be moving the B&W CDM 1NT bookshelf speakers to surround. I am debating either to pair new B&W 805S bookshelf speakers as mains with a B&W ASW700 sub or to get floorstanding B&W 804S speakers as mains and doing without a sub. I live in a condo, so I don't play music/movies very loud and can't shake the floor much. I use system for 50% music/ 50% movies & TV. Although the primary topic of discussion is the receiver, comments on the speaker selection are welcome and appreciated.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Sheep]

Yamaha RX-V2400 receiver (to be sold & upgraded to latest HD technology receiver)

Me neither.

SheepStar

 

[stevos2005]

I agreed to sell the Yamaha RX-V2400 to a friend of mine in August. I plan to upgrade to something at least that quality with the latest HD formats (DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD) with HDMI 1.3a+ switching - I want something that'll be good for at least 5 more years to come. I have a separate post on this subject in the receiver section.

Regarding the speakers, I'm leaning towards getting the 804S. If I were 100% movies and HT, then I think the 805S with the sub would be better, but since 2 channel music is very important, maybe getting the 804S and doing without a sub for a while might be better. What do you all think?

I might be able to pick up older 803 (not S) at a good price, so not sure how much the S line has improved, as I've never listened to a non-S line. IMHO, the current B&W 800 series are the best sounding speakers for the money (802 through 805). I know many will disagree, but that's my opinion.

 

[AdrianMills]

I agreed to sell the Yamaha RX-V2400 to a friend of mine in August. I plan to upgrade to something at least that quality with the latest HD formats (DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD) with HDMI 1.3a+ switching - I want something that'll be good for at least 5 more years to come. I have a separate post on this subject in the receiver section.

Regarding the speakers, I'm leaning towards getting the 804S. If I were 100% movies and HT, then I think the 805S with the sub would be better, but since 2 channel music is very important, maybe getting the 804S and doing without a sub for a while might be better. What do you all think?

I might be able to pick up older 803 (not S) at a good price, so not sure how much the S line has improved, as I've never listened to a non-S line. IMHO, the current B&W 800 series are the best sounding speakers for the money (802 through 805). I know many will disagree, but that's my opinion.

IMO the 804S is better by far than the 805S and there is also a better matching center for the 804S, the HTM3S. I guess you'll be going with a phantom center for a while? For 2-channel, even after 2 years of having my 804S, they still surprise and blow me away sometimes.

Coincidentally a neighbour of mine used to own the older 804 which although looked very similar was harder to drive than the current 804S and most people agree that they aren't as nice sounding. My neighbour has since moved on and bought a pair of Dali.

And for movies, the 804S plus sub would be better than the 805S plus sub but depending on the movies you watch the 805S plus sub may be better than the 804S without one. However, if you listen at low levels maybe a sub would be fairly redundant anyway.

As for the 802D; I’ve always avoided listening to them in case it spoiled my appreciation for what I have. However, I’ve recently organized a side be side demo on the 21st of the 804S and the 802D. It should be interesting.

 

[stevos2005]

804s

I have decided to go with the 804S. I've had my eyes on them for several years now, so I finally decided to take the plunge. I can always upgrade to a sub later.

One important question. They currently retail for $4500/pr. Has anyone had any luck getting decent deals on them? Also, does anyone know if B&W is planning on increasing their US price? I know it was increased 10% a while back due to exchange rate and likely increased materials cost. I plan to buy these in August or September, but if anyone knows of an impending price increase, I have no problems buying earlier, as I hate paying more for the same thing.

Thanks!

 

[Demonster]

I have decided to go with the 804S. I've had my eyes on them for several years now, so I finally decided to take the plunge. I can always upgrade to a sub later.

One important question. They currently retail for $4500/pr. Has anyone had any luck getting decent deals on them? Also, does anyone know if B&W is planning on increasing their US price? I know it was increased 10% a while back due to exchange rate and likely increased materials cost. I plan to buy these in August or September, but if anyone knows of an impending price increase, I have no problems buying earlier, as I hate paying more for the same thing.

Thanks!

I auditioned them last week and haggled a little and got them down to $1900 each - pretty sweet deal when comapring to audigon pricing on used.