Confused. How can it be?

R

rbr

Audiophyte
i was checking the B & W 803 D3 and the specs says to go down to 16 Hz. How can that be? these speakers have two 7" woofers. unless I'm completely ignorant, but I think that the laws of physics don"t allow for two 7" woofers to go that low. Am I completely, incorrect here?
Do they make these kind of claims because few people would be able to hear below 20 Hz?
 
R

Russdawg1

Full Audioholic
Room gain, and there’s many other factors.

Did they spec it as -3? Or -10?

Many times they can be deceiving but other times it’s just physics. Low Fs woofers and such.
 
B

Beave

Audioholic Chief
They make these claims because their marketing people - like the marketing people at so many other companies - have a tendency to stretch the truth to the point that it becomes an outright lie.
 
B

Beave

Audioholic Chief
Note that they don't give a magnitude for the claimed 16Hz extension (ie, is it down 6dB or is it down 60dB?).

But they do give a magnitude claim for 19Hz extension. And that one is also a lie.
 
D

D Murphy

Full Audioholic
Stereophile's review of the larger 802 D3 shows an anechoic f3 of around 40 Hz, and at 20 Hz it's at least 12 dB down. This is based on John's usual splice of the nearfield port response to the anechoic response higher up. The 802 has 8" woofers and is considerably more expensive than the 803 D3, so we have to assume that the 803 wouldn't do as well. Unfortunately, John didn't have time to do his usual room measurements, so we don't know how much room gain would improve the 802's performance. https://www.stereophile.com/content/bowers-wilkins-802-d3-diamond-loudspeaker-measurements.

On the other hand, another reviewer recorded outstanding distortion figures for the .woofers--less than .50% at 32 Hz. I don't think I've seen distortion levels that low before. So however low the 803 D3 goes, the bass will be exceptionally clean.
https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/speaker/floor-standing/bw-803-d3-floor-standing-loudspeaker-review/
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
B&W lies like DefTech and GoldenEar.

For all that money, they don’t have great on-axis and off-axis FR either.
 
R

rbr

Audiophyte
I could be that those figures are nothing but theoretical specs. But, I still can't get through my head seven inches woofers having the physical capability to create the amount of sound wave pressure required to actually go down to 16 Hz. Probably marketing stretching reality too much.
 
Phase 2

Phase 2

Audioholic Chief
I could be that those figures are nothing but theoretical specs. But, I still can't get through my head seven inches woofers having the physical capability to create the amount of sound wave pressure required to actually go down to 16 Hz. Probably marketing stretching reality too much.
Specs are what they are, I've had lower end speakers sound better in my room environment (house sound) than a mid level, and entry level audiophile speaker without the proper room treatments and bass management. Wasn't till I had corrected and added room treatments and placement of my L/R mains did the true performance of my higher-end speakers shine!!
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I could be that those figures are nothing but theoretical specs. But, I still can't get through my head seven inches woofers having the physical capability to create the amount of sound wave pressure required to actually go down to 16 Hz. Probably marketing stretching reality too much.
Getting there is one thing, getting there at a meaningful spl is another....marketing folk can and do stretch things....maybe we need a push for honest/uniform speaker specs along with amp specs? :)
 
R

rbr

Audiophyte
I made this post because, originally, last year I auditioned them without checking the specs. They sounded very good and have the type of warmth that I like, but they never were really that good at the bottom end.
I auditioned them at my local Best Buy's Magnolia store. Let me tell you, that "listening room" was a joke. Wrong set up, wrong type of equipment to give the best presentation for a particular equipment, and the guy didn't know too much.
So, I never got to really experience them the way it should be. A lot of times I miss my long gone local Audio Advisor store and their almost perfect listening room for customers to experience a particular piece of equipment, paired with the right synergistic equipment for your evaluation.
I'll never forget the first time that I actually heard a pair of B & W speakers at that store; it was the the 800 or 802; if I recall correctly they were sub- titled tiger or tiger eye, or something like that. they were paired with Krell equipment, man let me tell you, I was blown away when they played my reference standard album: Santana Abraxas.
 
R

rbr

Audiophyte
Sorry, it is "Sound Advice", not Audio Advisor on my post above.
 
newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top