Listened to B&W 805S speakers today

[gus6464]

I dont know if it was because of the McIntosh receiver that was powering them or what but my wife and I were completely amazed. We brought one of her cds to test it out and she was excited. She said she could listen to the different layers of the song that she had never heard before (she has a way better ear then me when it comes to music). But long story short she wants them even though they cost as much as our entire budget. We also listened to some Paradigm Studio Reference 100 towers with the same cd we used to test the 805S' and it just wasnt the same. The 100s were powered by a Pioneer Elite receiver.

My question is did the receiver make the difference with the B&W's or are they just that good? But now my wife wants B&W 800 series speakers and wants to buy the set in parts. Get the 805S' now and buy the center and rears after a couple of months in parts. So now I dont know what to do, are the B&W 800s worth the price and what receiver should I get to power the things?

 

[MACCA350]

Mate, you have WAF in bucket loads, what did you do for her

The B&W 800 series are on my audition list for when we build our house. I've been wanting to have a listen to them but I don't think I could put myself through having to walk out without them

A friend of mine auditioned them and had the same reaction.

cheers

 

[gus6464]

The funny thing is that when it comes to things like this she is always the one that complains about it being too expensive. I already knew they were too expensive at $2500 for the pair but she just heard her music on them and then looked at me saying, I dont care about the price I want these speakers. So now we are looking at the 805S and Rotel RSX-1057 receiver with next purchase a couple of months from now being either the HTM4S or HTM3S center.

Do you guys think it would be a good value if we take our time getting the system together and in about a year and half we could have a complete system consisting of 804S fronts, 805S rears and HTM3S center? Or are there better speakers out there for the money?

Ohh and also what about getting the Emotiva LMC-1/LPA-1 combo instead of the Rotel RSX-1057?

 

[Seth=L]

About the Opening Post,

The McIntosh would likely sound better, especially at higher levels, it responds much better to low impedance dips, receivers don't usually do good below 4 ohms for very long.

Your second post,

The Emotiva would probably be the better option. Let's play the weight game.

Rotel RSX-1057 receiver
38 pounds

Emotiva LPA-1 amplifier
63 pounds

Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro
20 pounds

So you could have a combined weight of 80 pounds or half that. I would get the Emotiva LMC-1/LPA-1 combo or maybe just the LPA-1 if you have a receiver with pre/outs and when the Emotiva pre/pro with HDMI 1.3 integrated comes out later this year you can replace the receiver you are using as the pre/pro.

 

[mazersteven]

I think it was the 805's that sounded better then the Paradigm's, and not the Mcintosh. I think if the Paradigms where connected to the same Mcintosh you would still pick out the 805's.

While she is hot on these B&W's let her listen to these. Hurry

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=1156&sc=hf

 

[mike c]

i listened to the N805 before with a denon integrated, very nice, but I can't bring myself to spend that much on music (2k$ due to being an old model). i'm 99%HT. if I do go high end music, I can probably go only as high as a Monitor Audio GS10.

 

[mazersteven]

Here I'll save you some money. For 2 channel music IMO it's hard to beat a set of these for the price.

http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=78.1

 

[mike c]

While she is hot on these B&W's let her listen to these. Hurry

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=1156&sc=hf

why stop there. this is the absolute minimum i'm looking at if I go b&w.

802D

 

[mazersteven]

I auditioned the 801D's. If I was going to spend that cash I'm not purchasing B&W's.

Say hello to my little friend.

Willson Watt/Puppies.

I auditioned the 801D's and Wilsons side by side for over 8 hours.

 

[Seth=L]

I auditioned the 801D's and Wilsons side by side for over 8 hours.

I guess your concluded the Wilsons sounded best, that is a lot of listening by the way.

 

[mazersteven]

I guess your concluded the Wilsons sounded best, that is a lot of listening by the way.

It was great. One of the members at S&V owns both, and I was invited to his house. Perfect set up to audition them. He has a Escient system, so playing tunes was awesome.

The speakers where driven with a 700watt Krell 2 channel amp. Insane.

 

[mike c]

when I decide, it's about 50% looks, 50% sound.

the wilson watt puppies score about 2 of 50 to me. coincidentally, there's a sony speaker that looks like that

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showpost.php4?p=266342&postcount=740
ok, so they don't look exactly alike ... but it still reminds me of sony.

 

[gus6464]

What about the 600 series speakers? 683, 685 and HTM61 speakers? I really dont want to spend close to $10k on a set of speakers even if it is over time. How would the 683s stack to the Paradigm Studio 100s? I might go back to the store and check those out if the quality is near the 800s range.

 

[mazersteven]

What about the 600 series speakers? 683, 685 and HTM61 speakers? I really dont want to spend close to $10k on a set of speakers even if it is over time. How would the 683s stack to the Paradigm Studio 100s? I might go back to the store and check those out if the quality is near the 800s range.

I would take the Paradigm's over the 600's.

Why are you looking at the 100's? A nice set of Studio 40's with a nice sub and your in.

Or look into those Strata's I posted.

 

[Seth=L]

I will say this, I found the Studio 100s boring, as well as the Signature 100s. It is pretty sad when you just, they are boring.

The 20's or 40's are much more exciting, IMO.

The B&W are pretty nice speakers, and the construction quality is magnico.

 

[gus6464]

I would take the Paradigm's over the 600's.

Why are you looking at the 100's? A nice set of Studio 40's with a nice sub and your in.

Or look into those Strata's I posted.

I was trying to compare similar speakers after listening to the 805S. But I guess the 800 series competes more with the Paradigm Signature line than the studio line. I guess I am trying to see if I can get more bang for the buck by using the 805S price as a base. Plus my wife wants to go into stores to audition the music and doesnt want to deal with internet only companies to save the hassle of shipping them back if she doesnt like. Since she just upped the budget by a huge amount I have to abide by her rules. Beggers cant be choosers. We didn't have much time with the Paradigms but we will go back and see if they have some signatures to test out. Even though the 805S were amazing I just cant see myself spending 2500 for some bookshelves, so I want to show her other options. It just sucks that the damn b&w's have ruined the other speakers. Now she is going to compare every single speaker we listen to, to them.

 

[Seth=L]

I was trying to compare similar speakers after listening to the 805S. But I guess the 800 series competes more with the Paradigm Signature line than the studio line. I guess I am trying to see if I can get more bang for the buck by using the 805S price as a base. Plus my wife wants to go into stores to audition the music and doesnt want to deal with internet only companies to save the hassle of shipping them back if she doesnt like. Since she just upped the budget by a huge amount I have to abide by her rules. Beggers cant be choosers. We didn't have much time with the Paradigms but we will go back and see if they have some signatures to test out. Even though the 805S were amazing I just cant see myself spending 2500 for some bookshelves, so I want to show her other options. It just sucks that the damn b&w's have ruined the other speakers. Now she is going to compare every single speaker we listen to, to them.

Don't justify passing the 805s just because they are bookshelf speakers with a big price tag. There are many advantages to bookshelf speakers, they are physically smaller and easier to move, and the resonance factor lowers significantly if there even is one in this category of speaker. If they are stand mounted they will every bit as good as the floorstanders if not better if coupled with a good subwoofer to reinforce the low end. Don't let their size discourage you.

 

[billy p]

In all fairness the B&W 800's are more in line with the Paradigm Reference line and not the studio line. I am following a thead on another forum today and the votes are fairly split between the digm s8 & b&w 803d. The one conclusion which is fairly commom is, the B&W might sound slightly better but cost substantially more! Imo there comes a point of limited return, some say it starts @ 5G's, however it's your investment and it all comes down to your own unique taste.
PS: I shouldn't even post here because these type of speakers are out of my range and I wouldn't even attempt to audition them, just in case my obsessive compulsive behavior flares up.

I guess I'm a bit late. The connection was made in a eariler post regarding the paradigm reference line and b&w 800's!!

 

[mazersteven]

Yes the Paradigm Signatures are more in line with the B&W 800's series then the Studio series. JMO is that the Studio series is a bang for the buck, or excellent value series for the sound quality vs. cost. The Signature line I don't think you get the value out of them. Again JMO. I feel there are to many other speakers out that preform better for the same cost of the Signature series.

Even the Studio 100's. For the cost you could look into

Tyler Freedom F-5's

http://www.tyleracoustics.com/freedom.html

Usher's

http://www.usheraudiousa.com/products/loudspeakers/x-series/x-929

http://www.usheraudiousa.com/products/loudspeakers/6-series/cp-6311

Focal Chorus 826 V

http://www.focal.tm.fr/accueil_en.htm

PSB G-Design GT-1

http://www.psbspeakers.com/product.php?pId=75&sId=2

Dynaudio Focus 220

http://dynaudio.com/eng/systems/lines/focus/focus220.php

How many more should I list?

 

[Tomorrow]

Gus,

Before you invest that kind of cash in a pair of speakers, you owe it to yourself to check out Aerial Acoustics. For either music or home theater, the 7B's almost replaced my wife, lol. For out-of-this-world HT performance check out the LR3's or better yet, the LR5's (more bucks, tho').

http://www.aerialacoustics.com/html/prods.html

Give them an audition. You will NOT be sorry. Sorry, I just don't hear the value in B&W's.