B&W 804 Diamond vs Dynaudio Focus 380

Having heard both its the Dynaudio all the way.

B&W are a bit of an acquired taste. Some go ga ga over them, for others like me - ho hum. In this case overly bright treble and grungy, dead, recessed midrange to my ears. Noel Keywood in Hi Fi World measured them and found a dirty great big treble hump. He said it outright - they measured like shite and will sound like shite. I would not go that far - many speakers have exaggerated treble to give false detail but still you would expect better from a company like B&W.

In that price range there is a lot of competition so broaden your horizons and listen to other stuff. If you can reach that far price wise I would check out the Rockport Mira

Thanks
Bill

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/index.php/loudspeakers/65-reviews/501-baw-804d-.html?start=3

I would go listen to the Monitor Audio Pl-200. Wenn you use an amp like Pass labs you will get a very deep and wide stage with this speaker. In timing and respons it is faster than the 804. It is superior in 3-dimensional image compared to B&W. I owed the best B&W like the 800 Signature. I stopped because B&W still makes poor crossovers. How you know this? Very simple, compare speakers with the best amp who can give a deep and wide stage. B&W is almost 2-dimensional. For the best highend and absolute sound a deep and wide 3-dimensional stage is a pre. Wenn it is not there you do not understand audio and music in real. I even play 1 metre beside my Pl-200 and 5 metres behind. This makes the stage wider and deeper. With this speaker I was the absolute sound at a big audio show with over 50 distributers.

Hi James and Bo

James thanks for posting the link to the measurement of the 804. Here is exactly what Noel said:
'The 804D will have even sounding bass with a dry-ish quality and some subsonic content. It will also sound bright across the midband and sharp in its treble, straying far from accuracy.'

Bo - crossover issues is the exact problem with the 800 series speakers. They use excellent drivers and inert cabinets but their crossovers let them down. In the past they used parts of very dubious quality for a high end product such as iron core instructors, PCB's and low quality capacitors. The very best crossovers use air coiled small gauge conductors, point to point wiring and high quality capactors such as Mundorf or even Duelund. They fixed the quality part with their latest 802D but even that speaker doesn't do it for me - a dirty great big bass hump and dirty and grungy midrange.

Thanks
Bill

B&W have these problems for a long time now. At a show of B&W I point out these problems. And during listening I showed them. They did not say anything. They knew I was right. Depth and playing fully loose from the speaker is the key to the absolute sound. This key is not there for B&W. So it is not possible to be one of the best. Like they are missing the boat. New statement: 'only people with less knowledge about highend and realistic sound will buy B&W'. I stopped with it because I wanted to go to a higher level of sound realism. Depth is the most stunning part in this. B&W does not have this quality/talent. It is that simple, so keep it simple!