B & W speaker upgrade suggestions

If you can spend the extra money I would get a pair of 803Ds (or at least audition the 803S, which I never did, but is in your range if you get 12% discount). As far as bass on the 703s, the bass extension seems great to me when playing in stereo (two channel bypass through a Bryston SP1.7 into a Bryston 9B SST Amp using a Meridian G08 CDP). I've read reviews that mention it as surprisingly deeper than expected.

3-way vented-box system, 2 x 6.5" paper/Kevlar cone bass drivers, 6" woven Kevlar cone FST midrange driver, 1" alloy dome tweeter, 38Hz-25kHz ±3dB, 8 Ohm impedance, 90dB sensitivity, 120lb/pair.

I liked the 703's better than the 804S when I auditioned both. Definitely worth audtioning both IMO, or any choices you are considering for that matter. I auditioned the 803D and 802D and wept inside... If I had known how much I would love that 802D, I would have bought those and filled out a 5.1 system later. Anyways, I didn't, so now I will add those later and move the rest of my equipment to other positions when I can.

I don't see why people wouldn't like B&W speakers here, their speaker models seem to be excellent values at their price, and they are well received across the board in every publication I have read.

Look for speakers that don't require gobs of power and also sound like music. Not something arid, cold, and lacking dynamics. In other words, stay away from B&W and look at Proac, Verity, Silverline, Tyler, JM Lab, Kharma, Von Schweikert, Vandersteen, etc. Tons of better choices at every price point.

I don't dislike B&W speakers, but they were my first foray into "better" equipment, and I would just like to try something different. Despite the fact that the majority of my audio equipment is solid state, I really long for the sound of tubes! (All I have right now in terms of tube equipment is a couple of headphone amps and I love them.) But, since I can't afford to buy tube amplifiers for my main system, I am looking for speakers with lusher, warmer sound. And yet I still want detail. Sigh....

Any opinions on the Onix Reference 3 speakers? http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=38.1AV123 is a local company and I like my Rocket UFW-10 sub quite a bit, but have never tried out their other speakers.

Holly

Oakiris,

Ignore what judy426 has to say. I have listened to the jmlabs utopia and consider it to be comparable with with the B&W Nautilus series. That said there is nothing wrong with staying with B&W. I recomend going up the B&W line but I am a devout B&W fan. The N803 can be had used for around $3600.00 here on audiogon.

Look for speakers that don't require gobs of power and also sound like music. Not something arid, cold, and lacking dynamics.

I think any poster that sums up an entire speaker company's speaker lines in such generalized (obviously negatively prejudiced) terms, is likely not worth listening to. You don't see anyone else in here knocking anyone else's speaker choices... I don't see any of the professional reviewers out there saying anything of the sort about B&W speakers, and I wager they have much more experience than Judy. I think Judy may be trash talking to sell what he/she stocks.

I love my 7 series speakers and I listened to different stuff in the same range at a few different stores (Boston Acoustics, Sonus Fabers, etc). If I could go back, I would probably go with the 8 series now though, so the 803Ds or 802Ds would fit in a little better with the rest of my setup when I buy a pair. It was more a price consideration at the time. I doubt it will make a huge difference since I choose to play things in stereo even when playing High Def formats. I doubt I will notice incongruity when playing movies... though I may have to upgrade the center channel to an 8 series. From what I have heard, it is best to stick with the same company than to mix and match companies with speaker sets, even if you do go one line up or down in quality.