B&W 'New' 800 Series

Maybe Bo will be our savior and lead us all including B&W to a new audio renaissance where we all enjoy the same gear that he sells the most and live in perfect 3-D Monitor Audio harmony. 

Or not.

In any case we will have reached a really bad place if the posts in these parts ever resemble those you see regularly these days on the lead story of the day on a certain news site whose name happens to start with F,  at least on the days that site’s moderators decide that the days inane and mean spirited ramblings are permissible for public consumption.  I’m glad that they do.  Its the nasty things out there that nobody is aware of otherwise that might be the biggest cause of concern in many cases.

Anyway back to the topic...

have not heard the new B&Ws   will give a listen next time I stop by my local dealer.

I have just under 15 hours of use on my new 803 D3s. I'm glad these speakers have casters with retractable spikes as I'm still trying to dial them in.  Excellent imaging and soundstage.  It's always fun to hear a "new" detail on an well known track of music.  They haven't quite "disappeared" yet and I think it may take as much as 100 hours to start to hear their true character.  Thus far, I am very pleased with them. 

Those retractable spikes are a real plus.  Always hated trying to level speakers with the standard spike assemblies. 

Always hated trying to level speakers with the standard spike assemblies.

No. 1 reason - for Audiophile pulled disks.

No. 2 reason - trying to remove or attach an interconnect to a preamp situated low on a heavy immovable rack close to the wall.

nice early Christmas gift Greginnh - you must have been good ..... congrats.. Do you listen to full scale music and if so are subs used in your room ?

What has me very curious about these D3's and I would like to learn more. Here are the specs for the 803 and 802 d2 and d3.

802 d2 (34Hz – 28kHz ±3dB on reference axis)
802 d3 (17Hz to 28kHz ±3dB on reference axis

803 d2 (35hz to 28khz ±3dB on reference axis)
803 d3 (19hz to 28khz ±3dB on reference axis )

The D3's are a full octave lower on paper with a smaller cabinet and a stiffer design than the d2.

Are you able to hear 19 hz on your 803 d3 in your room setup ?

Here is a sample Bass 1 - 100hz frequency sweep. One needs to listen through headphones, and you can put the signal through your main system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukQ6OSs3dWo

The volume needs to be turned up a bit for the 5 - 15 hz frequencies.

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Just thinking out loud..

We know musical scales are written with eight notes. For example, the C Major scale is written C D E F G A B C, the initial and final Cs being an octave apart. Two notes separated by an octave have the same letter name and are of the same pitch class. The frequency doubles as you go up one octave and halves as you go down. Bass notes are very low frequency which is why there is about 17 hz difference here between this lowest octave, and yet it represents a full octave.

Full range bass even with a speaker capable by design, and tested by the manufacturer, assumes a Listener room has the acoustic properties that allow those speakers to play those notes; and reproduced music is played back that actually contains those frequencies. Remember this could be room effects that was captured in the recording not just the instruments. When room effects are captured in a great recording, playing back this recording in your room can take on some "live" characteristics. It adds to the foolery. I am sure all of us here have this music in our personal music collections.
 
In smaller sized speakers in order to make them sound right in a real room, the designer will put in a roll off in the bass. So even by the time the notes hit 50 hz, maybe even 100 hz with some speakers; their DB output level in the bass has been greatly reduced already, and only going down in db the further down you go. Also you will l notice how much lower in volume the 20 hz and down was in that youtube sine wave video? This is the way we hear.

But these B&W D3's show full range specs again in a fairly small speaker size. Specs not seen since the days of Matrix Series which needed active equalization as designed by B&W. The 801 s2-s3 matrix was able to achieve full range with the active equalization. Only the 800 matrix model is full range without equalization. But it is also big. So these D3's with their size really hint at kind of a big deal for me on paper. So is it really a big deal or not ? I am curious if D3 listeners "without" sub/s in place are really able to hear the lowest octave "well" with full scale music on the d3's ? ..... or do you still need to bring in sub/s ?    

Speaking of bass, this guy has the lowest voice in the world. He is able to cover 10 octaves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9P1ymFCxf0

His vocal cords are twice as long as normal and the supporting muscles have more movement.