I'd like to know what specific speaker model(s) the original poster listened to. The B&W line sound very different across the board, as just about any line of speakers. What kind of equipment was driving the B&Ws? A speaker's sound is only relative to what's feeding it, especially B&Ws.
Back while I was in college in the late 80s, wanting to upgrade my entry level bookshelf speakers, I auditioned Polk, Infinity, Canton, B&W, etc. The B&Ws I listened to were mid level floorstaninding ones in their line. They were ok, but didn't impress me in any way and could be catagorized as "mid-fi". The sound wasn't very balanced. The lows were a bit overpowering and not as well defined as I would've liked. I was disappointed. But, for kicks I had the salesman switch to the 801s (then B&W's flagship). He switched the speaker cables to the 801s and turned up the amp. WOW! Unbelievable. Very open and revealing. Didn't sound boxy. The highs, mids and lows were very well balanced in relations to each other. The highs were unbelievably clean and not fatiguing at all. The mids were very smooth and the low end was well defined and not boomy at all.
After listening to the 801s I was ruined for anything less, especially the B&Ws I auditioned just before the 801s! But a college student like myself could never dream of affording the 801s....
Truth be told, after being tired of auditioning speakers at various dealers, I settled on a pair of Bose 6.2s (you can bash that one too) and tried desparately to forget about the wonderful music the 801s put out. They (the Bose) sounded okay in the dealer's showroom, but sounded much better at home. That's when I learned one of the cardinal rules of audio: if possible, audition in your home. There are a lot of variables when audtioning equipment at various dealers, but the one constant is what you have at home, in terms of both equipment and acoustics. Years later and being in the market to start a whole new system from scratch, I'm going to take a serious look at B&W's Nautilus line, perhaps the 805s.
Audio, like anything else is relative. People who are musicians hear differently than people who aren't. Musicians who play electric instruments hear differently than musicians who play acoustic instruments, etc.
L
Back while I was in college in the late 80s, wanting to upgrade my entry level bookshelf speakers, I auditioned Polk, Infinity, Canton, B&W, etc. The B&Ws I listened to were mid level floorstaninding ones in their line. They were ok, but didn't impress me in any way and could be catagorized as "mid-fi". The sound wasn't very balanced. The lows were a bit overpowering and not as well defined as I would've liked. I was disappointed. But, for kicks I had the salesman switch to the 801s (then B&W's flagship). He switched the speaker cables to the 801s and turned up the amp. WOW! Unbelievable. Very open and revealing. Didn't sound boxy. The highs, mids and lows were very well balanced in relations to each other. The highs were unbelievably clean and not fatiguing at all. The mids were very smooth and the low end was well defined and not boomy at all.
After listening to the 801s I was ruined for anything less, especially the B&Ws I auditioned just before the 801s! But a college student like myself could never dream of affording the 801s....
Truth be told, after being tired of auditioning speakers at various dealers, I settled on a pair of Bose 6.2s (you can bash that one too) and tried desparately to forget about the wonderful music the 801s put out. They (the Bose) sounded okay in the dealer's showroom, but sounded much better at home. That's when I learned one of the cardinal rules of audio: if possible, audition in your home. There are a lot of variables when audtioning equipment at various dealers, but the one constant is what you have at home, in terms of both equipment and acoustics. Years later and being in the market to start a whole new system from scratch, I'm going to take a serious look at B&W's Nautilus line, perhaps the 805s.
Audio, like anything else is relative. People who are musicians hear differently than people who aren't. Musicians who play electric instruments hear differently than musicians who play acoustic instruments, etc.
L