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B&W 805 Diamond or Dynaudio C1 ??

I'm trying to decide which is the better speaker for me. I noticed the 805 diamond can be a bit too revealing on the highs due to its diamond tweeter, but I don't necessarily find that offensive. The Dynaudio C1 seems to be a well balanced speaker, very good bass no doubt. Some even mention that the C1 sounds so neutral that at times can be fatiguing, which I haven't heard any claims about that with the 805 diamond. But as overall package, which do you prefer in terms of:

1. Which have the bigger soundstage?
2. Which speakers sounds have mids that sound more organic and life-like?
3. Which is more transparent and disappears more?

I've listened to other B&W 700 and 800 series and do like the overall presentation of how their speakers sound, but I'm totally clueless about Dynaudio, so in a way I'm kinda leaning towards the 805, but I wanna see if others prefer the C1 better.
shinnosuki
xti16
1,525 posts
 
Peter_s
At my dealer I demoed the C1's in a room that is 15 X 25 and they sounded great. It will depend on the setup and equipment you have. I have to listen nearfield in my room 12 X 26 and there is some loss of bass in the 'sweet spot'. What I found interesting when demoing some interconnects I got a better bass response and a larger sound stage. I ended up buying those Nordost Frey ic's.
amater
56 posts
 
Let me mention one visibly difference between these two speakers - the C1 has the rear bass-reflex port, while 805 has front port. That means, that C1 can not be placed (too) close to the rear wall.
P.S. I am satisfied owner of the C1s and I have never regreted the purchase.
extravaganza
373 posts
 
dynaudio speakers are more revealing than B&W with diamonds ,especialy i high freqeuncies.
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
regarding the TAS review, they slightly preferred the B&W in the midrange and high end (a bit more spatial information and detail) but preferred the Dyna in the bass (which they noted is amazing). Also they noted the Dyna may have been easier to set up because they have slightly less dispersion.

fwiw
goatwuss
877 posts
 
"Can anyone speak to the room size limitations of the C1? My room is 14x18 with an average ceiling height of 11'"

If anything, that's a bit on the small side for the C1s. They like a lot of room to breathe
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