System upgrade advice

Maybe Merlin might be a fit for you as well.

You might want to try a 'tube buffer'. Musical Fidelity makes an inexpensive one that has helped a lot of systems tone down the upper octaves.

The S tweeter is also outdated compared to the lastest tweeters. I would never go for that one. This is being said by a person who owned the B&W 800 S, with the same tweeter!

I would think a good 2nd hand pair of Infinity Renaissance 90's would sound better than the 804's. You could pick up a pair for around $1600, then use the $700 spare change to upgrade the crossover & internal wiring. Wonderfully transparent, fast, detailed & has great off-axis response. Also deep bass if paired with something like a Classe CA-2200 or similar 200 watt amp.

A few of things to look for with these vintage speakers; 1. Check for rotting foam in the transmission line midrange which can be checked from the exposed foam on the rear. 2. Try to buy no more than a 2nd owner pair with consecutive s/n's. 3. Ensure the grills are in good nick (including the pegs) & that the grills connect solidly to the speakers as they are critical to the sound of the speakers & are now unobtanium & 4. Request lots of photos, including close ups of the Emit & Emim ribbon drivers. If you can get over that hurdle, they are a terrific bargain.

The Infinity have very poor crossovers. The 804 has also not great crossovers. But those of the Infinity are really poor. I owned them in the past!!