I found a set of speaker stands, they weigh 40# each and are designed in two pieces to fill bottom with sand. Does anyone know anything about these? They were commercially made as I have seen several of them over the years. Good construction.
Would like to get more bass out of my B&W 801 series 2 speakers
Hello,
I've been forum diving about ways people improve their music listening experience. So many directions to choose from, I'm looking advice which will give the most bang for the buck given my situation.
Years ago I was visiting a friend who had these same exact speakers, and I went on a quest for my own pair. His setup had a *more rich sound*, but he is no longer with us for me to pick his brain. Don't know anything about how he was driving the speakers.
In general I think the current setup gives me good detailed sound, but probably a little thin in the bass. Might be because of my listening levels (low to moderate). I wouldn't call the mid/high frequencies warm, but they aren't harsh either... which was a concern with the class D amp. I'd characterize them as clean and detailed.
What I'd really like to do is bring out the low frequencies to join the party.
Environment:
massive, 32x40 with vaulted ceilings. Lots of windows.
Hardware:
B&W 801 S2
- on the original casters
- crossovers modified via the common Van Alstine mod
NAD C298 amplifier
- some decent biwire speaker cables
NAD C658 streaming DAC
- balanced xlr interconnects
Rotel CD player
What I listen to:
I listen to a wide assortment of music, this morning I went from classical to jazz... but usually I listen to rock/blues/reggae. You name it I listen to it.
Things I have considered:
- buy/build stands for the speakers.
- try out different amp(s)
there are a pair of GFA555 series 1 available locally (bi-amp?)
lots of folks recommend the Classe delta line
Any advice is welcome, thanks in advance!
@chessie I would like to second much of what @livinon2wheels and others have stated above. As you may be aware, the Series 2 was originally brought to market with an optional equalizer. The designer, as I understand it, considered the EQ essential to the speaker’s performance, because without it the ‘6th order Butterworth crossover’ was not implemented, and the 6th order Butterworth is advertised on the box the speaker came in. I suppose marketing thought the speaker on its own without the crossover was ‘good enough.’ Evidently, many customers thought so too. |
The bass alignment filter is the solution. The speaker was designed to be used with it for the proper alignment. If you cant find a set of JPS golden flutes, the simply get a good parametric eq and duplicate the filters that the stock B&W filter implements. A web search will give you the exact parameters. If you want to go custom contact Marchand electronics to build one for you. Of course you can add a sub or get different speakers or amps but that doesn't solve the issue of the bass alignment. You can also bi amp and run the filter only on the bass amp leaving the kids and high school untouched. I had those speakers for 30 years so Im speaking from experience with my recommended solutions. Good Luck |