B&W Signature 800 Vs. the new 800D Diamond

Jafox, I heard the D's with Classe electronics and the Signatures with the Esoteric gear. I wanted very much to like the D's. They were in the larger display room and they were getting a very detailed sales pitch by the distributor. I was very, very disappointed in them.

Brianmgrarcom, I know I may stand alone for the most part in the evaluation of these speakers, but my colleague who joined me felt the same way about them. I heard very little sonic difference in the tweeters, and the bass and midrange drivers on the Signatures were uncolored compared to the D's. I will concede the possibility that the D's might not have been completely broken in. But in that case, why the hell not? One of the biggest audio shows in all of NE Asia and you run speakers that aren't broken in?

Otherwise, YMMV. Mine certainly does.

As I said the first time Washline, I do not doubt your experience, I believe you heard what you heard, I am simply saying apples-to-apples I do not think that will be the results.

Washline: What you were disappointed with was the sound of entire system that included the D's. And the same is true for your colleague. Even 10000 people who thought this about the sound of this setup would not fairly be able to make a final assessment on these speakers. To blame this on the D's without hearing them in the context of a system you are familiar with just seems to be an unfair assessment.

When we hear a system that is so incredibly musical, we know that every product in that system is indeed first rate....or we have a synergistic miracle in progress. When we hear something that is just not "right", a lot of time and effort must take place to determine the cause. There could be multiple reasons for this....including our personal preferences.

As for broken in speakers at a show, I can see this very much a possibility. Companies have a ton of things to stay up with, not just burning in a product for months before a show. And maybe, just maybe, the pair you heard was fresh off the production line and the only one available for the show.

I am not pushing the B&W line. I have never owned a pair. But I have heard several different models two dealers and one weekend home audition to know these speakers have the potential to make great music. And I just feel that under the circumstances you heard these, a simple comment, "I was disappointed" would be justifiable. But you certainly can not conclude much else from such an event.

John

Porschecab, Question for you I have seen many items being sold by you on audiogon and elsewhere. Question 1 why so many equipment changes ? And secondly I am considering the purchase of Aerial 20t's how do they compare with the B&W 800 series and how do they sound with Krell amplification ?I was planning on going Boulder 1050 mono's or 2060 stereo amps with my setup.

P.S. I assume by your screen name you have a Porsche also what type, I own a 2004 Cab C4 unfortunatly i dont drive it much.

Regards, Definitive

John,

I'm well aware that speakers are system dependent and that a change in the electronics, cables, etc. could have a noticeable effect on their output. But I'm not writing a full-scale review here; I'm stating an opinion based on first hand experience at an audio show. And I was very upfront about that. Anyone reading my comment would know that it was based on a one-time experience at a show and naturally a change in the electronics "might" change the perception. But I don't have the luxury of doing that kind of thing nor the time. Sometimes we have to make decisions based on the experiences we have and that's all we can do.

You said: "When we hear something that is just not "right", a lot of time and effort must take place to determine the cause. There could be multiple reasons for this....including our personal preferences."

That's pretty obvious John. I'm not interested though in checking out the bad link in a causal chain. I'm interested in assessing a pair of speakers in a limited amount of time and then maybe making a purchase. And just as obviously this will have everything to do with personal preferences. Our ears are not the same. You don't have objectivity here; you have a set of very subjective experiences and people use those to make decisions about audiophile investments.

That said, I find B & W's top of the line signature and nautilus range to be right up with JM Labs as my favorite speakers for the music I like to listen to. The Signature 800 is probably my favorite speaker of all. And the Dynaudio line, which I tried very much to like as well, I don't care for at all--too rolled off in the top end. So yes, this is all a very personal, very private set of reactions, but ones that I wanted to share with the person who set up this thread. He asked. I responded. That's it.