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


Does anyone here has a chance to listen to the new B&W 800D (Diamond)? How do you like it and how does it compare to the 800 Signature?

The 800 Signature Red Bird Eye goes for about $13K and the new 800D goes for $16K. Which one would you rather take?

Thanks in advance for your advice

Huy
htong
"If this post would have been different, such as, “Classe vs. Esoteric”, would you have replied that you feel Classe seemed colored?"

The original question, Brian, was the following: "The 800 Signature Red Bird Eye goes for about $13K and the new 800D goes for $16K. Which one would you rather take?"

I reported that I would take the Signature 800's in a heartbeat. The reason was because of what I heard at an audio show here in Seoul last December. I feel pretty confident that the sound I didn't like from the D's was from the speakers not the electronics, but I don't absolutely for sure. I was just reporting that I heard both sets of speakers from top of the line electronics, and given that, I much preferred the Signatures. i wasn't making a review. I was stating an opinion. I know it might be counterintuitive for someone to take an older tweeter over a newer state-of-the-art one, but as I suggested in my previous comment, I didn't notice a significant difference.

"Out of two full and separate systems you heard you are giving the entire credit of their sonic difference(s) to the speakers."

No. In two full and separate rooms, I preferred one set of speakers over an other and reported that fact to a person trying to make up his mind about both of them. YMMV, and mine does too. I'll remind you. this is not a review. I'm not borrowing the speakers for several weeks to hook up into my own electronics, which of course would provide a different sound from other electronics. I'm not sitting at home with a pair of Signatures to compare with a set of D's sent to me from B & W for an analysis for Stereophile. A person asked for an opinion as to which of the two sets of speakers I would buy, and I told him, based on a listening experience I had.

Perhaps the question that should be asked here isn't why certain high-end, state-of-the-art electronics might cause the new B&Ws to sound bad, but why the new B&W's cause certain high-end, state-of-the-art electronics to sound bad. I'll bet it isn't just the electronics or the cables in the causal chain.

And sorry to hurt any feelings about stating a contrary opinion to the prevailing common sense.
YMMV = Your mileage may vary.

All I can say to your post Washine is that I simply don’t agree with your logic and quite frankly found it contradictory or at least confusing. Also, I never accused you of giving a review, I have understood your experience from your first post. Nonetheless I am not trying to convince you to like the D’s nor do I have hurt feelings.
"All I can say to your post Washine is that I simply don’t agree with your logic and quite frankly found it contradictory or at least confusing."

What's contradictory or confusing about my logic? I haven't done anything different than what anyone else does when giving an opinion about a piece of audio equipment. The only difference from what most people say on the forums about gear is that they don't usually bother to mention the rest of the gear while evaluating. In contrast, I stated the electronics in which I heard the gear. Not so with magazine reviews, where a condition on review is always a mentioning of cables, electronics etc. and usually a comparison with the speakers that left the chain before the insertion of the review ones. Your argument is that there might have been something amiss besides the speakers since I wasn't hearing the Signatures in direct comparison with the diamonds. Possibly, but I doubt it. Something was wrong in the synergy with the drivers that colored the sound. I gave it a good amount of time. Walked around the speakers several times. Sat through many changes of recordings. I was really hoping that the diamond tweeter would have the kind of clarity I've found with the beryllium tweeters of JM Labs. Not so. I much preferred the JM Labs. And the previous tweeter used in the Signature 800s was already pretty unbelievable. I'm sorry to say I really didn't notice a significance difference. You did. That's what different ears are made of.

Back to the original question: "The 800 Signature Red Bird Eye goes for about $13K and the new 800D goes for $16K. Which one would you rather take?Thanks in advance for your advice"

My original answer: "I heard both at an audio show last december. I didn't like the new 800D's much at all. Very colored. Went into the next room to listen to the Signature 800s with high end Esoteric gear and was completely blown away. I'd take the Signatures in a heartbeat over the new diamonds."

Does anyone really have a problem with my preferring the Signature 800s over the diamond 800s? This is my preference, after all, which was what the person querying was asking about.