B&W 804 D4 review and measurements by Stereophile

[sarumbear]

Oh dear. The B&W 800 series are looking increasingly like old Rolls Royce cars.

 

[Geert]

That port resonance (in red)

(https://www.stereophile.com)

 

[sarumbear]

That port resonance (in red)

(https://www.stereophile.com)

They are very narrow, high Q resonances and will be difficult to get excited with music but still why not attack it with design alterations? This is a very expensive speaker in your flag-ship series. It’s unacceptable.

 

[John Atkinson]

That port resonance (in red)

(https://www.stereophile.com)

As I wrote in the review, the port's behavior doesn't have any effect on the output of the woofers, which is peculiar. I conjectured that the resonances that cause these two peaks occur in the airspace below the port opening. See https://www.stereophile.com/content/bowers-wilkins-diamond-series-804-d4-loudspeaker-measurements

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

 

[Geert]

I conjectured that the resonances that cause these two peaks occur in the airspace below the port opening.

I scrolled a bit to fast through the measurements. Missed the part about the microphone setup used to measure the vent.

 

[sarumbear]

As I wrote in the review, the port's behavior doesn't have any effect on the output of the woofers, which is peculiar.

First of all thank you for the review.

I think, and as you also surmised in your review, the reason why the port resonance is not affecting the FR is because of its very high Q and the its hidden nature.

PS. I think we briefly met at the APRS 1994 when I had a stand showing Silver5Ls.

 

[dasdoing]

That's a photo.

I don't understand why you would think that. it's not even a good render. besides artificial colours, shades and textures there are even visable pixles in the curves. it just screams render

 

[sq225917]

It's a render. companies don't photograph things anymore lol

It's on of the worst bloody renders I've ever seen that silver kevlar texture isn't even mapped onto the cone properly

 

[Vini darko]

Na na na na na BATMAN

 

[Newman]

Oh dear. The B&W 800 series are looking increasingly like old Rolls Royce cars.

Funny you should mention that:

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

I dont think renders have quality control problems.. Lol

 

[TimVG]

I don't understand why you would think that. it's not even a good render. besides artificial colours, shades and textures there are even visable pixles in the curves. it just screams render

Could be a mashup then. In any case I'd expect a render not to have these issues.

 

[changer]

With real cameras, perspective control lenses (tilt-shift or even bellows) can introduce the illusion of misaligned gaps. This is when the lens position is seeing a perspectival difference (looks more into one gap than the other due to relative position to the object), but the image’s total perspective is flattened by perspective controls. As the total perspective is flat, we would attribute internal inconsistencies to the object rather than the work of the studio. This error can easily be reproduced in 3D renderers, as their cameras do not differ in their control aspects from the real thing.

 

[dasdoing]

I see no horizontal angle in that frontal render. it's probably just the software trying to create shades cause the virtual light source is coming from the left.
they obviously don't have an expert to create those renders.
imo renders should be combated by the comunity. Personaly I want to see the real product.

 

[changer]

Renderings are the standard for big companies, we cannot turn the wheel back and have to live with it. It also doesn't matter if you look at a heavily retouched and manipulated picture or at a rendering. Nothing stays how it was when a product is lightened up and recorded to a chip in a professional studio. You never see an angle if a shifted lens is used to correct perspective, despite the camera being at another location than the perspective of the image implies. In this case though, as other gaps line up concentrical, it is probably not what has happened here.

 

[sarumbear]

Why is everyone talking about a marketing image (which is descriptive of the product) on a loudspeaker review thread?

 

[DSJR]

Why is everyone talking about a marketing image (which is descriptive of the product) on a loudspeaker review thread?

Dare I suggest it's because it's such an expensive ott luxury product?

'Just good enough' ain't good enough around these parts, you should know this by now

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Now now DSJR. A half million dollar turntable. Or a near on million dollar pair of WW monstrosities. That's expensive ott luxury! These B&W speakers are only coppers!

 

[sarumbear]

But it’s not part of the product. Are we going to talk about it, say if, the designer has crooked teeth?

 

[sq225917]

It's a render, 100%. I should know, I've been doing photoreal product replacement for 20 years.

The aliasing and texturing is the giveaway.