• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

B&W 805

andreasmaaan

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 19, 2018
Messages
6,652
Likes
9,399
I already have one. Thats what enables me to identify the exact frequencies I find harsh. But my own experiments show that EQ cannot compensate a bad crossover. This implies that the problem isn't really frequency response but phase response.

I think it's more likely to be poor frequency response integration (particularly off-axis, even if on-axis the speakers measure flat), since there is no published evidence of anyone having been able to hear the degree of phase distortion likely to be introduced by the speakers you've been auditioning.

You can test yourself on this, however, with this neat little ABX tester called.

The UI is not great, but what it basically allows you to do is to load any audio file of your choosing and then ABX test yourself between the original unaltered file and the same file with the a given degree of phase distortion similar to that introduced by a crossover at a given frequency.

I'd suggest you try this to rule out phase distortion as the culprit. It's a bit fiddly, and making sure you have extremely low latency is important to ensure you don't get false positives. Best to use it with single-driver headphones.

If indeed phase distortion is the issue, then I'd suggest looking into some linear-phase active speakers like those from Kii or Dutch and Dutch, if they're not too far outside your budget.
 

Guermantes

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2018
Messages
484
Likes
561
Location
Brisbane, Australia
@Audiojim I'm an owner of B&W 602 S3s which have a similar peak to the 805s at about 9 kHz and a crossover at 4 kHz. I don't find them "harsh" to my ears (hearing is reliable out to 15 kHz) but I would certainly agree they sound brighter than neutral.

I haven't heard the newer Dynaudio range but I remember they made one of the smoothest two-ways I have heard: https://www.dynaudio.com/professional-audio/classic-bm-range/bm15a. Perhaps you'd like the sound of the soft dome ESOTEC tweeters.

But it sounds to me that two-ways just aren't giving you what you want: neutral top end and quality bass. Have you auditioned any 3-ways?
 

Blumlein 88

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 23, 2016
Messages
20,524
Likes
37,057
300~7000 is pretty much the entire range. Theres not much above that. My hearing cuts off about 9khz
I hadn't noticed this initially. If your hearing cuts off at 9 khz, you probably are very sensitive to too much treble near there. Usually such hearing will also do a lesser job of masking one of our hearings normal bands from another. So things near your cutoff can be very annoying and make things sound all run together. So you need to stay away from even slightly hot speakers. I'd say neutral or slightly downward sloping treble. Maybe add a little EQ that slopes down 3db going from 2000 hz to 10,000 hz. Yes that little contouring can help. Might keep it from upsetting your ears, but let you still hear most of what is there.

If that is true of your hearing you probably can't hear into multiple conversations like you once could. Might dislike being say at a sports stadium because of the din of the crowd those sorts of things.
 

Ilkless

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 26, 2019
Messages
1,757
Likes
3,437
Location
Singapore
As the direction of the thread indicates, I suggest you get your hearing tested. While the B&W is indeed a very bright speaker, your finding that even very smooth, accurate speakers like the PSI and the Revel M126Be as bright might indicate some sort of hypersensitivity to what treble you may still hear. This would provide a baseline to inform your search for new speakers.
 

RayDunzl

Grand Contributor
Central Scrutinizer
Joined
Mar 9, 2016
Messages
13,202
Likes
16,982
Location
Riverview FL
As the direction of the thread indicates, I suggest you get your hearing tested.

I would, but I don't want the knowledge of the measurement to bias my current perceptions beyond what I already know.
 

Soniclife

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
4,500
Likes
5,417
Location
UK
$6495 in the US, probably less in the UK.
Harbeth are much cheaper in the UK, in lots of hifi buying local works.

I think the OP should try some Sonus Fabers, I don't know the current range very well but mine have a tweeter that I cannot make misbehave, and I have the record collection to provoke top end distortion.
 

Ron Texas

Master Contributor
Joined
Jun 10, 2018
Messages
6,078
Likes
8,914
As the direction of the thread indicates, I suggest you get your hearing tested. While the B&W is indeed a very bright speaker, your finding that even very smooth, accurate speakers like the PSI and the Revel M126Be as bright might indicate some sort of hypersensitivity to what treble you may still hear. This would provide a baseline to inform your search for new speakers.
LOL. What did you say?
It could be psychological. I am finding some contradictions in what the OP is saying.
 

digititus

Active Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
203
Likes
315
Speakers are such a personal thing. You need to hear them in your environment. Following on from what's been said here already. I highly recommend Genelec monitors with a sub (my bed room system). Dynaudio are also a great choice (living room for movies - Contour 3). I have a pair of Harbeth's in a storage unit in another country. They are great speakers, but for the price I would take the Genelecs.
 
Top Bottom