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B &W advise needed

Ropeburn said:
Nice car. However, my tastes are more... frugal?

View attachment 516187

Now that is a proper Mercedes. We had one of those in my unit. I didn't have a license, just moved it on base a bit illegally lol, these drive just like big cars. And being the gunner is awesome, with that ring mount and badarse cold war MG3. :cool:
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Ropeburn said:
Nice car. However, my tastes are more... frugal?

View attachment 516187

Now that is a proper Mercedes. We had one of those in my unit. I didn't have a license, just moved it on base a bit illegally lol, these drive just like big cars. And being the gunner is awesome, with that ring mount and badarse cold war MG3. :cool:
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"Reveille! Reveille! Reveille! All hands heave out and trice up!" ·
IMG_3869.webp
 
Ok I'm out. Ignored.
 
Avp1 said:
They used these yellow cones for more than 15 years since the time of Matrix series in 1990s. Back then B&W were considered sufficiently neutral for use in studios. 80xD2 is the last model with that driver type.
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Kevlar as a cone material is not the real problem in my understanding, and Matrix 801 and others were indeed pretty linear in their days. The problem how I perceived it, came later with a mixture of even more flexible, loosely woven Kevlar cones, surround-less suspension, higher crossover frequency and low order filters driving the midrange into breakup mode, in combination with more brilliant, louder tweeters like diamond domes and broader lobing bands.

Avp1 said:
Actually B&W 80x speakers were getting brighter and brighter with each generation.
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I don´t know every model, but in my ears, D3 was the brightest, and in between the ´house sound´ has changed from generation to generation while not being congruent between the series.
 
Arindal said:
Kevlar as a cone material is not the real problem in my understanding, and Matrix 801 and others were indeed pretty linear in their days. The problem how I perceived it, came later with a mixture of even more flexible, loosely woven Kevlar cones, surround-less suspension, higher crossover frequency and low order filters driving the midrange into breakup mode, in combination with more brilliant, louder tweeters like diamond domes and broader lobing bands.
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That's my understanding as well, though I think you could blame it mostly on the crossovers. They're not bad drivers - I saw a crossover redesign of a B&W and as long as you run them in passbands that make sense, they're not bad drivers at all. Let me see if I can find that page...

ETA: https://pkaudio.webnode.cz/bw802d2/
 
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Arindal said:
more brilliant, louder tweeters like diamond domes and broader lobing bands.
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"Diamond" dome was a good choice over aluminum. It moved tweeter resonance above 30kHz making it practically irrelevant.
Overall design was very similar for many years: D was different from N by using "diamond" tweeter, and D2 only differed from D by having crossover point between base and mid-range a bit lower.
 
Veering off subject a little, I’m curious weather you guys use a driver like jriver, audiovana or others , and which do you like ?
 
foobar2000 is my go to for local files
Sammy77 said:
Veering off subject a little, I’m curious weather you guys use a driver like jriver, audiovana or others , and which do you like ?
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Sammy77 said:
Hello folks , I am in the market for speakers and from research conducted have corralled myself into possibly purchasing some B&Ws.
I have been using Klipsch FR2 speakers paired with ps audio m700 amps and dac , sound has been ok and only some music sounds good not all, so I have decided to finally upgrade, have been combing eBay and am wondering if someone can give me advice on which speakers to buy .. here is my list so far .. (would be so grateful for some down to earth advice, frankly I don’t want to pay more than 6,7,8 grand as this will be an investment that will last me a long time hopefully )
1.802 D2. $8,399
2.802 D4. $11,400
3.804 D3 $ 7,395 and 11,000
4.803 D3 800 series $9,000
5. 703 S3 $5,600 and 5,800
6.804S $3,498
7.804 Diamond $4,499

Would be super grateful for some advice on what sounds better , thanks guys
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I've listened to a great many B&W speakers over the past 35 years. I can't say they were bad, but the price-performance ratio, especially considering the sound quality, was always disastrous for me.
Especially in the last 10-20 years, more and more speakers with a better price-performance ratio have come onto the market.

In your target price range, several well-designed speakers with the new Purifi drivers are currently being released. I don't think any of the speakers you mentioned can compete with them, especially when it comes to fidelity, precision, and resolution.
 
Ropeburn said:
Ah, the good old F4! We had those too and affectionately called them Luftverteidigungsdiesel (air defense diesel) for their characteristic smoke trail.

View attachment 515990

Every jet fighter aircraft looks better with an iron cross on it. We basically invented the concept. :cool:
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Led Nosed Diesel Fighter ;)
 
Sammy77 said:
I feel kinda clutsy , can’t find your earlier post, but I’m from the Bay Area in California and unfortunately there’s not that may audio places left, there’s 1 in Mnt. View Ca and I will def check them out , it’s all a matter of shipping return fee , you know , actually I just demoed PS audios new small speakers and they were ok, but they just for acoustic or music that lead with guitar, so unfortunately I had to return them and you can guess how much that cost
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In that case, Ascend Acoustics Sierra ELX Tower.

www.ascendacoustics.com

ELX TOWER PAIR

Introducing our new ELX Tower! In development for over a decade, our ELX Towers represent the current State-Of-The-Art of loudspeaker design. Every performance category has been fully optimized – from shockingly deep bass extension and punch, to incredible spaciousness and ideal tonal balance...
www.ascendacoustics.com www.ascendacoustics.com

Real nice firm a bit north of you doing direct to consumer sales. Call them to arrange a demo if you like or just buy them with my personal guarantee.
 
Sammy77 said:
"Reveille! Reveille! Reveille! All hands heave out and trice up!" ·
View attachment 516192
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www.audiosciencereview.com

Tannoy of the day

Tannoy was literally synonymous with public address systems, in the same way that Hoover was synonymous with vacuum cleaners, in the UK back then. "The Tannoy" is what the head teacher used to interrupt class and give announcements at school mid morning. So bullhorns make sense, I guess. All...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com
 
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