About three weeks ago I saw a pair of B&W 802 Matrix Series 2 speakers with the original stands for sale. I already own a pair of 805 Matrix from the same era, with the same design ethos and they are beautiful sounding speakers.
I bought them, being pretty certain, that they would deliver a sound that suits me just fine. Fifteen hundred quid.
My dear old Dad, who died last year at the ripe old age of 93, had left some money to be shared between the five of us, his children. Simon and I had received two thousand, one hundred and forty Pounds each. I wanted the money to go on something decent. Something I could look at, and hear in this case and remember him by.
They were pick up only. They weigh 69lbs apeice and the stands I think are lead filled and weigh about 25 lbs each.
My car's at the garage being fixed, so I asked my brother for a lift to collect them. He said; "Yeah, sure where are they?"
I said; "Oh somewhere just North of Birmingham."
We looked at Google maps. They were in Peebleshire, about 10 miles South of Edinburgh. My brother wasn't exactly delighted, at this point, I won't tell you exactly what he said. Anyway I paid for breakdown cover on his Alfa Mito Cloverleaf Multi Air Turbo, and managed to appease him. We left and went to collect them.
When we got there, the very pleasant gentleman said; "Have you got a CD you want me to put on to try the speakers out?"
I handed him "Gong Live etc" and asked him to put track 12 and 13 on. He did as I asked. The speakers sounded every bit as good as I was expecting. His amplifier was a Musical Fidelity KW 750, I'm not sure what the CDP was but he said it wasn't very good. He'd also told me during our messaging that he was upgrading the speakers to B&W 801 D, but I wasn't to let on to his wife.
While we were there he showed us his company car. It was an all electric Audi. £150,000 new, this one had cost his company £100,000. He took us for a ride. His house was next to a long, straight and deserted A road. The 650 BHP and 870N/M of torque from the two motors, propelled this rather nice looking Audi from zero to seventy-five mph, in about two and a half seconds. The bloke's glasses flew off his head, and landed in my brother Simon's lap. I'm glad to say that the car didn't burst into flames.
We arrived back home at one-thirty having left at 10 o'clock the previous morning.
We carried the 69 pound monsters in and set them up on their stands after a quick coffee and spent the next couple of hours auditioning them properly. They're very, very good. Not a hint of bass boom, quite a forward mid-range presentation, but beautifully detailed very fast responsive bass. My Marantz Model 30 does a really good job with these speakers, whether the volume is low or high. What impresses me about them is the ease with which they handle high volume levels. They don't sound as though they're even trying with the volume cranked up.
The guy I bought the speakers from messaged me several times to tell me he had been researching the band Gong and wanted me to recommend which albums he should get. I could see while I was there, that he was listening intently and it's clear that Gong had really made quite an impression on him.
Yesterday my Meridian 508.20 CD player, arrived back from Mr Tech Guy Ltd, having been sent to Russ Phillips there, an ex-employee of Meridian of thirty years, for a full overhaul and re-cap, which included new lasers, the best available. It's performance is highly improved.
I'm completely happy with the sound of my system. To me it sounds incredible.
A thirty plus year old CDP, a nearly new integrated amplifier and thirty plus year old speakers.
Not exactly conventional but....well, I never was entirely conventional.
An addendum to this story: The Alfa broke down about a week after our trip to Peebleshire. There's something wrong with the electrics. We thought it was a failed battery. The garage said it was the alternator. However, they've looke into it and they can't even get the car to bump start now. We live out in the sticks, we absolutely need a car.
Simon bought an Alfa Brera 2.4 diesel two days ago, so luckily, we're mobile again.
I bought them, being pretty certain, that they would deliver a sound that suits me just fine. Fifteen hundred quid.
My dear old Dad, who died last year at the ripe old age of 93, had left some money to be shared between the five of us, his children. Simon and I had received two thousand, one hundred and forty Pounds each. I wanted the money to go on something decent. Something I could look at, and hear in this case and remember him by.
They were pick up only. They weigh 69lbs apeice and the stands I think are lead filled and weigh about 25 lbs each.
My car's at the garage being fixed, so I asked my brother for a lift to collect them. He said; "Yeah, sure where are they?"
I said; "Oh somewhere just North of Birmingham."
We looked at Google maps. They were in Peebleshire, about 10 miles South of Edinburgh. My brother wasn't exactly delighted, at this point, I won't tell you exactly what he said. Anyway I paid for breakdown cover on his Alfa Mito Cloverleaf Multi Air Turbo, and managed to appease him. We left and went to collect them.
When we got there, the very pleasant gentleman said; "Have you got a CD you want me to put on to try the speakers out?"
I handed him "Gong Live etc" and asked him to put track 12 and 13 on. He did as I asked. The speakers sounded every bit as good as I was expecting. His amplifier was a Musical Fidelity KW 750, I'm not sure what the CDP was but he said it wasn't very good. He'd also told me during our messaging that he was upgrading the speakers to B&W 801 D, but I wasn't to let on to his wife.
While we were there he showed us his company car. It was an all electric Audi. £150,000 new, this one had cost his company £100,000. He took us for a ride. His house was next to a long, straight and deserted A road. The 650 BHP and 870N/M of torque from the two motors, propelled this rather nice looking Audi from zero to seventy-five mph, in about two and a half seconds. The bloke's glasses flew off his head, and landed in my brother Simon's lap. I'm glad to say that the car didn't burst into flames.
We arrived back home at one-thirty having left at 10 o'clock the previous morning.
We carried the 69 pound monsters in and set them up on their stands after a quick coffee and spent the next couple of hours auditioning them properly. They're very, very good. Not a hint of bass boom, quite a forward mid-range presentation, but beautifully detailed very fast responsive bass. My Marantz Model 30 does a really good job with these speakers, whether the volume is low or high. What impresses me about them is the ease with which they handle high volume levels. They don't sound as though they're even trying with the volume cranked up.
The guy I bought the speakers from messaged me several times to tell me he had been researching the band Gong and wanted me to recommend which albums he should get. I could see while I was there, that he was listening intently and it's clear that Gong had really made quite an impression on him.
Yesterday my Meridian 508.20 CD player, arrived back from Mr Tech Guy Ltd, having been sent to Russ Phillips there, an ex-employee of Meridian of thirty years, for a full overhaul and re-cap, which included new lasers, the best available. It's performance is highly improved.
I'm completely happy with the sound of my system. To me it sounds incredible.
A thirty plus year old CDP, a nearly new integrated amplifier and thirty plus year old speakers.
Not exactly conventional but....well, I never was entirely conventional.
An addendum to this story: The Alfa broke down about a week after our trip to Peebleshire. There's something wrong with the electrics. We thought it was a failed battery. The garage said it was the alternator. However, they've looke into it and they can't even get the car to bump start now. We live out in the sticks, we absolutely need a car.
Simon bought an Alfa Brera 2.4 diesel two days ago, so luckily, we're mobile again.
Last edited: