B&W 800 Speakers - Beauty at its BEST

[admin_exported]

Im the biggest fan of beautiful looking systems. One of the main reasons I have stuck with Monitor Audio speakers for a very very long time now.

But the new B&W800 Series look superb, I cannot wait to see one in the flesh. Does What Hifi have an idea as to what models in the Series it will be reviewing in the future - also will the DB1 Subwoofer be featured too.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Vidcast you'll just love here - I'll try to find out from the review crew what's on order...

 

[Anonymous]

Thx Andrew. Yea Ive seen the video, very impressive. The 800Diamond model in Piano black looks worth all of its £19K price tag. One can dream I guess

 

[Anonymous]

Was in Music Matters in Brum, and the guy there had been to the B&W factory where they were making the new 805's. He had over 2 pictures of the whole manufacturing process, machines, baffles, cones, assembly process, testing bays etc etc. Very interesting.

They had the 805's to the top of the range in the pictures. Lovely the lot were.

 

[Andrew Everard]

potboyslim:He had over 2 pictures of the whole manufacturing process.

So three, then?

 

[Anonymous]

haha how stupid am I??!! I forgot to put 00 on the end of the 2, so he actually had 200+ pictures.

I would be getting excited about 2 pictures. Maybe he only had 4 pictures though

 

[Anonymous]

Good stuff, its a shame we probably wont get to see the pictures. I cant wait to see the 800 series in the flesh! Hope they will be featured in the Temptations section in the mag

Any plans to visit Monitor Audio factory in the future?

 

[MattSPL]

They sure look nice in Piano black.

Very pricy though.

 

[SHAXOS]

As a previous owner of the 805S im really looking forward to these. However really sceptical as to whether they can justify their price. Almost 4000 for 805s?? Better be awesone!

 

[Lost Angeles]

Review in a rival mag gave them 84%

 

[MattSPL]

I had a pair of N803's myself

I replaced them with some PMC IB1's.

The PMC's won in every department except midrange dynamics, where the N803's were stunning. Although Transparency of the midrange was better in the IB1's.

Having heard both large and small PMC loudspeakers and B&W's, its my opinion that you have to buy the big ones to get your moneys worth, if that makes sense.

If you go for current PMC's, then EB1i and upwards.
And i wouldn't buy anything less than a Nautilus 802.

But you need a serious amp to drive any of them, so this is where ATC active speakers show how good value for money they are.

 

[Anonymous]

The dealer I purchased my 805s from is getting the new Diamond 802 in soon. Needless to say I will be heading that way for a listen as soon as they arrive. They are offering to sell the 802D in-store pair for a substantial discount to me

Hmmmmm

 

[MattSPL]

They should be great speakers, let us know your thoughts after the demo.

 

[Anonymous]

Vinny7:
Good stuff, its a shame we probably wont get to see the pictures. I cant wait to see the 800 series in the flesh! Hope they will be featured in the Temptations section in the mag

Any plans to visit Monitor Audio factory in the future?

The one in China?

 

[Anonymous]

MattSPL:
Having heard both large and small PMC loudspeakers and B&W's, its my opinion that you have to buy the big ones to get your moneys worth, if that makes sense.

Id agree with that, I will fill you in when I have a demo on my thoughts. Found a local dealer with the new 800 and 805 Diamonds for me to demo.

 

[Anonymous]

Tarquinh:

The one in China?

Woops, forgot about that

They must have something done in the UK however....?

 

[MattSPL]

Vinny7:MattSPL:
Having heard both large and small PMC loudspeakers and B&W's, its my opinion that you have to buy the big ones to get your moneys worth, if that makes sense.

Id agree with that, I will fill you in when I have a demo on my thoughts. Found a local dealer with the new 800 and 805 Diamonds for me to demo.

Good stuff Vinny. My local dealer is big into B&W so should have the new range in. Might go for a listen at some stage.

 

[Anonymous]

Where is your local dealer if you dont mind me asking? Thx

My demo is next month so I shall update my findings then

 

[Anonymous]

My local guy in Glasgow has the 800 series in, feel a bit sorry for all the guys who spent a lot of money buying the last models only to be told by b&w that the new models are far better.

 

[Anonymous]

Its all about peoples opinion of the speakers tbh. I know many people preferred the old N800 series speakers to the 800D series and the same might happen again. But there is no disputing the fact that the 800D and Diamond series, especially for me, the range topping models, are pretty much reference level speakers.

I didnt purchase the 803D's purely to the fact that I didnt like the look of the speakers compared to the PL300s. Silly reason to most, but performance & looks are paramount to me. However now with the Diamond series, and the piano black finish. The 800Diamond, look stunning and im sure sound stunning just like the old one as well.