B&W 804D

[CnoEvil]

My room is 4.8x6m which. Is that big enough for the 804d?

IMO Yes

 

[iceman16]

I'm not intending to be intransigent, so please don't take the following comments as being argumentative as I (and everyone else) have your best interests at heart:

- Have you heard the stereo performance of the HK with the 804s?

- Have you compared a decent integrated amp (£2k-2.5k) with the HK for 2 channel, and if you have, it would also be advisable to compare both on the 804s?

With hifi, things are inclined to sound "good", until you hear better, and then good is no longer good enough (I know this from experience!). I think that anyone who has made a comment, is only concerned that a chain is only as good as it's weakest link.

Anyway, at the end of the day it's your money and your decision

Best of luck with it all

Cno

+1

 

[Anonymous]

Yep, I see a lot of good advice on this thread.

+1 to CNO of course.... spot on.

+1 to ISAC.... yes, you dont need to get rid of your AVR, you can use it for surround while using a dedicated pre/power or integrated amp for stereo. As I said, if you get a stereo amp with a feature called Home Theatre bypass (or similar name) then you can use both your stereo amp and AVR in one setup where your AVR will be used for surround sound and your stereo amp will be used for stereo.

I also was "happy" with the stereo performance of my AVR for some time. Now, I can honestly tell you that it was vastly inferior to what is acheivable with a relatively small outlay on a dedicated stereo amp.

Best bet for exploring possibilities.... visit a few friendly dealers, and arrange a demo where you can come in and listen to a decent stereo set up with a few of your favourite CDs or his recommendations. I say CDs because they tend to sound better than basic mp3s which might be recorded in a fairly low quality format. Of course, if you know what you are doing and have some good quality lossless music you can bring that along too / instead.

Good dealers will advise you on what stereo amp possibilities you have for your budget and normally give you the chance to demo it at home if you are a serious buyer.

Aside from that, I tend to agree also that you can get the speakers first and the amp later.

I also think your room is big enough for those speakers, but you should take care about placement in the room and, if they are rear ported (blowing out air from a hole in the back) you should take care not to place them too close to a wall.

krlock3

 

[ISAC69]

I think you have a great front speakers B&W CM8 and they can be excellent for stereo . instead of you my next step is to buy a good pre+ power amp or integrated amp with bypass option for your HK .

 

[power]

Yep, I see a lot of good advice on this thread.

+1 to CNO of course.... spot on.

+1 to ISAC.... yes, you dont need to get rid of your AVR, you can use it for surround while using a dedicated pre/power or integrated amp for stereo. As I said, if you get a stereo amp with a feature called Home Theatre bypass (or similar name) then you can use both your stereo amp and AVR in one setup where your AVR will be used for surround sound and your stereo amp will be used for stereo.

I also was "happy" with the stereo performance of my AVR for some time. Now, I can honestly tell you that it was vastly inferior to what is acheivable with a relatively small outlay on a dedicated stereo amp.

Best bet for exploring possibilities.... visit a few friendly dealers, and arrange a demo where you can come in and listen to a decent stereo set up with a few of your favourite CDs or his recommendations. I say CDs because they tend to sound better than basic mp3s which might be recorded in a fairly low quality format. Of course, if you know what you are doing and have some good quality lossless music you can bring that along too / instead.

Good dealers will advise you on what stereo amp possibilities you have for your budget and normally give you the chance to demo it at home if you are a serious buyer.

Aside from that, I tend to agree also that you can get the speakers first and the amp later.

I also think your room is big enough for those speakers, but you should take care about placement in the room and, if they are rear ported (blowing out air from a hole in the back) you should take care not to place them too close to a wall.

krlock3

I agree with what you guys are saying. Thanks for the advice. I'll do some in store demos to identify a good stereo amp. I know there's no magic number when it comes to wattage but I hear stereo amps are "more correct" than AVRs when it comes to wattage. +-how much watts is considered good in stereo amps. Do you guys hv dedicated power amps for your stereo amps ?

 

[CnoEvil]

I agree with what you guys are saying. Thanks for the advice. I'll do some in store demos to identify a good stereo amp. I know there's no magic number when it comes to wattage but I hear stereo amps are "more correct" than AVRs when it comes to wattage. +-how much watts is considered good in stereo amps. Do you guys hv dedicated power amps for your stereo amps ?

With 2 channel amps, current delivery is just as important as power, and if you can give:

- A list of brands that are available to you

- What you are prepared to spend

- How you like your system to sound

- What genres music you like

I'm sure you will get some excellent suggestions. There are a variety of options like Class A / AB / D and Hybrid, all of which have their strengths, weaknesses and sonic characteristics.

There are amps that are much more heavily biassed in Class B (eg. Naim) and others that have more bias in A (eg. ATC). All I'm getting at, is it's necessary to do a lot of experimenting to discover exactly what you like, rather than jumping at the first one that sounds half reasonable.

 

[guyatwhathifi]

I have 804D's hooked up to Yamaha's A-S2000 integrated amp, not the most expensive out there and it sounds just as good, if not better than my brother's KEF Reference 203/2 powered by Cyrus preamp, two Cyrus monoblocs of 200 W each and aided by Cyrus PSX-R which is a whole lot more expensive amplification power than the Yamaha (one monobloc alone costs considerably more than the A-S2000).

So I have to disagree with 'Rethep'. KEF series R are in the exact same price-range (the 804D could be considered as Bowers' 203/2 and they are very satisfied with the Yamaha's 2 x 90 W dual-mono construction) and in my experience the 804D are not overpriced compared to the KEF's.

I am convinced the A-S2000 would have to be considerably more expensive if built by the traditional English or American HiFi companies.

Whole set-up is: B&W 804D, Yamaha A-S2000, CD-S2000 and NP-S2000 networkplayer fed by Synology NAS controlled by DSAudio app on iPod touch; Supra speaker cables, interconnects and LoRad.

One more thing: the 804D do not sound good at all straight out of the box, they need a lot of playing-in, so do not be disappointed by the almost totally flat sound in the beginning, have patience and you will be rewarded later on more than you could have hoped for and remember: there will always be better gear, but are you willing or able to pay the extra bucks.

Three different hifi audio dealers who did not know my setup convinced me that the 804D's are far less hard to drive than the former 804 generation and advised to spend some 1500 to 2000 EUR, not more on amplification and they spoke of several different brands of amps capable of accomplishing the job.

Have fun listening to your music and cheers!

 

[CnoEvil]

I have 804D's hooked up to Yamaha's A-S2000 integrated amp, not the most expensive out there and it sounds just as good, if not better than my brother's KEF Reference 203/2 powered by Cyrus preamp, two Cyrus monoblocs of 200 W each and aided by Cyrus PSX-R which is a whole lot more expensive amplification power than the Yamaha (one monobloc alone costs considerably more than the A-S2000).

So I have to disagree with 'Rethep'. KEF series R are in the exact same price-range (the 804D could be considered as Bowers' 203/2 and they are very satisfied with the Yamaha's 2 x 90 W dual-mono construction) and in my experience the 804D are not overpriced compared to the KEF's.

I am convinced the A-S2000 would have to be considerably more expensive if built by the traditional English or American HiFi companies.

....there will always be better gear, but are you willing or able to pay the extra bucks.

and advised to spend some 1500 to 2000 EUR, not more on amplification and they spoke of several different brands of amps capable of accomplishing the job.

Welcome to the forum and it's good to have you aboard.

The trouble with hifi is that it is so effected by personal taste. If you don't get on with the Cyrus sound, which is very different to that of the A-S2000, I'm not surprised that you prefer your own system.

With regard to the R Series, it's better value if you prefer it, and not if you don't. Like the 203/2s, the 804Ds have big potential, and I disagree with the dealers who said that it's not worth spending more than €2000, which I think is only a starting point. If you don't believe me, try driving them with the right £6k to £10k worth of amps. As with all these things, whether the improvements are worth the extra money, is very individual.

Cno

 

[guyatwhathifi]

The dealers did not actually say not to spend more, that was a misrepresentation on my behalf. We are all aware that there is always better (but then there's the budget), but the Yamaha does a very fine job.

In fact my brother ordered the 804D's but there was a dispute (sometimes big companies tend to become arrogant and forget that in the end the customer must remain 'king') and as a reaction he refused to buy the B&W 804D's and went back to his first choice, which were the KEF's which he did buy.

I saw this as an opportunity to upgrade my own B&W system and buy the 804D's, having heard them at the dealer's with all sorts of different Cyrus and Marantz amplification, streaming and CD-players as well, and was most impressed.

However, I was not prepared, at least not right away, to spend the same amount of money on amplification (I ended up spending almost as much as my brother though, buying the CD-S2000, NP-S2000, the Synology NAS, cables, interconnects, XLR's and so on).

First I was afraid that the Yamaha was not up to the job (because of its power output which is less than half), but that proved wrong. The A-S2000's power management seems very well thought out and its construction is topnotch.

I can only say that the Cyrus, in my opinion of course and as far as my musical memory can be trusted, does not do a better job of amplifying the 804D's than the A-S2000, which I find quite remarkable given the price tag.

What I am trying to say is that and the dealers confirm this, you will not have to spend a whole fortune on amplification to make the 804D's sound very decent.

For what it's worth, all three dealers we spoke to (selling both brands), consider the 804D's to be superior to the KEF's 203/2, for what it's worth of course. To me they seem to be in the same league, but the choice is up to the one who spends his or her money.

Greetings

 

[CnoEvil]

However, I was not prepared, at least not right away, to spend the same amount of money on amplification (I ended up spending almost as much as my brother though, buying the CD-S2000, NP-S2000, the Synology NAS, cables, interconnects, XLR's and so on).

First I was afraid that the Yamaha was not up to the job (because of its power output which is less than half), but that proved wrong. The A-S2000's power management seems very well thought out and its construction is topnotch.

I can only say that the Cyrus, in my opinion of course and as far as my musical memory can be trusted, does not do a better job of amplifying the 804D's than the A-S2000, which I find quite remarkable given the price tag.

What I am trying to say is that and the dealers confirm this, you will not have to spend a whole fortune on amplification to make the 804D's sound very decent.

For what it's worth, all three dealers we spoke to (selling both brands), consider the 804D's to be superior to the KEF's 203/2, for what it's worth of course. To me they seem to be in the same league, but the choice is up to the one who spends his or her money.

Greetings

I'm delighted you are happy with your system, and you are wise to build your up your system gradually......and as you have rightly stated, you have a set of speakers with a lot of headroom, making them future proof.

The 804Ds are probably better than the 203/2s, as they are more in line with the 205/2s (which I prefer)....but both are in the same league and it comes down to which presentation one prefers.

 

[power]

I have not been here in a long while but my setup changed from HK AVR to Rotel separates driving 800 series B&W. Rears I'm using in ceilings after changing from 895 diamonds after one fell from the stand. In ceilings are doing so we'll as rears I feel like the 805s were a waste. I'm loving this setup for both HT and stereo