B&W 804S: suitable for a small place ? advice from the experts needed !

[admin_exported]

dear all,

I really like the sound of the B&W 804S - but I'm not sure whether I can use them in quite a small place:

they would be placed in a distance of 1,5 meters, only 0,2 meters from the wall. My sofa is only in a 2 meter distance.

In fact, my living room is 35 square meters - but I will only use a small part of it for listening.

What do you think ? Do the 804 make sense in this setting - or should I better look for small floorstands, such as neat motive ?

thank you for your help ! (and pls. apologize my bad english ;-))

greetings from vienna,

stephan

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi Stephan

What components are to be used with the speakers and what do you generally listen to?

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Rick

Amp & cd will be Roksan Kandy K2 (or creek evo), I listen to:

90% modern music, every style: my favourites are metallica, oasis, radiohead, r.e.m, mando diao,boby dylan, johnny cash, leonard cohen.

10% classic music: mozart, schubert, etc

thx a lot !!

stephan

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Stephan,

I'm also getting the B&W 804S speakers. I'll be using them with my Rotel kit. My Hi Fi room is under construction, size 4m x 5m. I demod the 804S with my kit in a very similar sized room than what i'm building and they sounded great.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Rick,

thanks !

I just returned from a demo of the 804s, room size about the same: 4,5m x 4,5m. Distance of the speakers was 1,5 meters, and they sounded great ! I will buy them (from private) - they are from October 2007, and I get 30% discount from the list price. in that price range i do not get better speakers..

have fun with your 804s !

stephan

 

[Anonymous]

sorry charl - it was your reply..

stephan

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi Stephan

Sorry for my late reply.

If it's not too late than you should also consider ATC's SCM40 speakers. They are a closed box design and their neutral presentation makes them less fussy about room positioning.

The studio mid Soft Dome drive unit is capable of superb results and as a whole the 40's are utterly coherent. Some of my customers who have auditioned the 800 series and than ATC's have all chosen ATC instead (irrespective of electronics/cables etc.).

http://www.atc.gb.net/scm40.htm

http://www.atc.gb.net/studioDriveUnits.htm

I hope this helps.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

hi rick,

sorry for my late reply - just returned from a business trip. i will have a look at the atc's - do you have an idea where I can get them online ? (According to ATCs website the nearest hifi-dealer is located in prague)

thanks a lot, and greetings from vienna,

stephan

 

[plastic penguin]

I always reiterate about room acoustics. Do you have carpet or hard flooring? If you have the former it shouldn't pose too many problems - with hard floors I would advise you go for stand mounts [not ATC's, I'll re-address that in a mo], like Epos M12I or Ruark Sabres.

As regards the ATC's - they clearly have a great rep for a good reason, my ONE reservation is their sensitivity: they need to be driven hard with an amp that packs a hefty punch. In a small room I believe the ATC's will be wasted (IMHO, others may have a different take).

I'm not sure of the B&W's dimensions, but my Monitor Audios sound great in a similar sized room: I have carpet, bookcases, wallpaper and soft furnishings to eliminate any nasties.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Stephan:

hi rick,

sorry for my late reply - just returned from a business trip. i will have a look at the atc's - do you have an idea where I can get them online ? (According to ATCs website the nearest hifi-dealer is located in prague)

thanks a lot, and greetings from vienna,

stephan

Hi Stephan

Let me look into it and i'll let you know. am not sure about the rules on this so i think it would be best that you email me your details.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[pwiles1968]

I don't think listening distance is too much of an issue given the large size of the room, I have listened at this sort of distance to larger speakers in smaller rooms admittedly treated listening rooms. I am not sure if the distance from the back wall will be an issue the Owners Manual recommends 0.5M from the back wall to the front face and the same distance from a side wall. My 805s are about this distance but I do find myself using a foam bung in the front port, though I think this is more of a room node issue than the speaker and wall distance.