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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2010 17:58:56 GMT -5
Shawn admitted: >> So the reality of what I've just done is starting to kick in. <<
Now you're well and truly phucked, aren't ya, mate?! Ya had to go and buy the better speakers. Your wife is gonna emasculate you. Tell ya what, since I'm a good guy and all that, I'll come on by and take those 804s off yer hands (for 60% of what you paid for 'em) before the Missus finds out about 'em.
This is a scenario with a HUGE upside: You'll save some money, and your marriage, and I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that I helped out a brother in need. No need to thank me now, it's the least I could do for a fellow audiohphile.
The VERY least, heh, heh...
-RW-
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Post by shawmcbigdis on Jan 7, 2010 18:59:12 GMT -5
Shawn admitted: >> So the reality of what I've just done is starting to kick in. << Now you're well and truly phucked, aren't ya, mate?! Ya had to go and buy the better speakers. Your wife is gonna emasculate you. Tell ya what, since I'm a good guy and all that, I'll come on by and take those 804s off yer hands (for 60% of what you paid for 'em) before the Missus finds out about 'em. This is a scenario with a HUGE upside: You'll save some money, and your marriage, and I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that I helped out a brother in need. No need to thank me now, it's the least I could do for a fellow audiohphile. The VERY least, heh, heh... -RW- Well luckily it's not that bad... yet. My wife is fine with the money so far. I'm not so sure she'll be fine when she finds out that the center and surrounds cost almost double what I paid for the mains. That might get me in some serious trouble. However the good thing with the 800's is they are so freaking gorgeous women love them. So it might come down to something like; "OK Honey, we can save some money and keep these stark black industrial towers, and I'll just rid of these beautiful, sculpted, hand laid real wood veneered pieces of art" So she might have to give in. I should add, that I do not think the Emo's are ugly, although I haven't seen them in person yet. I actually like the way they look a whole lot.
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Post by LuisV on Jan 7, 2010 19:12:51 GMT -5
How does the XPA-2 perform with your 804's? Did you have a prior external amp before the XPA-2? Thanks I was using an Acurus A250 amplifier with my B&W 804's for the last 14 years. My Acurus 200x3 is powering my B&W HTM Center and the ERD-1s. As you noticed, the XPA-2 is now in my signature as my A / B testing proved that the Emo was a better sounding amp. Fuller bass, the sound stage is much wider and it seems as though I have more depth as well. The depth perception could have been the wine; however, before I started settling in with my glass I was already extremely impressed with the bass and wider soundstage. Once I sell the A250, I'll pick up either an XPA-3 or XPA-5 as it's replacement.
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Post by shawmcbigdis on Jan 7, 2010 23:08:50 GMT -5
As you noticed, the XPA-2 is now in my signature as my A / B testing proved that the Emo was a better sounding amp. Fuller bass, the sound stage is much wider and it seems as though I have more depth as well. The depth perception could have been the wine; however, before I started settling in with my glass I was already extremely impressed with the bass and wider soundstage. Once I sell the A250, I'll pick up either an XPA-3 or XPA-5 as it's replacement. That's a relief. I was also worried about electronics in stepping up to the 800 series. Although your Marantz might be a tad better than the Onkyo I'll be running, it shouldn't be to far off I hope. I'll also be running the XPA-3, so slightly less power than the 2, but it should be good enough. So when I gto home tonight and was talking to the wife about the 804's I showed her a pic, and she just said "That's nice, where's the rest of them?" She thought I had bought 5 speakers for that price! Looks like I might be in trouble after all
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Post by LuisV on Jan 7, 2010 23:18:22 GMT -5
My Marantz is strictly a processor... no built in amplification. It's approx 10 years old and once the UMC-1 is available, it will be up for sale.
Hope your wife changes her mind once she hear the B&Ws. Good luck...
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Post by shawmcbigdis on Jan 7, 2010 23:29:03 GMT -5
The Onkyo will also just be a Pre/Pro, XPA-3 will run the front 3 channels, and my old Parasound HCA 1000 will power the rears. I will use the Onkyo for power only if I go 7.1. But it is technically a receiver, so they tend to be a little less quality than dedicated pro/pro's.
I thought about the UMC-1, but I went with the Onkyo because it was a little cheaper, and mainly because of Audyssey. I've never been able to get the sound as good in this room as in my previous rooms. So I'm hoping that the active EQ will fix the issues I never could.
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Post by SticknStones on Jan 10, 2010 17:30:49 GMT -5
[a href="http://whathifi.com/News/BandW-reinvents-its-flagship-line-up-to-create-800-Series-Diamond-range/["]http://whathifi.com/News/BandW-reinvents-its-flagship-line-up-to-create-800-Series-Diamond-range/[[/a] Here is a summary headline on the new 800 series with some seemingly upgraded bass performance on the 802! The prices are in British pound and the 802 price translates into $18,500. Geesh. Here is a currency conversion calculator you can use on the other products. Currency Conversion Calculator
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Post by LuisV on Jan 10, 2010 17:50:58 GMT -5
Wow... $18,500... they are indeed beautiful...
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Post by shawmcbigdis on Jan 11, 2010 14:34:05 GMT -5
[a href="http://whathifi.com/News/BandW-reinvents-its-flagship-line-up-to-create-800-Series-Diamond-range/["]http://whathifi.com/News/BandW-reinvents-its-flagship-line-up-to-create-800-Series-Diamond-range/[ [/a] Here is a summary headline on the new 800 series with some seemingly upgraded bass performance on the 802! The prices are in British pound and the 802 price translates into $18,500. Geesh. [/quote] Yeah, the new Diamond is pretty expensive, a lot of people not to happy about that. I'm glad I got my 804s's when I did, as they may actualyl go up in value, since the new 804 diamonds are so freaking expensive. Sticks, I noticed you use ERD's with your 804 fronts. What's your thought on that? I'm a big fan of timber matched speakers, but man are the 800 series surrounds expensive.
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Post by shawmcbigdis on Jan 12, 2010 13:19:42 GMT -5
So I recieved the XPA-3 last night, that thing is an absolute beast Hooked it up the the Onkyo and plugged in my B&W P5's and LCR6. Wow, that's a nice amp. Moved my Parasound HCA-1000 to power the surrounds. The system already sounds better, can't wait for the new speakers to arrive. All 5 Emo speakers arrive today. The front 3 B&W 800's will be here by Friday. Looks like I've got a fun 3 day weekend ahead of me!
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Post by LuisV on Jan 12, 2010 20:46:19 GMT -5
Awesome... congrats! Keep us posted and be honest...
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Post by dotvibe on Jan 13, 2010 8:16:44 GMT -5
Just to throw in 2c here, with the B&W set I'd go with the DS7's as surrounds. The tweeter does does work when in dipole mode, it just fires forward (above the direct mode mid)
I had a set of these with some 703's set up for my dad in his entertainment lounge, and they sound gorgeous, I keep them in dipole all the time. Very versatile and pretty speakers, very recommended.
They don't sound as good as the 685's I use for surrounds, but the application is completely different and it's comparing apples & oranges. If you stick with the B&W's, get the DS7's, you won't regret it.
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Post by SticknStones on Jan 13, 2010 12:17:52 GMT -5
[a href="http://whathifi.com/News/BandW-reinvents-its-flagship-line-up-to-create-800-Series-Diamond-range/["]http://whathifi.com/News/BandW-reinvents-its-flagship-line-up-to-create-800-Series-Diamond-range/[ [/a] Here is a summary headline on the new 800 series with some seemingly upgraded bass performance on the 802! The prices are in British pound and the 802 price translates into $18,500. Geesh. [/quote] Yeah, the new Diamond is pretty expensive, a lot of people not to happy about that. I'm glad I got my 804s's when I did, as they may actualyl go up in value, since the new 804 diamonds are so freaking expensive. Sticks, I noticed you use ERD's with your 804 fronts. What's your thought on that? I'm a big fan of timber matched speakers, but man are the 800 series surrounds expensive.[/quote] Yes, I did get the ERD's for Christmas this year. I do so little with 5.1 that I really have not done any critical listening as I do not have a blu-ray player and such. As far as Home Theatre all seems great but I am really easy to please for surround sound and much more critical on 2 channel which is the lions share of what I do with the system.
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Post by shawmcbigdis on Jan 13, 2010 12:28:52 GMT -5
Just to throw in 2c here, with the B&W set I'd go with the DS7's as surrounds. The tweeter does does work when in dipole mode, it just fires forward (above the direct mode mid) I had a set of these with some 703's set up for my dad in his entertainment lounge, and they sound gorgeous, I keep them in dipole all the time. Very versatile and pretty speakers, very recommended. They don't sound as good as the 685's I use for surrounds, but the application is completely different and it's comparing apples & oranges. If you stick with the B&W's, get the DS7's, you won't regret it. Thanks for the advice. That's pretty much the way I was leaning. You can pick up DS7's for under a grand, while DS8S's go for around 2, ouch. Are you sure the tweet fires while in dipole? Everything I've read says it doesn't, and it's freq response in dipole only goes up to like 11k or something like that. Sure doesn't seem like there is a tweeter involved there. I'm actually going to run both setups with the Emo surrounds for now, simply because I can set up the front 3 concurrently, while the surrounds I can't, since they are ceiling mounted. Don't laugh at the mount, it's just a trial run, and the best I could pull off at midnight last night
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Post by shawmcbigdis on Jan 13, 2010 13:22:35 GMT -5
So quick thoughts before I have to run into a meeting. I through the speakers up as fast as I could to just start listening. So there was no calibration or tweaking with positioning. I setup just the 8.3's and put in CD"s and put the Onkyo in Pure Audio stereo only mode, so no re-EQ'ing or anything was happening, just the speakers. First up Sarah McLachlan, Angel. Right off the bat, they weren't as good as I was hoping. But this is one of those tracks that seems it was made for B&W's. It is my version of Dianna Krall, which most people use to show off B&W's superb midrange. So I then listen to that whole album, and I start to realize there is hardly any bass. I know they are sealed, and don't put out as much bass as ported speakers, but for a speaker of this size I was expecting a lot more. Now the bass that was there was clean and tight, very musical, but just barely audible. I tried switching the "Mid" switch to +2 to try and get something closer the that B&W sound, it helped a little. I then put in Sting's "Brand New Day" and listened to that whole album. This was much better. There was a lot of clarity and openness there that my P5's didn't have. And on Stings vocals they seemed much more B&W like, for lack of a better term. The bass still very low, but good quality. To be fair I will usually have the sub on even when doing stereo listening, but I wanted to see what just the 8.3's can do. Then my wife wanted to pick something, and she wanted to see what something with a lot of bass sounded like on them. So in went Black Eyed Peas Monkey Business. Even without the low end, this sounded very good. We heard bits we had never heard before, not sure if this was because the 8.3's are that much clearer than the P5's, or just without all the bass there we were able to hear the other things going on. They passed the tip test with flying colors. Set them up with the legs fully extended and then took our friends 9 month old and stood her up against them, and had her push on them. They didn't even budge. The P5's on the other hand, almost got knocked over when one of us bumped it while setting up the 8.3 I set up the center on my shelf over the TV, and got one of the ERD's hung, see pic above. But I did not do any multi-channel listening. I turned on the system before I left and tuned it to Siruis and just put it on all channel surround, so it will get all the speakers going and breaking in, to bad I wasn't able to mount the 2nd ERD. All in all, after the first night. I was pretty impressed for a speaker of this price, especially with the fit and finish. However it didn't really strike e as the better of speakers twice as much, or even slightly more. It seemed like a fair sounding speaker for it's price, but not the Goliath beater I was hoping for. Of course this is just my initial though, and there is a lot of tweaking and listening to come. And movies/multi channel may change things, we'll see.
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Post by paintedklown on Jan 13, 2010 21:29:16 GMT -5
Thanks for your listening reports and comments. They are appreciated and very helpful. As a bit of a HIFI noob I have heard/read a lot of information regarding several speakers and brands. A few weeks ago I auditioned several speakers (Focal, Polk, Klipsch, B&W, NHT, AC Pro, and Sony) and when I was done I concluded that I really liked the Focal Chorus series but my absolute favorites were the B&W CM-7's. These speakers amazed me in ways that cannot be described in words. Having said that, I am very interested in your findings as I feel that they sort of relate to my listening experiences as well. Thanks again for your report and please keep us updated on your findings.
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Post by shawmcbigdis on Jan 14, 2010 16:08:16 GMT -5
OK, so I got all 5 Emo's hooked up last night. I got them pointed fairly well then ran Audessey on the Onkyo to let it set levels and EQ. First thing up was the intro battle scene from Transformers 2. I didn't have the volume up to loud because the girls had just got to sleep, so I didn't want to wake them. First thing I noticed was all 5 timber matched was awesome. Even though my old speakers were all B&W's, they were 3 different series. With the Emo's all movement was totally smooth. I was a little disappointed in the ERD's. I was expecting a much larger rear sound field with the dipoles, but I didn't really get it, and the speakers could still be localized to some extent. This could be because they are mounted in the middle of the room, and not against a wall, so it could be a placement problem, not the speakers themselves. Although I thought it was funny that they also weren't very good for multi channel music (which I expected with dipoles), I tried out Dark side of the Moon SACD, and the sound was good, but the rear were to diffuse. So to localized for surround, and to diffuse for music. I should note that all tests were done with the ERD's in standard bipole mode. I didn't try dipole or inverted dipole, I may try that tonight for music.
I also got my B&W 804's yesterday, and set them up. Right away, they are better than the 8.3's, but for an MSRP of almost 3 times as much, they better be! They didn't blow the Emo's away like i thought they would though. Detail with the B&W was near endless, if it was in the recording it was coming out the speakers, clear as day. No muddiness at all, just clear. I thought the Emo's were nice and clear, but the B&W's were CLEAR. Bass was better than on the Emo's, but not nearly as much as I expected, you could listen to music without a sub, but I probably won't (the SVS has spoiled me into always wanting lots of bass, and getting it)
All in all I think my biggest problem is my room. I can't get the sound of of any speaker that I know they are capable of, so I guess I just have to live within the confines of what I have, and try and make the best of it.
Based on the first day of comparing them, the B&W's are clearly better. But I don't think it will matter as much in movies. The B&W HTM3s showed up this morning, so I will do surround test for the next few days. I'll be using the ERD's for both, since they are mounted, and not easy to change around.
Oh, the tip test did not go well for the B&W's. They are more stable than my old P5's, but no where near as stable as the Emo 8.3's. The kids could push them over if they tried, so that's not good. A set of Sound Anchor stands will probably fix that, and improve sound quality a bit, but they will also add another $250 to a pair of speakers that already cost me $1k more than the Emo's.
Another interesting bit is my wife seems to like the look of the Emo's more than the B&W's. That was a real surprise. Then again she wasn't in a very good mood yesterday and might have been looking at the price tags more than the actual speakers.
Will be doing a lot of listening this weekend, so hopefully will have some good comparison info by next Tuesday.
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Post by nerve8 on Jan 14, 2010 17:40:16 GMT -5
Thanks for this review shawmcbigdis! Keept it coming. I was actually interested in the 683s for my nascent home theatre, since they are more in line with my budget. But I find the 804s an equally interesting comparisons.
Quick question, you are running these comparisons off of the XPA-3 right? Also, has anyone recommended a break in time for the 8.3s?
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Post by shawmcbigdis on Jan 14, 2010 17:44:44 GMT -5
Thanks for this review shawmcbigdis! Keept it coming. I was actually interested in the 683s for my nascent home theatre, since they are more in line with my budget. But I find the 804s an equally interesting comparisons. Quick question, you are running these comparisons off of the XPA-3 right? Also, has anyone recommended a break in time for the 8.3s? Yes, the front 3 speakers (B&W or Emo, I just swap the cables at the speaker) are running off the XPA-3. I'm not sure what the break in for the Emo's is, anyone know the recomendation? I just leave them running all day and only turn them off when I go to bed at night.
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Post by LuisV on Jan 14, 2010 18:12:07 GMT -5
Definitely keep us posted and thanks for taking the time to do this. If you don't mind.. what's your impression on cost vs sound? So far, are the B&Ws worth the added expense? Curious as to how you view it as it's a tough call for me. I love my B&Ws, but I dunno if the sound difference warrants the price difference. Tough call... definitely a tough call...
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