B & W 800 D4 series

Hi Matt I was surprised at the increase just following the launch. In the past B&W had not increased the price of the d3, over the model life of 5 or 6 years. I understand from my dealer that it is more difficult to sell the 801 than say the 802 so there may be some good deals available. Some dealers are still advertising at the previous prices. I was more surprised by the increase in my cd player, the Rega Isis with a 17% increase where there had only been a 7% increase over 12 years!

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Matt, you might be right about the “limitations of the Isobarik design”, I have usually been impressed by brief listens to both Kudos and Neat designs and these brands rightly have many happy users on this forum. I also remember the Linn Barics as the ultimate speaker for Linn & Naim systems of the late 70’s and 80’s

Moving from a remote detached house into an apartment, we had to consider the impact of the music on neighbours. When researching for new “neighbour friendly” speakers, I was advised by more than one person that isobaric designs were probably best avoided in my situ.

It was David at SO who suggested trying the B&W 804s for their ability to sound good at low volumes. So much of my listening these days is at levels well below what I had previously enjoyed, but on the odd occasion when I know my neighbours are away I can crank it up and they don’t disappoint!
Enjoy the dem.

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Yes, enjoy the dem and say hi to David from me.

Richard

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And from me :grinning:

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The HiFi News review by Andrew Everard and Paul Miller is now available on the web. Interesting read.

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Can’t say I have noticed the titans sounding flat at low volumes
 my 606s get a lot of low volume listening on the end of a pair of 135s, and the 808s seem to do pretty well too. It’s true though that they do not do the « loudness button » thing at low volume - ie they stay pretty linear, to my old ears anyway :slight_smile: unlike my WBs which actually sounded better at low volume than higher volumes.

Having said that, the low volume dynamics work brilliantly with the Music speaker cable, so that might be part of it.

Hi-Fi+ in their latest March 2002 issue have a review of the 802 D4. More than positive as you might imagine. Still find the latest pricing difficult to live with.
Just tank up your non electric car!

Thanks,
I will check the review out.
Richard

Hi-Fi News have a positive review of the 805D4.

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Yes, all the reviews of the latest generation of D4 L/Ss are very good. Just wish the pricing was not in a really different place from the previous generation.

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Sadly it seems price of everything is going that way. Looking at possibility of getting 803D4. See if I can push my dealer for a discount.

Looks like we are all going to get less for more right the way through the supply chain. At least its not (yet) like airlines and bums on seats.
One plus point on the range of 800s is there is a ready market for the outgoing model. I did a p/e when I traded up to D3 and my old D2s appeared on the dealesr website and prompty did the opposite. Similarly with dealer ex demo stock it doesn’t hang around for long. Parallels with Naim?
If you can do a deal with your dealer on the 803s I don’t think you will be dissapointed.

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There is a review of the 801 d4 by the Absolute Sound on the web. Generally, very favourable and concluding it is fabulous value for the money. The reviewer wasn’t happy with the deep bass and used Magico sub. He was generally using 50 watts mono Pass amps but even had some issues with a 200 watt amp!?

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801 D4s
 + plus a sub for bass. Gosh!.. :joy:

The reviewer’s room was 15’ by 15’ which I would have thought was too small for the 801. B&W described the 802d3 which I have as ‘room friendly’! I don’t think even they would describe the 800 d3 or 801 d4 as room friendly.

Hello RWC and RvL.
In HFN November '21 review the amp was the Classe Delta at 350W/channel so not unexpected that a 50W might struggle. Buried in the text is a note about the LSs being pulled further into the room to subdue a more than healhty bass.
Nearly all large B & W speakers benefit from plenty of power.
I like the VFM angle as the price from D3 to D4 is ÂŁ10K.

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