From: shafer@CS.ColoState.EDU (spencer shafer)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Re: B&W 800's
Date: 9 Oct 92 19:38:57 GMT
Organization: Colorado State University, Computer Science Department
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.4
Originator: tjk@csd4.csd.uwm.edu

Talking about listening impressions of the B&W 800's:

>>Yes, I heard them at the Denver ListenUp and that was one system that 
>>absolutely floored me.  I was trying to identify a problem that I was 
>>hearing with this other system and used that one as the "standard". 
>>I heard some Brahms choral thingamabob that was the most glorious sound
>>I'd ever heard.  Better than "live".  The associated electronics could 
>>have had more to do with the sound than the speakers themselves because
>>I later heard similar electronics (Krell) connected to some Thiel CS2.2's
>>and had nearly the same experience.  The B&W 800 setup included Krell 250
>>Amp and Krell pre-amp and the new top-line Nakamichi CD.
>
>Interesting--I was over at ListenUp shortly after the 800s had just come
>out and their high-end room had a pair of 800s, 801s (w/ ListenUp's filter),
>Apogee Divas, and WATT/Puppy combos.  At the time, I found that I liked
>the Divas the best, the WATT/Puppies were a respectable second, the 801s
>a close third, and the 800s a distant fourth.  They told me at the time
>that they were working on a filter for the 800s similar to the one they
>made for the 801s--do you know if one was in use at the time you listened
>to them?  (Incidentally, at the time I auditioned them, the associated
>electronics were mostly ML, though I don't recall which CD player they
>were using with the 800s.)

My initial comments are the ones preceded by the >>.  In response to the 
above, I have to say that I wasn't auditioning the megabucks systems
mentioned, only using the B&W800 system as a reference for something
else in another room, I think it was using Spendor or Spica (whatever)
that the salesman was trying to get me to buy.

On a side note here, I often have trouble going into a place like that
and listening to some system full of well-respected components and the
being very, very dissappointed with the result.  What brings this up is
the reference that the B&W 801's sounded better to the latter responder
than the B&W 800's.  From the first review that I read of the B&W 801's
and from Sterophile's Class A recommendation, I always thought those
speakers would be part of my future midlife crisis system.  I heard them
once and found the whole sound to be very boring, which is not at all
what I was expecting.  I've also heard Magnepan 2.6R's sound fabulous,
and I have always expected boring-but-realistic from Maggies.  My
current line of logic and reasoning says that the associated electronics
are far more important than whatever they are driving.  I'm sort of
beginning to lean towards the Linn philosophy where they claim that 
unless you spend big bucks on the front-end (turntable), then the
sound out of your preamp will always be crappy.  Unless you then spend
get a great preamp, the sound from your amp will always be bad,... etc.
Comments, anyone?

David Haile
.

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||                     DAVID HAILE                                  ||
|| email:shafer@handel.cs.colostate.edu    Work Phone: 303-498-0901 ||
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