Bi-Wire for B&W804's or Not? How noticable with Silver Centauri?

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  • Britchie
    Member
    • Nov 2003
    • 45

    Bi-Wire for B&W804's or Not? How noticable with Silver Centauri?

    I have a pair of B&W 804's and an HTM1 that are connected to a Rotel RMB-1095 and RSP-1098. The speaker wire I use today is Doug's Famous Quantum Silver Centauri with WBT connectors.

    The cables I own today are 10feet long. Doug can cut them and reconfigure them for bi-wire but the length becomes 5 ft. I need 4 feet for each speaker with my current arrangement which probably won't change and definatley won't if I cut these cable. I must commend Dougs excellent customer service. I've had these wires over one year and he has been very helpful and patient in pointing out the pros and cons with each option. I'm just looking for some other opinions.

    I know B&W recommends bi-wire. my question to you all is this...How noticable do you thing the bi-wire improvement will be? Should I spend $300 elsewhere and get more bang for the buck? What about using Dougs Interconnects instead of Prism 5500i's that the dealer gave me at N/C? Is this a better place to spend my money?

    BTW...I'm not sure how much this matters but I do NOT own a sub woofer. I undestand the bottom speaker posts are for low frequencies many of which would be handles by a sub if I had one. Should I buy a good sub instead of bi-wire?

    Thanks,
    Brad

    Brad
  • no_slouch
    Junior Member
    • Dec 2004
    • 3

    #2
    B&W804s and HTM1s together

    Hi Britchie,

    I am considering buying the 804s and HTM1s, to use together as fronts in my home theater setup. I have yet to buy a receiver. Can you let me know your experience using this combination?

    I was told by my dealer that HTM1s would overpower the 804s, and I should go for HTM2s. However, I like the sound of the HTM1s sooo much better!!

    My dealer also says that no Rotel amp is good enough for the 804s..

    thanks,
    Brandon

    Comment

    • Aussie Geoff
      Super Senior Member
      • Oct 2003
      • 1914

      #3
      No Slouch,

      Have a look at Club B&W and ask the same question or search for existing opinions (there are lots). I help moderate there and you will find a very strong common view that the HTM1 is the best center speaker for the 804 and up as it has the FST midrange which matches the 804 and up... Buy with confidence...

      Re the Rotel view - there are better amps for much more $ but the Rotel RB-1080 will do a fine job on the 804s (not so much the RMB-1075 or the RB-1070 which I would not use for the 804 up). If you have the money the RB-1090 will do a world class job. We have a number of members with the combination in Club Rotel and also B&W will recommend the RB-1080 and above as being suitable for the 804 and 803 and the RB-1090 for the 803 and 802. Above that they get more "well you could but we have these nice Classe amplifiers..." In a multichannel situaiton the RMB-1095 will drive the 804s and the HTM1 fine...


      Geoff

      Comment

      • sikoniko
        Super Senior Member
        • Aug 2003
        • 2299

        #4
        the htm2 is an awful match for the 804's!

        go htm1!

        I personally don't care for rotel. Look into sherwood P-965 for a pre/pro and cinenova for an amp. PM me if you want a contact for great pricing!
        I'm just sittin here watchin the wheels go round and round...

        Comment

        • David Meek
          Moderator Emeritus
          • Aug 2000
          • 8938

          #5
          Originally posted by Britchie
          I know B&W recommends bi-wire. my question to you all is this...How noticable do you thing the bi-wire improvement will be? Should I spend $300 elsewhere and get more bang for the buck? What about using Dougs Interconnects instead of Prism 5500i's that the dealer gave me at N/C? Is this a better place to spend my money?
          Hi Britchie,

          Let's back up a bit and look at this. I'll start basic on this as it may help someone else reading along. On a bi-wire-capable speaker there are 2 sets of binding posts joined by a metal jumper. To bi-wire you remove the jumper and use a speaker cable that has 4 connectors on the speaker-end (2 red and 2 black). The amplifier/receiver end has only one set of connectors(1 red and 1 black). Now the signal being sent from the power source is still generated by one amp and once it arrives at the speakers it still goes through the cross-over(s) in the speaker. As I understand it, the main benefit from bi-wiring is that it simply eases the load the amp sees on the portion of the speaker wire carrying the signal to the upper-range drivers. As such, the benefits are generally subtle - if any. In my case, I'm bi-wiring and I think I hear a small difference in the clarity of the mids and upper register. YMMV! It should probably be YMMAPWV (Your Mileage May And Probably Will Vary). This is not to be confused with bi-amping which uses 2 amps and 2 separate sets of speaker cables. There are pretty major benefits from that.



          BTW...I'm not sure how much this matters but I do NOT own a sub woofer. I undestand the bottom speaker posts are for low frequencies many of which would be handles by a sub if I had one. Should I buy a good sub instead of bi-wire?
          Be careful of people generalizing. The lower set of posts in a bi-wireable speaker do send the signal to the woofers, but depending on your main speaker configuration (2-way, 3-way, 4-way) those may also be the posts connected directly to the mid-bass, mid-range or both sets of drivers. That's not just the signals being sent to the sub! In a 5.1 set up the .1 channel is directed automatically to a sub if you have one in your system. That is not all the bass, just the bass encoded to use the .1 channel. If you have low bass on a DVD that's not encoded with a .1 channel your pre-pro/receiver will divide up the signal according to its programming, sending it on to the sub or mains. Now having said that, absolutely YES! You will "see" much more benefit from a decent to good sub than you ever will with bi-wiring unless your mains go down into the low 20 Hz range, and I don't think the 804s do. That's not a negative BTW, just an observation. Save your pennies and get a good sub from SVS or Adire or.... Then, if you want to try bi-wiring go ahead.

          The one wild-card here is that if you have Doug ready to re-configure your Centauri's for a good price, it won't hurt to do it. Then, add a sub and you're ready to seriously rock 'n roll! Good luck and keep us posted.

          P.S. I'm not familiar with the Prisms but I don't imagine they'll be any better (or as good) as the Centauri's.
          .

          David - Trigger-happy HTGuide Admin

          Comment

          • sikoniko
            Super Senior Member
            • Aug 2003
            • 2299

            #6
            Sorry I forgot to add this. I bi-wire my 804's and it makes a difference in seperating the mids from the highs. (good thing). It makes the sounds more pronounced and 3 dimensional.

            As far as a sub, if your budget will allow, there is no better sub to match your 804's than the B&W ASW 850. I have this match and can attest to that.
            I'm just sittin here watchin the wheels go round and round...

            Comment

            • audiofan
              Senior Member
              • May 2004
              • 272

              #7
              My rb-1080 (later version) has two sets of speaker out. I have tried to bi-wire and the difference is there but it is very small. So, i decide not to use bi-wire since it costs me more cable and connectors...

              Comment

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