Calling All B&W Sub Owners

[Juan Cortez]

I am intetrested in purchasing a B&W 800 set up and I am looking at the ASW 855 sub. I would like to know from owners and those who have heard B&W subs how do they preform on movies? Has anyone heard the 855? Do the B&W sub give out lots of output? My room is 30 X 22 X 8, would I have to get 2 subs for HT in my room?

Thanks

[Karma]

HI Jason,
You have a big room. Your room has roughly four times the volume of my bedroom where I have two ASW800 (12 inch) subs. I wish they were 15 inch subs but I just ran out of space. I believe that dual 855's is the minimum you need for high quality, high output, low distortion bass.

I know that's a lot of money, and I don't know your tastes or customary volume levels. But subs are one of those things where it's good to error on the side of excess. If you could get 18 inch models that would be much better.

Sparky

[misterdoggy]

Jason

I have a room slightly smaller in width and only use 1/2 the length for HT as the other 1/2 has our dining setup. I have an ASW825 and it rocks the room between the 802D's kicking in as well its more than enough.

Of course having said that I have not tried 2 subs, but more rumbling from the bombs on the beach in Private Ryan could not be possible and even though it probably is possible I'm not sure desirable ?

However, the only real way to know is to try it in the room A/B comparison

[Karma]

HI doggy,
Absolute volume level is not the only criterion. LOW distortion at hign volume AND low frequencies distinguishes the great from the not so great. If you research the harmonic distortion produced by subs it will scare the hell out of you. At any given frequency, as the volume is increased, distortion also increases because cone excursion also increases yet the cone couples energy into the air less efficienty as frequency decreases. Additionally, distortion increases much faster than volume. It is very nonlinear. That is the reason to keep the cone motion reduced if possible but that also reduces volume. The only way to reduce cone motion AND still have reasonable volume is to use a larger cone and/or multiple cones. There is no way around it. You can't suspend the laws of physics.

Sparky

[RobP]

Juan,
I have owned the B&W ASW850 (which I believe compares to the 855) and can tell you that it does do fairly well for movies as well as 2 channel.(there are better options) but if you are wanting to stay all B&W then you picked the right model. You are trying to fill a large area, so two would be a better option for you. Just be sure to place them correctly and if possible add some room treatment to help tame rouge waves that will diminish the quality of bass.

[chinets]

Stay with the same make as your front and or surround speakers so ASW 850 or ASW855 will be excellent for music or HT. Since you have B&W speakers stay with subs that are B&W. I believe one ASW 855 sub is sufficient but if you have extra cash get two and you'll have that Low smooth stereo bass. IMHO one is enough for HT which will be your main concern to get all those blasts etc... I personally use onle one sub the ASW 850 and I use my system 70% HT and 30% Music and I am in heaven with one ,but who knows one day I could venture into the Dual Subs. Try One for now and you will be more than happy in my opinion.

[Karma]

HI chinets,
I think you are right. Another sub can be added at any time. Also, I think music places more importance on low distortion than soundtracks. This is where dual subs really come into their own.

What can you say, distortion wise, about a collection of thuds, bonks, blasts and bombs? LFE's places more importance on really low frequencies. Sub integration and fidelity are less of a priority.

Sparky

[BlazeMaster]

If you look around you can find the 850s used for a significantly less than a 855 brand new. You might be able to pick up 2 used 850s at a fair price.