805S or 804S for rears??

[martino]

Hey folks..Finally going to upgrade my rears. Orig. planned to go with 805S's..but have found some used 804S's for a good price, what are your thoughts?.
I do about 50-50 music to movies.
I'd be replacing a pair of 602's.
I have 803S's and HTM3 in front..powered by Rotel 1095 / 1098 combo with a Marantz DV9500 disc player.
I apperciate any feedback from the knowlagable members of Club B&W

Cheers

Martin

[kurtholz]

do the 805's, i can say in my set-up, they made a huge difference, great speaker

Kurt

[misterdoggy]

Go 804S' I have them and they ROCK !! I mean at the same price, there is no choice here. 803 or 805.

Its like pulling up to the gas station and you can get Super or Regular at the same price.

I've had both the 805S and the 804S as rear duty and I was so disappointed with the 805S that I sent them back. Not to take anything away from 805S owners, but the 805 "is" less of a speaker literally. It has a smaller cabinet and less number of speakers and can't match the 804's for Bass response, not possible.

The 805S was was conceived by B&W for small rooms and/or bookshelf speakers. Quote from B&W ....."Even if you have a relatively small listening room, there's no reason why you should forgo superb sound quality. The 805S is a compact stand-mount 2-way system that gives a surprisingly full sound for its size and will not intrude into the room"

The 804S is the compact version of the 803S and is a 3 way system. I used them for L&R speakers before I bought 802D's. Also important is that your 803S' are a 3 way system like the 804S' and will "match" better. :T

More "Ambience", "Body", "Depth" and more "Musicality" than the 805's.

This decision is a "no brainer" IMHO :td:

[ShadowZA]

I'd go for the 804S's.

In fact, I'm planning to do just that ... using my 804's as rears with either 803S's or 803D's as fronts.

Martino, please post your thoughts once you've done the upgrade. Will help me in my decision. Thanks.

[chinets]

Go for the 804's as they are full range speakers and since you use your equipment 50%-50% HT-Music then I would get the 804's to get the bass from the back in movies and to listen to 5 channel with full range for music. I have your exact set up except 803's in the front and 804's for the back with HTM1 center and ASW 850 sub.
I have a friend who has exact set up with 805 as rear and he was so unhappy due to lack of rear bass that he switched to 804's for the rear and i heard them before and after, and yes ,day and night for me IMHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 804's for me ,Good Luck!!!!

[martino]

Thanks for the response folks!
I really enjoy hearing from fellow B&W enthusiasts from around the globe.
In looking at the specs the 804S seem like a no brainer..better match with my 803S's including same sensitivity 90db vs. 88db of the 805S's.
To make it work however i'll have to get the 804S's used to keep it the same cost as the 805S's (due to buget restrictions..ie.. wife!)
I'll keep you updated.

Ciao for now

Martino