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Hi,
I've been a B&W fan since I was 16, and have been reading this forum for about a year. Last February, I was finally able to join the B&W owners club when I purchased the following system:
Arcam AVP 700
Arcam P1000
Arcam CD 192
Denon 3910
804S (Front)
805S (Back)
HTM4
ASW 600 (x2)
So I was a very happy man for just over 4 months. However, as I began to move from HT to more stereo, I became more aware of the weakness of the P1000 I was using to biamp the 804S. I think it can best be described as brittle and not able to handle the load of driving all seven channels into B&Ws.
Since the International Sound & Sight Exhibition was here in Singapore, I decided to go with the intention of evaluating the NuForce Ref 9 SEs to monoblock the 804s. The Ref 9s sounded good, however, the NuForce S-9 speaker they were demoing was truly the standout in the room. At around SGD 7200 (USD 4500), I just wasn’t sure I wanted to spend that much cash and didn’t think my wife would appreciate it either.
I left the NuForce room and was about to leave the Exhibition when I happened to walk by a room where they were demoing bel canto E.One Ref 1000s. WOW! These monoblocks sounded better than the NuForce Ref 9s and after an exhibition discount came in around SGD 5000 for the pair (USD 3125). Still, in a moment of clarity, I decided I had better check with my wife before dropping that much money on (from her perspective) something we already had. Knowing I wasn’t going to get her to come down to the exhibition I arranged an in-home demo at our place for the following Wednesday. After returning to work that day, I shared my thoughts with a fellow B&W owner (705) here at work. I resigned myself to waiting until after the demo, but this is where an enjoyable listening session started to become a good weekend.
The following day (Saturday) I received a phone call from my colleague who was at the ISSE. He agreed with me that the bel cantos truly sounded more clear, refined, and listenable than the NuForce Ref 9 SEs, and also told me that the shop that was demoing them had offered him a pair at SGD 4500 (USD 2800) since he had bought his first system from them. They were also willing to extend me the same price! At this point the WAF went out the window and I told him to reserve a pair for me. At almost USD 1200 below list, I was pretty sure I could convince my wife that this was a good deal!
On Sunday I was the first person at the exhibition. After a cursory 10 minute listening session (the demo CD player wouldn’t play the CD I had ripped), I paid for the bel cantos and started to head home. I realized that I needed to re-terminate my speaker cables because I was going from bi-amping with the P1000 to bi-wiring with the monoblocks. Although B&W list prices are higher in Singapore, having a good relationship with my salesman means that he comes by our apartment and does things like re-termination for free. My phone call to my salesman turned a good weekend into a great week!
I explained to my salesman what I wanted to do, and then he asked me, “Do you want to upgrade to the 803S and an HTM3?” I said I would but told him that SGD 4500 was already testing my wife’s limits, I wasn’t sure where I would be sleeping it I tried the full upgrade pitch. He explained that another expat moving back to the U.S. was moving to a smaller apartment and desperately wanted to trade his 803s and HTM3 for 804s and an HTM4 + cash. After some negotiation, he and I agreed on a speaker for speaker trade of my 6 month old speakers for his 2 month old speakers. We included our 805s since he had cherrywoods and I had rosenuts + SGD 3200 (USD 2000). So for a grand total of USD 4800, I’m able to celebrate my 33rd birthday today with two bel canto E.One Ref 1000s and still not fully run-in 803s and an HTM3.
This probably is nowhere near the bargain that Race Car Driver achieved, but it’s definitely worth it because after setting everything up last night, my wife said to me, “Wow the changes you’ve made this week are really noticeable!” Unfortunately, she also said, “Now put the grilles back on! The kevlar looks too yellow with the lighter wood!”
Greg
I've been a B&W fan since I was 16, and have been reading this forum for about a year. Last February, I was finally able to join the B&W owners club when I purchased the following system:
Arcam AVP 700
Arcam P1000
Arcam CD 192
Denon 3910
804S (Front)
805S (Back)
HTM4
ASW 600 (x2)
So I was a very happy man for just over 4 months. However, as I began to move from HT to more stereo, I became more aware of the weakness of the P1000 I was using to biamp the 804S. I think it can best be described as brittle and not able to handle the load of driving all seven channels into B&Ws.
Since the International Sound & Sight Exhibition was here in Singapore, I decided to go with the intention of evaluating the NuForce Ref 9 SEs to monoblock the 804s. The Ref 9s sounded good, however, the NuForce S-9 speaker they were demoing was truly the standout in the room. At around SGD 7200 (USD 4500), I just wasn’t sure I wanted to spend that much cash and didn’t think my wife would appreciate it either.
I left the NuForce room and was about to leave the Exhibition when I happened to walk by a room where they were demoing bel canto E.One Ref 1000s. WOW! These monoblocks sounded better than the NuForce Ref 9s and after an exhibition discount came in around SGD 5000 for the pair (USD 3125). Still, in a moment of clarity, I decided I had better check with my wife before dropping that much money on (from her perspective) something we already had. Knowing I wasn’t going to get her to come down to the exhibition I arranged an in-home demo at our place for the following Wednesday. After returning to work that day, I shared my thoughts with a fellow B&W owner (705) here at work. I resigned myself to waiting until after the demo, but this is where an enjoyable listening session started to become a good weekend.
The following day (Saturday) I received a phone call from my colleague who was at the ISSE. He agreed with me that the bel cantos truly sounded more clear, refined, and listenable than the NuForce Ref 9 SEs, and also told me that the shop that was demoing them had offered him a pair at SGD 4500 (USD 2800) since he had bought his first system from them. They were also willing to extend me the same price! At this point the WAF went out the window and I told him to reserve a pair for me. At almost USD 1200 below list, I was pretty sure I could convince my wife that this was a good deal!
On Sunday I was the first person at the exhibition. After a cursory 10 minute listening session (the demo CD player wouldn’t play the CD I had ripped), I paid for the bel cantos and started to head home. I realized that I needed to re-terminate my speaker cables because I was going from bi-amping with the P1000 to bi-wiring with the monoblocks. Although B&W list prices are higher in Singapore, having a good relationship with my salesman means that he comes by our apartment and does things like re-termination for free. My phone call to my salesman turned a good weekend into a great week!
I explained to my salesman what I wanted to do, and then he asked me, “Do you want to upgrade to the 803S and an HTM3?” I said I would but told him that SGD 4500 was already testing my wife’s limits, I wasn’t sure where I would be sleeping it I tried the full upgrade pitch. He explained that another expat moving back to the U.S. was moving to a smaller apartment and desperately wanted to trade his 803s and HTM3 for 804s and an HTM4 + cash. After some negotiation, he and I agreed on a speaker for speaker trade of my 6 month old speakers for his 2 month old speakers. We included our 805s since he had cherrywoods and I had rosenuts + SGD 3200 (USD 2000). So for a grand total of USD 4800, I’m able to celebrate my 33rd birthday today with two bel canto E.One Ref 1000s and still not fully run-in 803s and an HTM3.
This probably is nowhere near the bargain that Race Car Driver achieved, but it’s definitely worth it because after setting everything up last night, my wife said to me, “Wow the changes you’ve made this week are really noticeable!” Unfortunately, she also said, “Now put the grilles back on! The kevlar looks too yellow with the lighter wood!”
Greg
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