B&W Xt4 color and sound

[smjc99]

I want to setup a sleek home theater and when I heard the sound of Xt4' with a the best Rotel Rcvr, the sound was very good on music and movies. For my ears they were very good

Are Xt4's available in Black?


I heard 802 D's , amazing but then i heard Xt4's I liked them too. I guess my acoustic memory is short and I seem to be satisified with Xt4's also

does anyone have Xt4's for music and movies and like them?

[Cactus]

Yes the XT4 are available in black. And yes they are surprisingly full sounding for such a slim profile speaker.

I say get em!

[Nolan B]

My opinion is they look and sound great, but felt they lacked a little a lower listening levels. They only really showed thier worth when turned high.

[GregLett]

I owned them for a year. They actually perform best with a good amp.
I drove them with a 100w Rotel, they were ok. I also had an opportunity
to drive them with a 200W Classe amp, that was fantastic. I also drove
them with the NuForce ref 9 amp, great combo also.
I think they will perform best with a high current amp.

[WI Rotel]

I must echo the recommendations above. The XT4 are very inefficient and demand good amplification. Very few (if any) receiver will do them justice. My recommendations is any good power amp with no less than 125W RMS. If you are a big movie guy a PV1 is a very good addition, for a larger room 2 may be required. The XT4 sounds fantastic for a slim speaker but when partnered with the PV1 it is pretty close to the 800 series soundwise. The 800's have unrivaled midrange tonal accuracy, the XT is a little muddy in that area in comparison, however the XT's have identical unerring highs and have much better horizontal dispersion which is critical for cinema. The PV1 bass is as clear if not clearer than the full sized 800 series but does not have as much deep extension. What is great is that the XT was made to match perfectly with the PV1 set the crossover at 60HZ and go!
They trully aren't cheap, but they look beautiful and when driven with a very good amp, the sound for video and audio is fantastic for any speaker regardless of size or price.
My surround solution was a full set of XT's with 2 PV1's and a rotel RMB 1095 (200W x5) and a 1068 processor. It all came to around 10K and the sound is simply spectacular. Just a pair of 802's would set you back the same amount of cash. :E
Strongly recommended by a very happy costumer :T

[Nolan B]

I must echo the recommendations above. The XT4 are very inefficient and demand good amplification. Very few (if any) receiver will do them justice. My recommendations is any good power amp with no less than 125W RMS. If you are a big movie guy a PV1 is a very good addition, for a larger room 2 may be required. The XT4 sounds fantastic for a slim speaker but when partnered with the PV1 it is pretty close to the 800 series soundwise. The 800's have unrivaled midrange tonal accuracy, the XT is a little muddy in that area in comparison, however the XT's have identical unerring highs and have much better horizontal dispersion which is critical for cinema. The PV1 bass is as clear if not clearer than the full sized 800 series but does not have as much deep extension. What is great is that the XT was made to match perfectly with the PV1 set the crossover at 60HZ and go!
They trully aren't cheap, but they look beautiful and when driven with a very good amp, the sound for video and audio is fantastic for any speaker regardless of size or price.
My surround solution was a full set of XT's with 2 PV1's and a rotel RMB 1095 (200W x5) and a 1068 processor. It all came to around 10K and the sound is simply spectacular. Just a pair of 802's would set you back the same amount of cash. :E
Strongly recommended by a very happy costumer :T

just curious. Did you get a chance to hear them powered by a Rotel RMB 1077?

[WI Rotel]

just curious. Did you get a chance to hear them powered by a Rotel RMB 1077?

Sorry I did not. But any solid power amp should. The RMB 1077 is rated for 2 Ohms so it should be able to drive them satisfactorily (without overheating). However the rated output is only 100W so I wonder how will it will drive them at high volumes (their best level, since they get a little muddy at low volumes). Also remember that the stats are for 2 channels driven, if you are driving seven channels all with XT's it might be more than even a class D 100watts amp may handle. Of course the safest course is to find a store with a good return policy. Take everything home and thoroughly test it, if the amp doesn't cut the mustard simply return it and get another one. When I first bought my system I bought it with a rotel 1057 receiver, it was quickly evident that it didn't have the stamina for the job. After a few minutes of high level playing the fan would fire up, another few minutes would trip the receivers protection. One amp that does run them well but is only 5 channel is the RMB 1075. I, of course am definitely biased to the 1095 and its bottomless reserve, however for seven channel you end up with the same conundrum of needing another amp. I don't know of any true high power multichannel power amp that has 7 channels yet. Rotel's high power D amps are 2 channel, only the 1077 has seven. Hope this helps.