B & W 805S Stands

[AlanB]

I am currently using the dedicated stands for my 805S speakers. Am I using the best or should I try one of the Partington Dreadnought range? I am quite happy but have a feeling that the Partington's might give me more subtlety, bigger soundstage and possibly better bass Any suggestions?

[Karma]

HI Alan,
I use the 805S dedicated stands too. I like them very much both sonically and visually. Why do you think the other stands would be better? You must have reason for asking this question.

BTW, I think bass and the 805S's do not belong in the same sentence. If you want bass buy a sub. I have dual ASW800's.

Sparky

[PhotoRobot]

Hmm, stands are a nice integrated solution. Couldn't believe the size of the box they came in. They really work great for making the speakers stable. (more so than my 804's)

Have you guys filled them with sand or leadshot? That makes them rock solid. I like the tubing for the cables.

Did older stands used to have a logo placement on the base of the stand? My new ones are pretty plain.

PR

[AlanB]

Hi Karma
In the UK press they often recommend the Partington Stands even in preference to dedicated stands of several makers. Haven't seen the 805 stand mentioned but just wondered. I must admit I like the look of the B & W stands but you know how it is ....... I wonder??? A friend has a pair he isn't using so may try them. The only thing putting me off is getting the cables out of the slots at the back. Bit of a bother!!
My stands are plain also. I have never seen them with a logo on them.
How are you keeping Karma? Hope you are well. I haven't been on for a while. Latest change? I had an Experience Filtration block as my power supply is awful even though I have a dedicated ring main. I didn't feel it did it for me so purchased a Monster HLS1000. Magic!! Really opened things up for me.

[Karma]

HI Alan,
No changes lately to my HT system. I'm pretty happy with it.

There is excitement, however, with my main 2 channel system. I recently upgraded with a new Oracle Delphi V turntable with a Graham 2.2 Deluxe arm and a Clearaudio Discovery cartridge. I was so impressed with the result that I splurged and bought an Aesthetix Rhea all tube phono preamp. All of this adds up to a major upgrade to my main system. It deserves the attention since it has been about 10 years since my last upgrade.

Does it ever end?? 8O

Take Care, Sparky

[AlanB]

Sounds brilliant Sparky. The Oracle gets fantastic reviews and looks really sexy (sexy Hi Fi?). The other new gear i've never heard of. Most of the really esoteric stuff never reaches the UK.
I am not into HT at all (wife can't stand speakers all over the room). Two channel is my thing but haven't used a turntable for many years. My last was an LP12/Ittok wih a Stanton cartridge. I suppose I have been trying to capture the 'vinyl' sound ever since. I'm pretty close now!! Do you ever listen to music over www.bluebeat.com? Excellent stuff with a very high bit rate. You can't download - it is purely for listening. I have also recently bought the Chord Indigo (£925) interconnect. Best thing I have ever heard!! I suppose it should be at the price.
As far as bass on the systems I think because of the UK house construction being all brick including the interior walls we get more bass than you do over the pond. This may be a problem with our newer houses as they are now built with plaster board interior walls.
Regards
Alan

[Karma]

HI Alan,
Brilliant? Well maybe but it's all in the eye of the beholder. I'll just say that it sounds great to me. The Oracle has always been a favorite of mine and it certainly does look sexy.

I wanted to mention an experiment I did with my 805's. For clarity I should explain that all the speakers are in the 805 family with the HTM4 in the center and the SCMS used in the rear.

When I first set things up, the 805's with the ASW800 subs, I spent a lot of effort on the sub integration. I never got it quite right. Close but not quite right.

Then one day I remembered a set of curves I saw in Stereophile. They showed the bass response with the ports open and then with the foam plugs that came with the speaker. I had been using them open. Open, the bass respnse was fairly typical of bass reflex tuning with its double humps. Plugged, the response smoothed out the humps looking like a typical acoustic suspension tuning. This looked interesting.

The downside with the plugged response was the bass did not go as deep cutting off at around 60Hz. Unaided by subs this may not be good because of the bass loss. But I was not too concerned about the loss because I could compensate with the subs. So I plugged all the speakers (front, center, and both rears). Then I played with the subs crossover frequency. In the end the 805/sub integration became nearly perfect.

I guess I think that the folks at B&W know what they are doing. They anticipated that the 805's (and family) would be used both with and without subs. They realized the integration issue would be better resolved if the double humps were eliminated. Thus, they provided the foam plugs. Pretty smart.

Since you are not using subs this may not apply to your case. I do think many dismiss the plugs out of hand just like I did initially. They are worth a listen.

Sparky

[DavidB]

I don't have 805s's personally but I used to have a similar sized pair of active speakers. The stands I used were made by a company called HNE, www.hne.co.uk. They also make isolation plinths for speakers such as the 802D's (which are my current speakers). The speaker stands are made of granite and transformed my old speakers. I still have my old stands and HNE will actually give me a part-exchange for them against the plinths for the 802D's but if you are interested in them let me know. They have been reviewed in the UK press in the past.

[Rolex]

Sound anchors and sistrum are two companies that make stands for the 805S that will be light years better than the standard B&W stands.

Karma, the 805S does have very impressive bass for the type of speaker it is. If you are expecting the 805S to produce a full range sound, you are looking at the wrong speaker. But, if you don't mind a little roll off in the bottom end, the quality of bass the 805S provides is quite good. I for one, do not like monitors with a sub, I'd much rather just listen to the speaker for what it is. Just my opinion.

[Karma]

Sound anchors and sistrum are two companies that make stands for the 805S that will be light years better than the standard B&W stands.

Karma, the 805S does have very impressive bass for the type of speaker it is. If you are expecting the 805S to produce a full range sound, you are looking at the wrong speaker. But, if you don't mind a little roll off in the bottom end, the quality of bass the 805S provides is quite good. I for one, do not like monitors with a sub, I'd much rather just listen to the speaker for what it is. Just my opinion.

HI Rolex,
For you to make your argument to me means we are from different planets. I know what the limitations are. I knew them long before I bought them.

I also love deep. full, accurate bass. I have had subs (always dual sub's) on bass limited main speakers for 35 years. I won't quibble with our obvious differences in taste. From my point of view, the 805S's are excellent speakers that are seriously compromized at the bass end. Sub's are the only answer. Do you know how much you are missing below the 50Hz cut off?

A lot! But to each his own.

Sparky