Dynaudio S5.4 or BW 803D?

[Pedro]

Hello folks, how you doin´tonight all right??

I´ve posted copple weeks ago a topic about Jeff Rowland and Classe, and what could be better match for 804S. I´ve heard 804S with Krell KAV2250+KAV280p and Jeff Model201+Jeff Concerto pré. Both havent blowed me away with 804S. Krell would better with my tastes, because had more bass, but the top end was some bright, the sound was brutal. With Jeff the sound was worse (and cost more) no bass, and i´ve just heard the high and mid notes .

About that I concluded that 804S wasnt pleasuring me. And to the next time, i start to think what should be wrong, and finaly i think i´ve got the answer: I´ve listened some months ago a BW 803D system, wich I liked so much. The sound was smooth at top end (not bright, or harsh), midrange not pronunced, and bass very deep and articulate, with huge Harmonic body. I´ve imediately check the BW specs at its site, and found the Diamond series with a diferent frequency range. At -6dB ALL The diamond series goes to 33Khz, unlike the others BW speakers (except Matrix series), that goes at -6dB to 50Khz!! That´s a huge diference that makes diamond series sounds diferent from all other BWs even the N802 or N801 or old nautilus series. Thinking in this way, I´ll in the next days make a intense audition again with the 803D, to confirm if this speaker make or not my tastes. Also I´m checking the Dynaudio S5.4 wich is almost at same value and is an authentic soft speaker, and people around says they have have incredible bass, image, and soundstage, with a great frequency response.

Now i have to hear both to decide myself wich is better to me. But considering my 1sts musical tastes (Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, and Rock), what of these 2 spks would be better?

Thanks in advance.

Pedro

[DM3000 Owner]

Hello folks, how you doin´tonight all right??

I´ve posted copple weeks ago a topic about Jeff Rowland and Classe, and what could be better match for 804S. I´ve heard 804S with Krell KAV2250+KAV280p and Jeff Model201+Jeff Concerto pré. Both havent blowed me away with 804S. Krell would better with my tastes, because had more bass, but the top end was some bright, the sound was brutal. With Jeff the sound was worse (and cost more) no bass, and i´ve just heard the high and mid notes .

About that I concluded that 804S wasnt pleasuring me. And to the next time, i start to think what should be wrong, and finaly i think i´ve got the answer: I´ve listened some months ago a BW 803D system, wich I liked so much. The sound was smooth at top end (not bright, or harsh), midrange not pronunced, and bass very deep and articulate, with huge Harmonic body. I´ve imediately check the BW specs at its site, and found the Diamond series with a diferent frequency range. At -6dB ALL The diamond series goes to 33Khz, unlike the others BW speakers (except Matrix series), that goes at -6dB to 50Khz!! That´s a huge diference that makes diamond series sounds diferent from all other BWs even the N802 or N801 or old nautilus series. Thinking in this way, I´ll in the next days make a intense audition again with the 803D, to confirm if this speaker make or not my tastes. Also I´m checking the Dynaudio S5.4 wich is almost at same value and is an authentic soft speaker, and people around says they have have incredible bass, image, and soundstage, with a great frequency response.

Now i have to hear both to decide myself wich is better to me. But considering my 1sts musical tastes (Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, and Rock), what of these 2 spks would be better?

Thanks in advance.

Pedro

My N801's are nto harsh at all. I previously used a tube preamp and now use a Musical Fidelity preamp. Check your upstream equipmnet.

[Briz vegas]

Highs are very personal.

I heard two ML based systems a few months back and one of them seemed pretty lifeless and dull using a Rowland power amp, although the CD player was actually a big part of the "problem" in that system. When I inserted my naim it sounded alot better to my ears. The second ML system seemed a bit in your face with the highs when I first heard it. The system has gone through about 5 different incarnations since and now sounds much more neutral. I heard my 804s recently with a better amp (Krell) and combined with a tube preamp and my Naim 5x/flatcap they sounded fabulous, but that is me. Even with my current "ye olde" amp they are not bright.

Try the 804s with tubes or Mc gear before you cross them off your list.

Alternately the Dynaudio are a nice speaker. Can't recall the model number but I heard a pair of standmounts that are worth about 2/3 the price of my 804s only a couple of weeks ago. Given the relative prices I am still happy with my choice and the extra dollars I spent.

Your room and cables can also make a difference. Harsh highs can dissappear if you treat the first reflection points,including the wall behind your ears if you sit close to a back wall. Just putting a wool blanket on the window behind my couch makes a significant difference to reflected high frequency sound that can sound harsh

Dumping newly purchased speakers already sounds a bit premature.

[Karma]

Highs are very personal.

I heard two ML based systems a few months back and one of them seemed pretty lifeless and dull using a Rowland power amp, although the CD player was actually a big part of the "problem" in that system.

...Your room and cables can also make a difference. Harsh highs can dissappear if you treat the first reflection points,including the wall behind your ears if you sit close to a back wall. Just putting a wool blanket on the window behind my couch makes a significant difference to reflected high frequency sound that can sound harsh.

HI Briz and Pedro,
Briz: When you say "ML" are you referring to Martin Logan?

Pedro: Briz is giving good advice concerning the room treatment, cables and the upstream equipment. If you remember your previous post, I questioned your assessment of the Krell equipment. I also mentioned the same system and room issues Briz brought up.

I am going to be very frank. You have listened to and are (very) dissatisfied with some very fine equipment. Something is very wrong. While I don't expect everybody to agree with my tastes in sound, generally we are in the same ballpark. In other words I can hear and admire other's systems yet I would make different equipment choices. We are all different and our listening environments are different. And we listen to different kinds of music. You seem to be comming from a different planet. I'm not sure we can be of any help. Well, I'll speak for myself. I'm not sure I can be of any help.

You are rejecting very fine equipment that many others have judged as excellent. I suspect you have exactly zero understanding that most folks here have completely different audio goals than yours. What does that mean? Well, the music you like to listen to usually implies extemely loud listening levels. That, plus many of the metal and hard rock recordings I have heard are very poorly recorded. That, plus your standards may be driven by what you hear at concerts. I have attended many rock concerts and the sound I experienced , with a few exceptions, was worse than terrible and very loud. I wear ear plugs to protect my hearing. How's yours?? All of this adds up to a complete disconnect between your questions and our attempts to help.

What I am trying to say, very poorly I fear, is there is a problem with your expectations verses what is obtainable from recordings. You do understand that our hearing changes significantly as the volume increases, right?. We become much more sensitive to both high and low frequencies. Another related factor is the way recordings are equalized. Recording engineers attempt to anticipate the customers listening situation and equalize the recordings for the desired effect. Since most folks do not listen at concert volume, the engineers equalize for the reduced hearing sensitivity we experience at home listening volumes. If that same recording is played at concert volume it will sound very harsh in the high frequencies and the bass will be over the top assuming the system can actually do bass well. Most can't so the relative high and low frequency balance tips even further towards the the high frequencies.

While I hate equalizers because of the damage they cause to fine recorded sound, you may want to look into them. They may provide the frequency balance you are looking for at very loud volume.

I'm not writing this long post because I want to discourage you. I would like to help but, honestly, your comments confuse me and leave me with nothing to say (the evidence above to the contrary).

Good Luck, Sparky

[Cruxis]

Just speaking for the 803D, having owned these speakers for about a month and a half now after trading up from the 804S, I'm very pleased with their performance. The 804's were very good in their own right, but slightly harsher in the top end and leaner down below. What I'm hearing ( and loving)
from the 803D's, is a smoother top end, also deeper,cleaner, and fuller bass that provides some nice impact. I also have to mention that the soundstage is blissfully wide and deep. I listen to a variety of music, some rock, blues, alternative, and some americana ( if thats a genre). The 803D's can definitely rock, but as Sparky mentioned, these speakers are very revealing of the source material. Good luck with your choice, I'm sure you can't go wrong either way.

[lvhung]

At this price you can't go wrong with any of them

[Pedro]

Folks,

I´ve arrived at home now after a mini tour with auditions of these 2 models. The Dyn S5.4, I heard with Electrocompaniet mono (1X350W 4ohms), SACD CD/Player Electrocompaniet, and The Préamplifier Electro. The BW 803D, heard with Gamut Pré D3i, Gamut Power D200MK3 (2x250W 8 ohms), and SACD/CD player Ayre 5-Cxe.

Impressions:

Dynaudio S5.4 - Nice soundstage, excelent smooth trebles (Esotar2), tight bass very controled, but some slow. The speaker started to sing to me after 60% of volume, but at this level, some songs started to get some "irritant". For me the Dyns like to work with a lot of volume open, like others softdome speakers. Another important point was the image that this speaker shows.

BW 803D - Outstanding soundstage, Incredible Trebles, and bass MUCH MORE strongs and fast than Dyns 5.4, sounding as if i was in front of a big drum kit ;x( . I believe the bass was waayyy better in 803D just because it one more driver for bass. About the trebles, the Diamond was slight better, because they was detailed but no fatiguing, harsh, or bright. They were more "real" than the Esotar2. It´s a speaker that play at lower volume, without lost the dynamic, and microdetail wich the Dyns 5.4 can´t do. With the 803D i can hear any detail with 1/3 of volume. So at this point it´s clear to me that they could be drive perfectly with a 2x250W power.

Conclusions

The 803D for me is in another level. The midranges of both were very identical, the highs were close, but the bass was waaayyy better in this BW model. In this way, 803D for rock and metal was better, but S5.4 sound very good, they just don´t have all that clarity, that 803D can deliver.

So the "Oscar goes to" BW 803D!!!

I´d like to thank you all for the posts, and now I just have to work a lot to put this system alive :T

[ShadowZA]

Great choice, Pedro. :T

I'm sure that you are going to be happy with the 803D's as I am.

[Zoran]

Folks,

I´ve arrived at home now after a mini tour with auditions of these 2 models. The Dyn S5.4, I heard with Electrocompaniet mono (1X350W 4ohms), SACD CD/Player Electrocompaniet, and The Préamplifier Electro. The BW 803D, heard with Gamut Pré D3i, Gamut Power D200MK3 (2x250W 8 ohms), and SACD/CD player Ayre 5-Cxe.

Impressions:

Dynaudio S5.4 - Nice soundstage, excelent smooth trebles (Esotar2), tight bass very controled, but some slow. The speaker started to sing to me after 60% of volume, but at this level, some songs started to get some "irritant". For me the Dyns like to work with a lot of volume open, like others softdome speakers. Another important point was the image that this speaker shows.

BW 803D - Outstanding soundstage, Incredible Trebles, and bass MUCH MORE strongs and fast than Dyns 5.4, sounding as if i was in front of a big drum kit ;x( . I believe the bass was waayyy better in 803D just because it one more driver for bass. About the trebles, the Diamond was slight better, because they was detailed but no fatiguing, harsh, or bright. They were more "real" than the Esotar2. It´s a speaker that play at lower volume, without lost the dynamic, and microdetail wich the Dyns 5.4 can´t do. With the 803D i can hear any detail with 1/3 of volume. So at this point it´s clear to me that they could be drive perfectly with a 2x250W power.

Conclusions

The 803D for me is in another level. The midranges of both were very identical, the highs were close, but the bass was waaayyy better in this BW model. In this way, 803D for rock and metal was better, but S5.4 sound very good, they just don´t have all that clarity, that 803D can deliver.

So the "Oscar goes to" BW 803D!!!

I´d like to thank you all for the posts, and now I just have to work a lot to put this system alive :T

Sounds like quite a fair outcame from this comparison Pedro. To give both brands equal chances, Contour S5.4 should be matched vs 803S for instance, while 803D may be challenged by Confidence C2, I think.

Awesome speakers, indeed. All of them.