Upgrading from 805S to 803S

[texasbwfan]

Good Morning,

It may be time for my 805S to go. My new home has a significantly larger family room with ceilings that are 16 ft. tall. The room is also twice as big as the room in my former home. As you can imagine, the 805S are having difficulty providing enough sound for the space. My current system consists of the following:

805S - front
htm3S - center
ASW825 - sub
CCM80 - rear

Pioneer Elite 74txvi
Pioneer Elite DV-45A
Technics SL-1210MK5
APC J10 Power Conditioner / Battery Backup
Samsung 61 LED DLP

My thoughts for the upgrade path are as follows:

A: Sell the 805S and purchase 803S - 803's will match my center and should provide a significant improvement in sound. Expensive upgrade as I'll also need to purchase an amp for these speakers...most likely the MC352.

B: Keep the 805S and purchase a 2nd ASW825 - Cheaper upgrade path but may not provide the headroom I'm looking for.

C: Move the 805S to the rear for surround use and purchase 803S - route would require me waiting for amp purchase. 805S may be a bit overkill for rear speakers IMO.

A, B, or C thoughts? Comments? Is there a different upgrade path that I may be overlooking? I'm 40% HT and 60% music. Thank you all in advance,

[William]

D. Bit the bullet and get 803D's while keep current receiver for now, then upgrade it next year (speakers are for more important to sound quality than the amp). Move the 805's to the surrounds. Also plan to upgrade the center to HTM2D to match the mains. :T

[Dmm53]

Wow. Deja Vu. I owned a pair of 805S last year and upgraded to the 803S in Nov. I also bought a Mac 352 and C41 (had Rotel 1080) to drive them from Audio Classics.

Most people here will tell you to go up to the 803D. And I would agree, they are a fine speaker. I just thought that the bass and midrange were exagerated. I love my 803Ss and they sound unbelievalbe with the MAC. The whole system has also signficnatly bennefitted from good interconnects (some of which were CatCables) and aftermarket AC cords. Finally, I added soundanchors to tighten up the bass a bit.

I'm in heaven with my system. Of course, as so often pointed out, your ears will be the judge.

[texasbwfan]

William - You're gonna send me to the poor house with that kind of attitude ;-)

Dmm53 - Sounds like you're a couple steps ahead of me. My end goal is to have all McIntosh electronics driving my B&W's. As you know, the 805S have been incredible speakers for me but I've outgrown them. Based on what I've seen in the used market, I should be able to get what I paid for my 805's so nothing lost there. I've listened to the 803S on numerous occasions and think they produce some unbelievable sound...especially when paired with McIntosh.

I guess a third route could be for me to sell the 805's, HTM3S, and sub. I could then buy the 802D's but I'd lose my HT. See William...you're making me think some crazy thoughts!

[htsteve]

803d

William - You're gonna send me to the poor house with that kind of attitude ;-)

Dmm53 - Sounds like you're a couple steps ahead of me. My end goal is to have all McIntosh electronics driving my B&W's. As you know, the 805S have been incredible speakers for me but I've outgrown them. Based on what I've seen in the used market, I should be able to get what I paid for my 805's so nothing lost there. I've listened to the 803S on numerous occasions and think they produce some unbelievable sound...especially when paired with McIntosh.

I guess a third route could be for me to sell the 805's, HTM3S, and sub. I could then buy the 802D's but I'd lose my HT. See William...you're making me think some crazy thoughts!

texasbwfan,

My current system is Mac and B&W (802D's, HTM2D and n804's plus MX120 and MC205). They work extremely well together. I just love the diamonds. They sounds awesome. I would recommend trying to get the 803D's now plus maybe a used mac amp that will fit in the budget. Or, you could consider a Rotel amp to power the 803's (whichever version you get) for the immediate future. Then later you can continue adding and upgrading to Mac or other areas.

Hope this helps.

[garak]

I vote for option C. I had 805s as surround speakers for a while, and they're not overkill. You'll be really happy with how the 805s match the sound with the 803s and htm3s.

[texasbwfan]

The only problem with me keeping the 805S for surround is space. And, the CCM80's do surprisingly well for surround effect. I don't listen to multi channel music so a larger rear speaker is not important to me at this time. I think my mind is already made up, I just need to bite the bullet and get it done.

803S and a MC352. I just wish McIntosh made a three channel amp! Bridging one of the multi channel amp offerings from McIntosh is not appealing to me.

For those of you that own the 803's...do you find yourself using your sub when listening to music or just the 803's by themselves? Curious to know whether or not the ASW825 will be used as much when I step up to the 803's? Is my sub now a candidate for upgrade as well? I could sell both the 805's and the sub to support the 803 purchase. Just a thought,

[Zoran]

I own both 803S and 805S, but not for surround - only for two stereo systems. Difference is very palpable. More bass, bigger sound... Today, I have auditioned the 803D at dealer demo room. No contest - this is clearly better speaker than 803S. In midrange clarity and timbral finesse particularly, if slightly subdued in dynamics compared to bass...

Think twice... I'd vote for 803D as well.

[wettou]

803D are the best would be best or even better 3 802D but that is an other price category

[Antus]

803S and 803D are completely two different speakers. they belong to two different categories.

in my opinion, 803S and 804S are pretty much the same speaker. If you are using Pioneer receiver to drive those speakers. the difference is virtually zero. i will save the money and get 804S and use the extra cash for a external amp.

the weakest part of normal receiver is the amp section. even if they are rated at 140Wpc, they still not up to par with external amp rated 125Wpc. A $999 Rotel amp will be a pretty good upgrade over receiver in amp section.

another thing to consider about the power condition you are using. I read some article that power condition with battery backup is good for dvd player, preamp, and other not power hungry device. for amp, it's better to connect directly to the wall outlet.

[scanido]

It seems the attitude in this forum is go for the Diamonds or nothing else. Which will require other more expensive upgrades to bring the best out of them. The 803S is an excellent speaker and bests the 803D on linearity response. When matched with proper equipment you would find it hard to beat the performance value of this speaker.

Having said that, I would recommend option: C. Keep your 805S and move them to the rears and get the 803S to match perfectly to your HTM3S. I have the exact same front setup with SCMS rears and i am looking forward the the 360 degree sound field!!!!

[scanido]

803S and 803D are completely two different speakers. they belong to two different categories.

Really!

Both are 3 way speakers. Both have the same mid-range and bass units. Only difference is the extra bass driver and diamond tweeter.

The 803S is an easier speaker to drive, which lowers total system costs substantially. If the OP were to look at the diamond speakers, might as well go for the ones with the marlan heads, this is where the difference really becomes distinguishable. :T

I have looked at the 803D + HTM2D seriously over my 803S + HTM3S and the added cost was not worth the minimal difference I heard. :E

[ShadowZA]

My opinion is to go with upgrade path C.

Good luck! :T

[style]

upgrade

Hi,

Same as ShadowZA: go with option C.

In the last time I have upgrade my system from htm4s-803s to htm2d and 803d.

The D is very amazing! but 803s is a very good speaker.

The 805s is a superb speaker: for surroundand for main too.
Absolutely not for sale!!

Greeting from Switzerland
Omar

[texasbwfan]

Thanks everyone,

I'll begin working with my local dealer to see what kind of a deal he can offer on the 803S. I'm still torn as to whether or not I'll sell the 805S. Utilizing the 805's as my surround speakers would put them at the back of my room...prone to being knocked over by dog or human. For this reason, I'm leaning toward selling them. The money from the 805S would also soften the blow in upgrading to 803S.

I'll also begin saving the funds for the amp purchase. Again, I wish McIntosh made a three channel amp! The MC352 has been on my wish list for a long time and will probably be the amp I go with. I'll just have to figure out a way to buy two. From what I've read, users prefer multiple amps as opposed to going with a multi channel amp such as the MC7205 or MC7207. I'll have to listen to both when the time comes.

Thanks again...

[Jeffk]

You're doing the right thing. Option A, for all the reasons you already know, is the right thing to do. Of course you could go for the 803D's. You could also go for the 802's, or 801's. It will always get better, but at what cost? You don't listen to multi-channel music, so I assume 2 channel is what you DO listen too? For movies, unless your ears are hyper-sensitive and you can't live without a "seamless bubble" (if you could tell the diff) your surrounds are fine for now, and they won't get damaged by dogs or humans. The 803's will be a great improvement, and you can get an amp that will make them sing. You will be happy for a long time, and you can always trade up to the 803D's later, when they're cheaper Good luck.