Acquired N803 Today

[atchudy]

Picked up a pair of Black Mint Condition 803's in NYC Today for $2,800. Right now I just have them hooked up to my old Sony 777ES receiver, and I still think they are very impressive compared to the 805 even if they are underpowered.

I pretty much blew my budget on the speakers, so a new AMP, Speakers, etc will have to come in the future.

I do have a couple questions though.

What do the screws on the back do?

is there any way to fix some puckering in grille fabric?

[Briz vegas]

1. Looks purdy. Thats the back of your FST. Don't muck about with it.
2. Grille Fabic! Thats a village in Europe I think. Pronounced elle-phab-riche. Lots of puckering going on around there - its normal with European types. Beyond that I have no idea, its probably just glued on or something like that.

[ShadowZA]

Congrats on your 803's! :T
Beautiful speakers!
Enjoy them!

[atchudy]

1. Looks purdy. Thats the back of your FST. Don't muck about with it.
2. Grille Fabic! Thats a village in Europe I think. Pronounced elle-phab-riche. Lots of puckering going on around there - its normal with European types. Beyond that I have no idea, its probably just glued on or something like that.

One of the screws is really loose, the other is tight.

[DM3000 Owner]

One of the screws is really loose, the other is tight.

B&W's engineer told me to tighten the screw on the FST until the slack is all taken up, then one more full turn.

[atchudy]

slack in the screw?

Can someone explain the whole point of it? I dont know much about the insides or engineering of the speakers

[htsteve]

Excellent

atchudy,

Congratulations. An excellent purchase.

As noted, the large screws are the rear of the midrange assembly. I also echo the tighening recommendation. Take up that slack and then one more turn.

As for engineering, I believe because the FST driver is surroundless (as opposed to conventional surrounds that can be directly mounted), the assembly to hold it in place requires a screw inthe back. Just tighten as recomended and it should work just fine.

I'm sure someone with more knowledge will chime in.


Hope this helps.

[Ash]

atchudy,

I believe that the FST screw needs to be tightened to a specific tension, I suggest that you contact a dealer or B&W technical support to make sure.

The discription provided by DM 3000 is correct for speakers with Marlan heads where the FST drivers are decoupled. On speakers without the marlan head, the FST driver is mounted directly in cabinate and from what I know needs to be tightened to a specific level.

[atchudy]

how can I clean the black finish. it has some oily marks like pledge was used

[Ash]

Use a damp soft cloth (not wet just damp), rub the speakers and then dry them with another dry soft cloth.

[RobP]

I believe that the FST screw needs to be tightened to a specific tension, I suggest that you contact a dealer or B&W technical support to make sure.

There is no specific torque spec for the FST, the procedure described above by DM3000 is correct for the wood enclosures as well.

[RobP]

Atchudy, congrats on your purchase :T , I have owned and enjoyed these speakers for a couple years now and could not be happier with them. Enjoy!

[atchudy]

Thanks. I knew if i bought them I would not have the urge to upgrade the speakers for years.

I am really happy I did not get a sub for my 805 also.

I know I should get a more powerful separate amp later down the road, but don't know if a RB-1080 is adequate enough, or if i need to spend $2k. What about tube amps?

I have the speakers connected with canre 4s11, since it seems to be the best bulk wire available.

[iiaudio]

Thanks. I knew if i bought them I would not have the urge to upgrade the speakers for years.

I am really happy I did not get a sub for my 805 also.

I know I should get a more powerful separate amp later down the road, but don't know if a RB-1080 is adequate enough, or if i need to spend $2k. What about tube amps?

I have the speakers connected with canre 4s11, since it seems to be the best bulk wire available.

I'm running a RB-1080 with my N803s and love it!

[atchudy]

what do you have for a pre-amp/receiver?

[iiaudio]

RC-1082. I demoed both the 1082 and the 1070, couldn't tell too much of a difference. The 1082 might have been a bit better defined, but I needed the extra inputs. That's what convinced me to spend the extra dough.

[atchudy]

Well some how the digital board on my sony reciever blew out. Now i can only listen to music from a straight analog source. This has also forced me to use the analog outs from XBOX 2360, which sound awful.

Since I spent all my money on the speakers, are there any budget options for a new integrated amp that's on ebay or used?

What about a integrated tube amp? Anything around the $500 level?