Speculation on backorder time for HTM1D

[misterdoggy]

I just got my 803S' and after owning the 800D's and 802D's I am not disappointed one bit. They sound awesome, which makes me think that correct amplification with correct speaker = great sound.

In other words if you're driving an 804S with enough power it will have a lot of punch.

If you under power an 800D they you will be left wanting.....

I am driving the 803S' with a 200 watt per channel McIntosh MC205 and its perfect...

Difference with the 800D's, not life changing...

[ShadowZA]

I just got my 803S' and after owning the 800D's and 802D's I am not disappointed one bit. They sound awesome, ...

Congratulations, Misterdoggy!

Evidence, imho, that the full B&W 800 series range is indeed one of reference quality. :T

[chl]

If you need an address in the UK I can PM you his phone. B&W just put up their UK prices by 20%, but there are still some stock you can buy at the old prices. That together with the weak Pound adds up to about 40% off Euro prices.

I just saw a Demo 802D sell for 5K£. Thats a good deal

This is totally correct. Bought a pair of new 802D with almost 40% discount compared to Dutch prices. You only have to pick them up yourself. So I made a trip to the UK with the Eurotrain.

It's also correct that they have put up prices with 20% (from the 1st of March I believe).

I have to say........ switching from the 804s to the 802D is worth the effort :T

[William]

The BEAST is finely in the house and it is a monster. Strangely the thing that is giving me the biggest problem is the box is SO BIG I can't put it in my attic. I will have to break it down to get it through the opening.

[ShadowZA]

The BEAST is finely in the house and it is a monster. Strangely the thing that is giving me the biggest problem is the box is SO BIG I can't put it in my attic. I will have to break it down to get it through the opening.

Beautiful!!! :T :T :T

[HedgeHog]

Gorgeous! and ginormous.

[William]

It is tough taking a good picture of a flat black room with a High Power screen but here is a better picture. This is also from my viewing/listening "sweet spot" prospective.

[beden1]

Great setup. Now all you need is a second sub for balance. :B

[William]

Great setup. Now all you need is a second sub for balance. :B

Oddly even though I'm an upgrade fool and usually keep almost nothing more than a couple of years my sub is a Velodyne F-1500 15" servo sub that I bought in 1993 (way back in the last century). :E I have "almost" upgraded it many times but it works so well that I have put it off. There would be no way to find a match (in the condition I keep it) because I have looked over the years. I do have a plan though. SVS is developing a sealed 16" sub that will likely be a winner and I may get 2 of those when they become available (probably 4th quarter). For now my old granddaddy of a sub keeps pounding the floor next to those young punk B&W's (It has seen 5 sets of speakers come and go). ;x( Here it is in years gone by (notice the analog Pioneer 16x9 TV (pre DVD)).

[beden1]

Oddly even though I'm an upgrade fool and usually keep almost nothing more than a couple of years my sub is a Velodyne F-1500 15" servo sub that I bought in 1993 (way back in the last century). :E I have "almost" upgraded it many times but it works so well that I have put it off. There would be no way to find a match (in the condition I keep it) because I have looked over the years. I do have a plan though. SVS is developing a sealed 16" sub that will likely be a winner and I may get 2 of those when they become available (probably 4th quarter). For now my old granddaddy of a sub keeps pounding the floor next to those young punk B&W's (It has seen 5 sets of speakers come and go). ;x( Here it is in years gone by (notice the analog Pioneer 16x9 TV (pre DVD)).

I still have my prized Pioneer Elite 58" rear projection HDTV in my other setup. I absolutely love it and prefer it's picture over my 1080P Sony.

[William]

I still have my prized Pioneer Elite 58" rear projection HDTV in my other setup. I absolutely love it and prefer it's picture over my 1080P Sony.

Just to be clear my TV (pictured) was NOT an HDTV and was bought about 6 years before HDTV went national. It was 100% analog 16x9 (a rare TV at the time) and even predated DVD (was a circa 1992 model). It didn't even have a component input (just S-video and composite) and would only accept 480i (since that was all there was). It worked great (at the time) for letterboxed LD's.

[William]

Something I noticed about the HDM1D that has a "cheep" look about it. The front baffle has 5 different pieces of veneer on it (not very well matched on mine at least). At first I thought this was a cosmetic problem with my speaker but I see it on all other photos of the HDM1D. The really seems like a sever quality issue and poor design considering it's a $9000 speaker. Here is a picture where you can see the divisions more clearly.

[IceG]

Now you've pointed it out it is really bugging me. For that price and that presumed quality I would reject it and ask for a good repalcement.

[hifiguymi]

Those pieces of veneer are all from the same piece of wood. Look at the joint in the middle of the right woofer and the joint towards the left of the middle woofer. They are layers from the same piece of wood. They do that so the grain structure is vertical like the rest of the speaker. If they put the veneer horizontally it would look wrong.

Eric

[William]

Those pieces of veneer are all from the same piece of wood. Look at the joint in the middle of the right woofer and the joint towards the left of the middle woofer. They are layers from the same piece of wood. They do that so the grain structure is vertical like the rest of the speaker. If they put the veneer horizontally it would look wrong.

Eric

I don't doubt that they are from the same piece of wood. What I don't understand is why it's not all 1 contiguous piece so it matches the rest of the cabinet and doesn't look like "trailer home" paneling. It just looks like they are using leftovers for the front of one of their most expensive speakers. B&W should at least use the wood from the back of the speaker on the front and put the panels on the back where they won't be seen. :cry:

[wettou]

Something I noticed about the HDM1D that has a "cheep" look about it. The front baffle has 5 different pieces of veneer on it (not very well matched on mine at least). At first I thought this was a cosmetic problem with my speaker but I see it on all other photos of the HDM1D. The really seems like a sever quality issue and poor design considering it's a $9000 speaker. Here is a picture where you can see the divisions more clearly.

Yes it is a severe quality issue I had noticed this at three dealers which is why I decided to go with three 802D, they don't have that problem:lol:

You would think that for a $9000 speaker it would be flawless or at least have a single piece of wood for the front!!

[wettou]

I don't doubt that they are from the same piece of wood. What I don't understand is why it's not all 1 contiguous piece so it matches the rest of the cabinet and doesn't look like "trailer home" paneling. It just looks like they are using leftovers for the front of one of their most expensive speakers. B&W should at least use the wood from the back of the speaker on the front and put the panels on the back where they won't be seen. :cry:

They are not from the same piece of wood I asked my cabinet maker and after looking at it he said they are three pieces glued together That is really lousy especially looking at it, for $9,000 you would hope that they would take the time to use matching pieces or better yet use a single piece of wood. Well you have four options:

- Return it to the dealer and ask for your money back or an other 801D (but I think they are all the same)

- Sell it on Audiogon and buy an other 802D

- Put the black cover on it and you won't see the wood

- Have it refinished !!

[William]

They are not from the same piece of wood I asked my cabinet maker and after looking at it he said they are three pieces glued together That is really lousy especially looking at it, for $9,000 you would hope that they would take the time to use matching pieces or better yet use a single piece of wood. Well you have four options:

- Return it to the dealer and ask for your money back or an other 801D (but I think they are all the same)

- Sell it on Audiogon and buy an other 802D

- Put the black cover on it and you won't see the wood

- Have it refinished !!

Don't have the option of going with another 802D or I would have done that from the start. Don't have a centimeter of height to spare from the HDM1D to the bottom of my screen. My dealer has emailed B&W about it. However if this is the way B&W (cheaply) finish all HTM1D's I may just be stuck. It just shocks me that what should be a no compromise in quality speaker instead is finished in such a cheap and shoddy way. It is miles below even B&W's HTM7 in finish quality despite costing a full 12X's more. :E Wonder why no one else has noticed or complained about this?

Can anyone give any plausible/technical reason why B&W does this with the HTM1D?

[crytklmass]

Besides the quality, which I agree with you. I'm not a wood finisher, but you would think they could somehow blend it.
Is the sound quality worth the price difference compared to an htm2d?

[William]

Besides the quality, which I agree with you. I'm not a wood finisher, but you would think they could somehow blend it.
Is the sound quality worth the price difference compared to an htm2d?

Blend it, It should just be all one piece of wood veneer period.

When I got the 802D's I was very satisfied with the overall improvement in SQ over the 803D's. Much better bass and laser focused mids with better blinding of the highs than the 803D's. To be honest I manly wanted the HTM1D because it would just make a better match to the 802D's. I wasn't expecting a great improvement in SQ over the HTM2D. Boy was I wrong. If anything the HTM1D is much more of an improvement over the HTM2D than the 802D's were over the 803D's. They put out as much or more bass volume as the 802D's do and have the same laser focused mid/blended highs as the 802D's (the HDM2D is almost "sloppy" by comparison). Also the HTM2D never fully timbre matched the 802D's or 803D's but when playing test tones the HTM1D voices the same to me. Last night I watch Amadeus (BD-TrueHD) and the piano coming from the center was absolutely sublime (was my first film with it). Also dialog sounds much more up front and focused than with the HTM2D to the point where I re-calibrated (thinking it was set 2dB or 3dB too loud). Have listened to a lot of SA-CD/DVD-A (like Porcupine Tree, Beck, Genesis, Blue Man Group Steely Dan, Pink Floyd...) and it is a true treat to have 5 timbre matched speakers.

[bnieman]

You've got a great taste in music William I assume you are talking about Beck's DVD-A of Sea Change which is one of my favorites.

Right now I have a HTM7 and it definitely does NOT match the timbre of my 703s. It drives me nuts! I am keeping my eye out for a N-HTM1 to hopefully get a much closer match.

The HTM7 does have a great look and the veneer is flawless, but man it's disappointing next to my beloved 703s.

[William]

You've got a great taste in music William I assume you are talking about Beck's DVD-A of Sea Change which is one of my favorites.

Right now I have a HTM7 and it definitely does NOT match the timbre of my 703s. It drives me nuts! I am keeping my eye out for a N-HTM1 to hopefully get a much closer match.

The HTM7 does have a great look and the veneer is flawless, but man it's disappointing next to my beloved 703s.

Thanks, and yes it is Sea Change

Oddly several years ago I was going to buy 4-703's and an HTM1N as the center since the 700 series doesn't have a good matching center for the 703's FST (the HTM7 is a better match for the 704 or 705's). My dealer made me a deal on the 804N's and I went with them instead. If I was you I would definitely try and acquire the better matching HTM1N for your 703's.

[crytklmass]

Guess I'll have to save some money and upgrade. My audio dealer only has an htm2d to audition. mainly due to price, guess not many people spend $9,000.00 on a center. It is the most important speaker when watching movies. Did it fit under your screen? I know you were worried about the height and the top appearing on your screen.
That's an awesome set up you have. I wish I had that much room.

On a side note, the 802d's and other 800 series appear to be one piece of wood, any word from B&W concerning your center? my htm2d appears to be one piece as well.

[William]

Guess I'll have to save some money and upgrade. My audio dealer only has an htm2d to audition. mainly due to price, guess not many people spend $9,000.00 on a center. It is the most important speaker when watching movies. Did it fit under your screen? I know you were worried about the height and the top appearing on your screen.
That's an awesome set up you have. I wish I had that much room.

On a side note, the 802d's and other 800 series appear to be one piece of wood, any word from B&W concerning your center? my htm2d appears to be one piece as well.

My dealer doesn't have one either and I don't think many do. My concern was not that it would be too tall but not tall enough. The HDM2D on OEM stand was 24 1/2" and the HDMi1D is listed at 23". However with front spikes at max (rear spikes about 3/4" lower) I get almost 25". The picture above in post 52 is from my prospective reclined and is as good as it can get on height.

My dealer just set an email to B&W today so it will likely be a coupe of days (or weeks if it's the same speed as the speaker). It kind of adds insult to injury knowing that when I bought the speaker it was not even manufactured yet. [sarcasm]Wish I had known and I would have ordered the "optional" decent finish. It must cost an extra $10 to use a full piece of wood over the scraps.[/sarcasm] :roll: However it looks like this is the piss poor way that B&W makes the HDM1D. I love the sound quality improvement so much I will live with the inferior quality of the finish. It just perplexes me beyond belief that B&W would do this kind of cheep hack job on their flagship and one of the most expensive centers made.

If you can live with lower quality looks (the HDM2D finish is much better as are all other B&W models 700's and up) the sound improvement will make up for it.