B&W Signature Diamond Speaker Questions

[Uav83]

Hey all, It's Dan again. You guys offered so much helpful advice on my component upgrade that I wanted to ask about speaker upgrade now. There is a guy at work who is ready to unload his B&W Signature Diamond speakers for $8500. They are in MINT condition, he is simply in need of some quick cash. If you did not follow my previous thread, I am HUGE into music, I would say 95/5 music to movie ratio.
Components are:
McIntosh C46 Stereo Pre
McIntosh MC2102 Amp.

So here are my questions,
1) Is this a fair price for these speakers,
2) would there be any other B&W's to look at in this price range that I would be pleased with.

I have decided to give my B&W CDM7SE to my brother as a little gift. Since I went overboard on my latest component set up, I might as well upgrade speakers now as well!

Once again, I appreciate any help you provide in advance!!!

[htsteve]

Dan,

Don't you love when the upgraqde bug hits. Happens to me alot.

As to the Signatures, that seems like a good price. It would be hard to find something new in that price range that would be on the same par for 2 channel.

I see a pair on Audiogon for $9500. So $8500 seems pretty good.

One possibility would be some used 802D's. I have the 802D's on Mac gear. It is quite awesome.


Hope this helps.

[Uav83]

I was leaning toward getting a pair of 802D's before I found these. To be quite honest though, I don't know many who have the signatures and wanted to see if anyone felt one way or the other about them.

[stuofsci02]

Dan,

You really are going crazy.. There are a couple of people here on that have Signature Diamonds. Actually if you look there is a thread over the last few days about them and finding a matching center started by Libbie. She actually has two pairs of them (fronts and rears).

I have never heard the diamonds, but they are apparently fantastic for their size. One of the drawbacks perhaps is you are paying for the style and form of the speaker (granite tweeter housing etc.). I think for maybe a little less money you can get the 804di which might sound a little better, but won't be nearly as cool. $8500 seems like an ok price..

Cheers!

Stuart

[Briz vegas]

Man you have got it bad!
At various times I have heard 802D, 804di and signature diamonds. Frankly, all are going to be good. The 802D on nemo monoblocks just got out the way of the music, big full bodied sound. On less amps ( primmer) it was ho hum, and was good but net stunning on a third setup with room treatment but not enough amp ( forget which). I mentioned my 804di experience before, i got the impression it was less coloured, more detailed and open than my speakers, but I went there with that expectation. They are v good but really needed a better refined chain to impress me.

Signature diamond were on different gear to the others, good stuff though. The impression was that of detail detail detail. They would reveal the pants off your gear, and that includes your source, your power, your cables etc. They did not have the dynamics of the 802D. The looks will be a matter of taste but in a trendy apartment they would fit in very well.

Which would I go for. Well for 8500 all would be a stunning deal, but you know as much as I love uncoloured sound I would lean toward 802D, saving $16k off the insane Australian retail (how lucky are you guys).

This is not a one horse race however. My dealer prefers the sig diamond to the old 802d, and the point source sound would image very well, but I was too busy being struck but the detail. I must say that I already get lots of detail with just my 804s thanks to the other gear I am using.

Any of those speakers could have you happy for a lifetime with lots of untapped potential yet to come, only you can pick which one is for you which is harder with second hand gear due to audition constraints.

At least none of the 3 are
a bad choice.

[Gasoil]

Hey all, It's Dan again. You guys offered so much helpful advice on my component upgrade that I wanted to ask about speaker upgrade now. There is a guy at work who is ready to unload his B&W Signature Diamond speakers for $8500. They are in MINT condition, he is simply in need of some quick cash. If you did not follow my previous thread, I am HUGE into music, I would say 95/5 music to movie ratio.
Components are:
McIntosh C46 Stereo Pre
McIntosh MC2102 Amp.

So here are my questions,
1) Is this a fair price for these speakers,
2) would there be any other B&W's to look at in this price range that I would be pleased with.

I have decided to give my B&W CDM7SE to my brother as a little gift. Since I went overboard on my latest component set up, I might as well upgrade speakers now as well!

Once again, I appreciate any help you provide in advance!!!

Honestly, at that price it's a bargain , but if you have the possibility, listen to them, as you might be surprised. This is for me an untypical B&W speaker, as it's a total different sound as you might have ever heared..., the sound is very detailed, crystal clear and these speakers need some good electronics .
I prefer the Diamonds , as they are exactly what i was looking for. If you play them on good electronics, this might be heaven for you.

But i am surprised how many people are selling their Diamonds, and how much these speakers are loosing in value. :cry:

Gasoil

[Uav83]

Yeah, I heard they were near $18,000 new. We went over to his house on lunch and checked them out, I must admit...I was very impressed. I am going to check out a pair of 802D's tomorrow to try and compare the difference. If there is not a massive difference, I rather help out a friend in need of some cash. If I end up not enjoying them after a while I can always re-sell or gift to someone. At the end of the day, it's only money...right?

[stuofsci02]

802D and Signature Diamonds are very different speakers...

With the MC2102 Amp I would think you might be better off with the Signatures or another smaller speaker. The 802D is fantastic, but most say it is best with some serious butter behind it..

[mrciave]

Uav, amazing, you started looking for some receiver and then now, Mc pre+final and serious speakers. Congratulations!

I never heard the Signatures, but I would say that 802D with your current final amp might be a bit underpowered. IMHO, the choice is between Signatures (hyper finesse and detail) vs 803/4 (full body sound, dynamics). Depends what you are looking for.

But if the Signatures are soooo revelatory as others are saying in this post, I think you should count other 5-6k of budget between cables, table, accessories and so on.

I forgot, what's your source? The Signatures might be totally unforgiving in this respect...

Remember balance is key :Z (OK I know I said it 100 times, I'm boring)

[style]

Hi,

the B&W Signature are great ...if you go see the materials used to make this speakers but the price is VERY not at the level from the sound "delivered"!

are great of course, but the 802DI are much more better.

a speaker with so a cabinet dont have a "nice sound". with all respect this IS MY PERSONAL OPINION. I don't will pay more at 9-11k. $$$$ for a new pair of Signture. the LF are not so easy & simply to be controlled, is a very boomy speaker. ops: ops:

with 14k $$$ for new 802DI give you a lot more satisfaction: without any doubt.


(listen @ B&W Switzerland and the same B&W "employes" say is not a speaker from this price!!)

style

[stuofsci02]

The one good thing about buying the signatures used at a good price is you can resell them without much loss when you want to make a change. If you get a new set of 804Di, you will loose value as soon as you take them home..

[cjm80]

Stuofsci02 makes a great point. You can pretty much try the signatures for with no risk since if you don't like them they are selling for more on Audigon.

[scanido]

I assume you want to keep your same tube amp so i would recommend the Signature Diamonds like others here, or the 804Di, and even the 805Di.

Although the new Diamond series is more efficient than its predecessor you would inevitably want to one day power those 802Di's with at least 200w, if you decide to go with those. I'm powering my 802Di with a Mac MC205 that puts out 200w and i don't ever hit the Powergaurds but still I feel at the back of my mind they need more power as they can handle 500w.

[beden1]

The one good thing about buying the signatures used at a good price is you can resell them without much loss when you want to make a change. If you get a new set of 804Di, you will loose value as soon as you take them home..

That depends on what you pay for them new at the dealer. Plus, IMO, the 804Di are excellent speakers that I for one will not be looking to replace anytime soon. I have another pair of speakers that I bought new over 30 years ago and I still use and love! :T

I think it is important to spend the time up front to really listen to speakers and know what you like before buying them. I'm amazed how often people seem to "trade up" when they should have known if they were happy with the speakers in the first place before investing their hard earned dollars.

Invest in the best speakers you can afford and will be happy with first, and then take your time to upgrade your electronics along the way.

[ShadowZA]

... I think it is important to spend the time up front to really listen to speakers and know what you like before buying them. ...

... Invest in the best speakers you can afford and will be happy with first, and then take your time to upgrade your electronics along the way.

Very sensible advice, imho! :T

[Uav83]

Alright, after reading all of these posts, and doing some further research I went ahead and got the Signatures. It was actually a simple decision, I simply do not have the power for the bigger speakers and the signatures are a MASSIVE upgrade from my CDM7SE. Plus, like Stu said, I shouldn't loose too much money when it is time to resell!

[htsteve]

Dan,

Congratulations! I'm not surprised by your reaction. Those are definitely upper end speakers from B&W.

Mac + Signatures = SMOOOOOTH


Enjoy.

[style]

I agree with Beden.

Sorry Uav83 you just insvest your money in the Signature and already think about when you go sales it? :W

ok, I understand you idea that is a speaker that "should" have a good resell value....

you have listen the Signature with your electronics?

style

[stuofsci02]

Wow,

This is quite the system upgrade in less then a week!! For sure it is one for the books.

Congrats..

I still want a report on how everything sounds..

[Briz vegas]

Congratulations U.... Lots of interesting comments here. Boomy signatures (not the ones I heard,anything but) and big speakers being hard to drive?? Certainly 803d are a tricky load with those 3 drivers, while the 802d seemed to like the mono blocks I am not so certain that a high current well designed tube amp with 100 watts could not do the job. That being said, the 804 di and signature diamonds are certainly a logical match.

I think the signatures should provide years of growth in that system, just as the other options would have also. Enjoy

[Uav83]

Alright, all of my new equipment has finally arrived, and I have it temporarily set up. I have rearranged a few things and needless to say the sound quality is nothing short of mind-blowing. "At least to me". I am looking forward to playing around with it this coming weekend, tweaking and repositioning. Pics to come!

[Rod#S]

Congrats! It's nice to be blown away with a purchase knowing it was money well spent. It's a good feeling.

[bbill]

802 or Diamond Signature ?
the size of your room make the decision..