B&W 801D

[Pedro]

With the 801D and the 15" driver, the bass is ample even at low listening levels. If you remember older stereo receivers had the "loudness" button which boosted the bass levels when the volume was low. I kinda feel like I have turned on loudness when I listen late at night at low listening levels..

I couldnt agree more with you. Their bass are second to none. Believe me I´ve heard many other big speakers out there, some also twice price or more. Big wilsons, and couldnt get the same energy and punch provided by these twin 15" drivers. I´m not just talking about their size, but the material used can deliver real deep bass at low listening levels. When you raise the volume the bass simply turns amazing ;x(

A curiosity: How are they sounding for HT? Remember you would stick with your two subs for this porpose. Did you get a chance to compare in this situation??

[Pedro]

This reminds me, contrarily, the first time I heard the 804D2 powered by a Classe CP-800 and CA-2300 nearly two years ago. I thought "Who needs a pair of 800D when the 804D2 can sound this good!"

Never gave a damn to 804S because their lean bass and punch (for my taste), but I gotta agree, the 804 speakers as far I know from S and N types really have a sweet midrange just found on 802 or above. Despite owning great bass the 803D/Di doesnt have the same resolution in mids as 804N/S.

Didnt get an oportunity to listen to 804Di, but from what I heard and read about the last 800 diamond series they must be the bang for the buck :T

[stuofsci02]

Congratulation they are just right for you room, the sound must be awesome :T
BTW are you missing your central?

I am not missing the center, but I have not watched any movies yet (\

[stuofsci02]

I couldnt agree more with you. Their bass are second to none. Believe me I´ve heard many other big speakers out there, some also twice price or more. Big wilsons, and couldnt get the same energy and punch provided by these twin 15" drivers. I´m not just talking about their size, but the material used can deliver real deep bass at low listening levels. When you raise the volume the bass simply turns amazing ;x(

A curiosity: How are they sounding for HT? Remember you would stick with your two subs for this porpose. Did you get a chance to compare in this situation??

So far I have not watched any movies, and actually this is ok with me.. I prefer to spend my time on stereo listening.

[Pedro]

That´s a wise decision
BTW let us know your impressions when you do that

[stuofsci02]

After having my 801D's for about three months I figure it is time to do a followup review (since I have some time on the Holidays). We all know how those first few days with something new can be a bit of a honeymoon where it can do no wrong.

As a reminder I was formerly running a set of 804s with two Emotiva Ultra-12 subwoofers. I had the 804s crossed over at around 50hz using a strictly analog crossover built into my Emotiva USP-1 preamp. The 804s were being powered by a Chord SPM-650 stereo power amp. The sources are and Oppo 83SE (For CD/SACD/DVD-A) and a Squeezebox Touch running through a Grant Fidelity DAC-09 with an upgraded tube (Western Electric 396A) for my HiRez FLACs.

When I changed to the 801Ds I did not make any changes in electronics. The only difference is now the subs are gone for music and I am running the 801Ds full range (not using the crossover in my preamp).

Now to the review ----------------------

First off I must say that the 801D's are absolute beasts. Where the 804s were about 60-70 lbs each, the 801D's are well north off 200 lbs each. They are also quite wide dimensionaly and require the "right" type of room. My room is approximately 18' wide and 26' long. The ceiling is at 7'11" as this is in my basement. The fit is very good as I can keep the speakers 3 ft from the back wall and 30" from the sides (I can easily walk around the speakers). I have them approximately 10ft apart (on center) and slightly toed in. My listening position is 10 ft from the mid driver. As a note I had my 804s in roughly the same spot as this seems to be an ideal room setup for me. I have acoustic panels at first reflection points excluding the ceiling and floor. Floors are carpets.

The sounds of the 801D's are absolutely breath taking. I have heard most of the B&W lineup including the new 802 diamonds, and I have not heard better IMO. Do note that the other speakers including the 802Di were obviously in another room, with similar electronics. As a result I cannot truly compare except to the 804s.

The highs on the 801D's simply swat away those of the 804s. I like trumpet music (Chris Botti, Chet Baker etc.) and I always found on loud high passages I would get some ringing that was not overly pleasant. With the 801D's this is non-existent. I can only attribute this to the Diamond tweeter. The treble is just silky smooth.

The best feature of the 804s IMO was the midrange. I even preferred it to the old 803D midrange. The 801D's give me what the 804s delivered in spades and then some. The mids sound very similar, but the 801D is just more open (which I must attribute to the Marlin head).

Bigger just might be better. Even with dual subs on my 804s the 801D's are better in the bass dept. While the subs provided big punch and almost unlimited SPL, they just don't sound as effortless as the big 15 inchers. Integration is seemless. But if there is a spot where there is a weakness with the 801D it would have to be with the bass IMO. While this is certainly the best bass I have ever owned, I think there is still room for improvement. The 801 cabinets are still ported which allows them to be absolute monsters even at loud studio volumes. But how good could they have been if the cabinets were designed sealed? I think they could be a tighter and faster. This is obviously a trade off for there use as a big studio monitor.

All of this together has made a speaker that has incredible dynamics. Everything just seems to jump out into the room giving massive depth. I have always had very good side to side imaging and a lot of speakers do this well. Getting that depth though, really takes this speaker to the next level.

Over the years I have always been looking forward to my next speaker upgrade. Even with the 804s it was clear from the beginning that they had their faults (as good as they sound). Since getting the 801D's I have never thought about what comes next in the speaker dept. These are so good, I can't see replacing them for a long long time.

Of course there is always improvement to be made, and better speakers always highlight weakness. Next on my list (tomorrow actually) is to add an Oppo BDP-105 to replace the 83SE. This will also double as a DAC from my Squeezebox.

Additionally, the pre-amp (Emotiva USP-1) is holding me back. I will have to make my next big change here.

Believe it or not the Chord Amp is handling these without any noticeable challenge. Even though the Chord is only 130wpc into 8 ohm it is rock stable (170 wpc into 4 ohm and 210 wpc into 2 ohm). At the volumes I listen it to it seems quite comfortable. Perhaps in the future I will change amps to squeeze that last bit of performance out...

Conclusion: These are the best speakers I have ever heard. They offer dynamics that continually impress me. These are speakers I could live with forever, and I don't have a single regret (except not doing it sooner of course).

[Rod#S]

Very nice update, I'm glad you are really enjoying the 801's. In reading your comments about the mids and highs it doesn't surprise me, the diamond tweeters are incredible and the marlan head for the mids does indeed provide a noticeable refinement over the 804 and 803 design.

[stuofsci02]

Very nice update, I'm glad you are really enjoying the 801's. In reading your comments about the mids and highs it doesn't surprise me, the diamond tweeters are incredible and the marlan head for the mids does indeed provide a noticeable refinement over the 804 and 803 design.

Thanks Rod,

Are you still considering the 800Di?

I went by my dealer today and man do the 802Di look small now that I have had the 801s. I remember thinking the 802s were beasts. I guess everything is relative.

I would love to hear the 802Di in my own house. I think they are the sweet spot in the lineup. The 801s are too big for most people, which is why I assume they discontinued them. The 802Di sound soo very good at the dealer...

[Rod#S]

Thanks Rod,

Are you still considering the 800Di?

I went by my dealer today and man do the 802Di look small now that I have had the 801s. I remember thinking the 802s were beasts. I guess everything is relative.

I would love to hear the 802Di in my own house. I think they are the sweet spot in the lineup. The 801s are too big for most people, which is why I assume they discontinued them. The 802Di sound soo very good at the dealer...

LOL... Yeah I can imagine the 802's do indeed look small now :B hell, even the 800's would look small

Yep, still really considering the 800's, I'll make the decision in a few months. Me and the dealer are still off on pricing so I'll see what comes of that but I don't think he will go any lower. Heck I could give if he were to say sweeten the deal by throwing in some Kimber Select speaker cables, interconnects and a couple PK-10 AG Palladian power cables :B

[stuofsci02]

I'm Back!

Hello All,

It has been a very very long time since I was last on the forum. I used to spend a large amount of my time here with friends who shared my passion for Audio. Back in late 2013 my wife and I came across a house that we fell in love with and in a very short time we moved. And that was the last time I listened to my B&W 801Ds and the last time I visited the forum... It was bitter sweet, as the new house is great, but giving up my #1 hobby was hard. I long had ambitious plans to build a new better sound room, but alas it took much longer than I thought. All this time my system has been in storage waiting for the day....

I am happy to announce that day is near. Within the next 45-60 days my new sound room will be complete, and I am expecting big things. This is no ordinary sound room. This is a purpose built Golden Trapagon. With front dimensions of ~16ft wide and rear dimensions at ~19ft wide and a length of ~25.25 ft long, this has long been my dream. This is in my basement and I did all the work up until last week when I hired out the drywall. The drywall will be complete this coming week, and then paint, carpet and trim.

I just purchased an 85" QLED TV for the system, and some new furniture is in the cards. I will start out by postings some photos of my old sound room, followed up by the plans for the new one. And finally the current progress. I will continue to update the progress.

I hope some of the guys I used to chat with are still on the board, but am also looking forward to making some new friends as I get back into the hobby.

[technodanvan]

Exciting stuff man, looking forward to seeing how it turns out! It must have been hard putting that system in storage.

[stuofsci02]

Exciting stuff man, looking forward to seeing how it turns out! It must have been hard putting that system in storage.

Hey technodanvan... It has been a long time, but I definitely remember talking with you. Putting the 801Ds into storage was very hard.. But all that is in the past.... I'm looking forward to getting back into the hobby.

It seems like there are far fewer folks on the forum now... Did something happen?

Stu

[technodanvan]

It certainly hasn't been as busy at it used to be but I'm really not sure why. The DIY subforum sees fair activity but others have definitely dwindled. Hopefully people are just enjoying their systems!