New BW setup! 805D with DB1

[wised]

Finally went diamond. I considered the new D3 804's but they don't go on sale in the US till January, plus I was already in love the 805 D's. Couldn't wait :B 805' plus a DB1 is more expensive than a pair of 804's but the bass extension is worth it. I matched them with a McIntosh MAC 6700 200 watt receiver and a Marantz NA 6005 streaming player.
The results are simply extraordinary. The soundstage is unbelievable. I'm discovering layers of musicality from things I've heard for decades that I didn't even know existed. I have discovered that even some of the MP3's downloaded from Amazon from the Verve collection are exemplary, Ella's smooth voice and sub tonalities are perfectly and vibrantly preserved.
I'm new to any sort of streaming music and I'm amazed at how perfectly and superbly high fidelity the whole process is. Simply rip your CD's, or download from the net on the PC and go. No appleplay or other doodas necessary! The Marantz does all the work for you through your own WIFI network using your computer as a server. It will take USB sticks, LAN connections, digital inputs from other devices, you name it! It also streams from Pandora, satellite radio or any internet streaming station of any possible bit rate. I have it connected to the McIntosh through toslink so the Mc does all the DA conversion after sampling the signal at 32bit/192! Finally joining the 21st century and let me assure you, its all good!
More connection details: The DB1 is running off the #2 pre out. This week I'm planning to test running the 805s through a 70hz high pass filter to see if I don't have to worry about ever overdriving them with the monster amp. The DB1's default crossover for the 805 is 70hz though you can select any frequency you want. Ill report back to report how that goes. Though I'm not a cable prima donna I wasn't going to spend all that dough to connect it with lamp wire so I opted for Audio Quest solid conductors all around. Still probably snake oil but they look "pretty".
Some may think that Macs are overpriced but you cant argue with an 80 some pound good looking monster that is absolutely silent in operation and barely gets warm regardless of how long or how hard you drive it.
If you hadn't noticed it, Im thrilled!

[SoundEngine355]

Congrats! I think that's a great speaker/subwoofer combination.

Throw up some pictures!

[wised]

[IMG][/IMG]

[wised]

Driving end......
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[wised]

Congrats! I think that's a great speaker/subwoofer combination.

Throw up some pictures!

Already submitted but havent showed up yet on the site.

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[wised]

Deleted

[wised]

Congrats! I think that's a great speaker/subwoofer combination.

Throw up some pictures!

[wised]

BTW tried the high pass filters at 70 hz. Definitely did not like. They cut too much ambience from the 805's. Trying 50 hz next. I simply want to avoid overextending the Mid?/woofer driver.

[mglimabr]

Beautiful system! I have 805D for 4 years and i love it! I not use subwoofer, only the 805. Once i plug my sunfire eq-10 but sounds not too natural. My listenning room is t big, so...

[mpauline]

Really nice set up. Congratulations!

[wised]

Already updated. Added a second DB1 for the left channel. Also rotated the subs 90 so the drivers point forward and back instead of sideways. Adding a second sub solved all issues with bass distribution since my placement options are very restricted. The subs are basicly simply behind the mains. Not using room equalization since using 2 subs makes the issue moot, I'm simply using the onboard 805 preset. Absolutely fabulous, the match is perfect

[kcsun]

excellent set up, what are your favourite music genres?

kc

[wised]

I'm very eclectic; classical, R&B, jazz, rock, salsa, even Fado! Im a particular fan of the ladies of jazz and soul.
One thing I've discovered is that even properly recorded and encoded MP3 can sound pretty amazing, for example Ella's and Satchmos collection is an eye opener, even Pandora can stream very good quality. Spotify, on the other hand, is also good but some sort of compression is always noticeable. The Mc's D/A converter is truly state of the art.
Streaming ripped CDs from through my Wi-Fi works almost flawlessly. I have not seen any reason to use LAN.
I strongly recommend the Marantz digital streamer its truly a one box solution for all your digital music needs, particularly when used with the Marantz HI Fi app which provides you more and clearer information than you get from trying to read the component's small screen. Though the Marantz "sounds" perfect as a source I'm simply using it as a digital source "control box" thus leaving all the decoding to the Mc.
Though I'm well aware that cables are mostly voodoo biwiring the 805s with Kimbers does look fabulous. I also wired the subs with pretty kimber sub cables to complete the look. :twisted:

[wised]

Final setup

http://s261.photobucket.com/user/RL06TECH/slideshow/

[wkhanna]

One thing I've discovered is that even properly recorded and encoded MP3 can sound pretty amazing......

wise words.......
it brings home the point that care taken in the the entire recording process has a most significant effect in the final product regardless of format.
sadly, few modern/pop releases are treated with such care & concern of the audio quality.....

[emig5m]

I love the idea of using top notch bookshelf speakers with one or two bad-ass subwoofers. Even with the case of my 685 which I normally just use for my rear channels, I like how they look so small and ho-hum but then the sound blows you away, especially with a sub! If I could go back to the day I bought my first B&Ws but know what I know now, I would probably opt for 805s with the best subs I could buy over my 804S with my used Sunfire. I really like the idea of a sound system that doesn't visually dominate a room but still looks sharp and elegant but then drops your jaw with unexpected sound quality and the B&W 800 series bookshelfs fit this bill perfectly. Funny, when I was young I wanted the biggest speakers visually, the most flashy lights on the AVR etc. but now I'm totally the opposite. I want the smallest speakers possible without sacrificing fidelity and I turn off the front display/lights on my AVR/Pre and AMP and any lights that can't be disabled like the power light on my Emotiva XPA-5, I tape it over with black tape, LOL. I just want the sound and the system to disappear visually anymore...

And yes, I've done much testing back and forth with properly encoded 320KB/s MP3 vs the CD and couldn't tell a difference, even with headphones which are normally a little more revealing of minute background detail. I was also very surprised on how good Pandora could sound at its highest setting. I've discovered many solo piano recordings on Pandora and it has always sounded very well and live. However, at the time I discovered Google music with its 320KB/s over Pandoras 190 is it for its max quality? Not to mention with Google you can make custom playlists, download the music onto your devices so that you don't have to re-stream your most played music over and over again, and with the price hike of Pandora, sadly I had to totally drop Pandora for Google music. It's so nice not to have to break out a CD to rerip to a new device or copy over MP3's and playlists. With Google, it does it all automatically through all your devices. Plus I've been noticing A LOT of remastered albums and remixes that I have the original CD to so there's a lot of added value with Google music and I think the monthly cost is totally worth it albeit I'm locked into the early promotional price of $7.99/mo. The only thing I liked about Pandora better is that when you make a radio station based on genre it could make much better auto playlists for say if I typed in solo piano with Pandora, I would get much better tracks where I would be less likely to want to skip a song over Google but Google has been improving on this over the years. I might drop the bullet and revisit Pandora as I haven't used it in at least two years now, maybe it's totally different and better now. At the time of my switch, nothing beat being able to create custom playlists and shuffle songs around at will like it was your actual MP3 collection on your hard drive but streaming and at the highest bitrate to boot plus downloading to your devices! Totally worth the cost and such a great value considering I remember paying $14 to $20 a CD back in the day and now I get everything for $8 a month! All old, all new, much discovered that I would otherwise look over if I had to buy each and every CD separately.

[wised]

I love the idea of using top notch bookshelf speakers with one or two bad-ass subwoofers. Even with the case of my 685 which I normally just use for my rear channels, I like how they look so small and ho-hum but then the sound blows you away, especially with a sub! If I could go back to the day I bought my first B&Ws but know what I know now, I would probably opt for 805s with the best subs I could buy over my 804S with my used Sunfire. I really like the idea of a sound system that doesn't visually dominate a room but still looks sharp and elegant but then drops your jaw with unexpected sound quality and the B&W 800 series bookshelfs fit this bill perfectly. Funny, when I was young I wanted the biggest speakers visually, the most flashy lights on the AVR etc. but now I'm totally the opposite. I want the smallest speakers possible without sacrificing fidelity and I turn off the front display/lights on my AVR/Pre and AMP and any lights that can't be disabled like the power light on my Emotiva XPA-5, I tape it over with black tape, LOL. I just want the sound and the system to disappear visually anymore...

And yes, I've done much testing back and forth with properly encoded 320KB/s MP3 vs the CD and couldn't tell a difference, even with headphones which are normally a little more revealing of minute background detail. I was also very surprised on how good Pandora could sound at its highest setting. I've discovered many solo piano recordings on Pandora and it has always sounded very well and live. However, at the time I discovered Google music with its 320KB/s over Pandoras 190 is it for its max quality? Not to mention with Google you can make custom playlists, download the music onto your devices so that you don't have to re-stream your most played music over and over again, and with the price hike of Pandora, sadly I had to totally drop Pandora for Google music. It's so nice not to have to break out a CD to rerip to a new device or copy over MP3's and playlists. With Google, it does it all automatically through all your devices. Plus I've been noticing A LOT of remastered albums and remixes that I have the original CD to so there's a lot of added value with Google music and I think the monthly cost is totally worth it albeit I'm locked into the early promotional price of $7.99/mo. The only thing I liked about Pandora better is that when you make a radio station based on genre it could make much better auto playlists for say if I typed in solo piano with Pandora, I would get much better tracks where I would be less likely to want to skip a song over Google but Google has been improving on this over the years. I might drop the bullet and revisit Pandora as I haven't used it in at least two years now, maybe it's totally different and better now. At the time of my switch, nothing beat being able to create custom playlists and shuffle songs around at will like it was your actual MP3 collection on your hard drive but streaming and at the highest bitrate to boot plus downloading to your devices! Totally worth the cost and such a great value considering I remember paying $14 to $20 a CD back in the day and now I get everything for $8 a month! All old, all new, much discovered that I would otherwise look over if I had to buy each and every CD separately.

I'm going to have to give it a try! Thanks for the heads up.
I walked out of a "turntable" store the other day with a Project rpm1 carbon, at 500 bucks I couldn't pass it up. Must say its a darned good spinner for the money! With it and my Sound Blaster Xfi HD I should be able to get some excellent digitized vinyl.

[BWLover]

I have a debut carbon, love it, and agree, wicked for the money them tables are.


Bowers & Wilkins 683S1 Speaker's
Rotel RB-1090 2 Channel Amp
Rotel RC-1082 Stereo Pre Amp
Rotel RCD-1072 CD Player
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon w/ Ortofon 2M Red (sitting on a piece of slate supported by 3 "solid tech feet of silence" isolation feet)
Rotel RLC-1040 Power Conditioner
Shynyata Research SR-Z1 Power Outlet & Venom 3 Power Cords x 4
Tara Labs RSC Vector 1 Speaker Cables & Interconnects
Primacoustic Room Treatments

[wkhanna]

i get warm and fuzzy feelings every time i hear of another one of our group making the journey to vinyl.

please do not forget to visit our analog forum with info, stories or questions.