What hooked you on B&W?

[Mark_C.]

five years ago, I never heard of B&W. Now, I have B&W speakers all over the house.
I was fat and happy with a low-power Pioneer DPL receiver, some Klipsch fronts and some cheap plastic crap rears. Then I started reading about Dolby Digital and the need for decent rear speakers to appreciate. Then I realized that the Klipsch horn tweeters were starting to really get on my nerves.
Then I convinced my lovely wife to accompany me on some stereo store field trips. We didn't do the Circuit City or Good Guys thing. We went to actual stereo shops. I had read about the B&W 600 series and was determined to buy 603s. Well, once we got to one particular stereo shop, I looked into a "special'' room that had a pair of CDM7SEs set up with Mark Levinson gear. I was immediately sold. Best of all, my wife really liked the CDMs because they didn't look like all the other box speakers. Now I have a pair of Nautilus 804s for my stereo system and Nautilus 805s in my home theater. I'm still using the 601s that I purchased five years ago for my rears. I doubt I'll everbuy another brand.
Any other stories out there?

[Trash]

I didn't know what B&W was until 9 months ago!!! My entire experience began when our now 14 year old Zenith TV began to die. Actually the card which controls the icons and graphics for volume, menus etc. is dying. Never the less, it causes viewing and control problems. Wife says just get a replacement TV. I say why spend money on an interim TV? I'd rather spend that money towards our ultimate long term goal of a nice HT. We just hadn't planned on starting so soon.

I started of like you by hitting BB, CC, and GG. I was looking hard at some Klipsch RF-5s and RF-7s. I went to a high end place which had Paradigm, B&W, NAD, Anthem, Bryston etc. I started at the bottom end of the Paradigm line and worked my way up to the Studio 100s doing A/B/C etc. comparisons. They were all much nicer than the Klipsch stuff (to my ears). Next to the 100s were some B&W CDM-7NTs. I saw the price and immediately ruled them out. NO WAY was the wife going to allow that much money be spent on speakers alone.

I listened to the 7NTs on a whim and that was the biggest mistake I made. I did several A/B against the Studio 100s (superb speaker in my mind) and in the end, the CDM line had just that nth degree of detail, sound stage and accuracy over the Paradigm speakers. Problem was now I had to listen to the 9NTs. Bigger problem was I brought the wife in to listen (and view the sticker shock). I let her do the same A/B/C etc. comarison up the Paradigm line all the way to the B&Ws. I didn't tell her what I preferred.

Needless to say I just about had a heart attack when she said she liked the B&Ws the best and thought the price was good!!!! WTF, who slipped the mickey in her drink 8O

So, I ended up getting CDM-9NTs, CNT, 1NTs and ASW CDM at a pretty good price (closing out for the new 700 series). Even so, it was nearly 3 times what I had planned on spending for an entire system!

Now I'm asking for your help and keep me from listening to the Nautilis line!!! They've got a nice pair of Signature 800s in the next room at my local dealer.

[aphexist]

When I started looking to replace my Onkyo HTIB around October, I had decided on a 5.1 setup of 600 series speakers. I made the fortunate mistake of listening to a pair of 703s in the next room, and effectively doubled my budget for the front pair. I ordered a pair of 703s in late November.

When they hadn't come in by early Feb (due to backordered 700 series), I decided to upgrade to Nautilus 804s (at no extra cost).

I am hooked on them because they sound consistently good on any type of music I play on them. I prefered a pair of JMLab Electra 936, but they would have been out of my price range.

[Mark_C.]

Aphexist:

Sounds like you got yourself a pretty good deal! That's one thing I learned the hard way the first time I bought B&W speakers. I paid list price for my CDM7SEs, but that's because their are so few B&W dealers in my area and the store's clientele normally don't blink an eye at list price. I have since learned how to bargain, even with B&W dealers.

[Dan Schulze]

Here's my story,

I was installing some new equipment for work at one of our accounts (an advertising agency), and I saw these guys delivering a gorgeous sub for the audio system they were putting in. I got talking to them and found they were from Reno, NV (I live in Las Vegas). As luck would have it, my son was going to be going to college in Reno.

On one of my trips to Reno, I decided to check out this Home Theater store. As I walked in the store, one of the sales guys led me into towards the less expensive gear room. When I told him what I was looking to spend on upgrades, we changed course and went to their main demo room. In there was a set of 802's, a pair of 805's for the surrounds, and an HTM2 for the center channel, and of course that gorgeous sub, a Velodyne HGS-15 - I ended up buying a HGS-18.

After hearing the light-sabers and speeder chase (from Star Wars AOTC) on this system and some music the sales guys played, I was hooked on the sound. Since that time I researched B&W's and found out as much as I could about them.

I went on to audition many other speaker brands, (Monitor, Klipsch, Energy, Paradigm, JBL's, Martin Logan's), but always in the back of my mind was the B&W's. I thought often, if I didn't get the B&W's, would I truly be satisfied?

Anyway, in November 2003, I took the plunge and bought a pair of 802's, an HTM1, and a pair of 805's. When I had started to look at upgrades I had no intention of spending that much on speakers, but what can I say.

Now I am looking to upgrade my single 5 channel amp, to a couple of mono-blocks to power these things.

The fact that George Lucas had bought 5-802's for one of his new recording studios, didn't hurt matters!! (I also have seen a couple of photos of Alan Parsons' studio, and in the background is a couple of 802's.)

I have no plans of upgrading these speakers for a long time to come, if ever!!

Dan






I want to be SHAKEN not stirred!!
My Home Theater

[Bam!]

Hey B&W lovers!

I listened to a pair of 802 Nautilus...on Macintosh monoblocks that were 600watts each...Mac Pre amp.....

Freakin`WOW...however...the color of Macintosh I wasn`t a fan of but still WOW....

Question....What is it with B&W and the low frequencies that I don`t understand...The highs and mids are truly in another league...Crisp detailing....but the Bass :?

Don`t get me wrong the 802`s were not missing any...it is all the other B&W`s I`ve heard that the bass did not get me...

Is it only the Nautilus series at retarded amounts of $$$$ that sing or am I just not understanding all this...

Thanks so much!




Bam!

[Fife]

Hey B&W lovers!
Is it only the Nautilus series at retarded amounts of $$$$ that sing or am I just not understanding all this...

Th Nautilus series will only sing if you have loads of power to drive them.
For better $ value, you could try the older Matrix series or the 700/CDM NT series.

[greggz]

In college my roommate worked as an apprentice recording engineer at the School for Fine Arts. For their mixing setup they had a pair of Matrix 801's driven by Bryston 4B's.

I knew right then (1988 or 1989) that I wanted a pair of B&W speakers some day.

[sikoniko]

I had just quit AOL in 1997, and sold my stock. (we wont get into that), and i wanted to buy a home theater. I had been to SAMS warehouse and had always dreamed of owning the bose acoustimas surround that they had on their days of thunder demo. Dolby Digital and DVD had just come out at this point and there were like 5 dvd's available. I was the first person I knew to own one. It was the toshiba. dont remember the model number anymore.

I ended up trading my bose in for some monitors (dont remember the brand) and was still wanting more. I had boston acoustics in my car and thought they were good, so I was going to buy a set of floor standers for my room.

I went to sound advice to demo the speakers and they had a setup where I could push a button and change speakers to hear the differences between each.

I found the BA's I liked and they sounded great, or so I thought, but I figured I would compare them to this pair of b&w s1 603's they were standing next to. When I put it on the b&w, the music all of the sudden had more depth. I constantly switched back and forth to make sure I wasnt imagining it.

It was like the BA's were highs and lows, but no mid in comparison to the fullness of the b&w's.

I bought the 603's... then 604's.. then the as-6 sub, then the matrix htm center and now I have nautilus stuff in the front, same sub, and my 603's in the rear still. I plan to upgrade my 603's when I get a house and no what my needs are. Until then, the 603's will continue to sound good. I made an agreement w/ my fiance that the room would not bo suffocated by speakers all over the place, so I will most likely go w/ scm1, the 700 series dipole speakers, or built ins. As for a sub, Its already loud enough. probably too boomy and bloated, but Im going to wait until the house for that as well.