I bought my first B&W speakers, the 803 Nautilus Matrix, back in 2000 for about US$5K . They are holding up well and still sound incredible. The current generation 803 D4's cost US$22.5K, obviously quite a bit more but the technology has improved and also includes the separate enclosed midrange dome that was only available on the 801's and 802's back then. Can't wait to get the new 803's, hopefully soon.
back in the late 1970s i owned a pair of "Bowers & Wilkins DM6 Linear Phase Loudspeakers" the worlds first linear phase design ? that used stepped drivers keeping the Drive Unit Magnet part all aligned so Bass unit stuck out more than the Midrange and Tweeter further back. They had supplied "Sled Like" stands/feet. Used along with a "Yamaha CA 1010 amp, CT 1010 Tuner and Michell Hydraulic Reference turntable with SME 3009 tonearm and Shure V15 III mm Cartridge. What a huge factory!
Those are typical two- or three-way dome-tweeter/woofer-designs. Nothing special and no attempts are made to overcome their inherent shortcomings. Instead fancy materials and marketing babble is used as a thin veneer to cover up overpriced mediocrity and the layman is none the wiser.
Absolutely, you get what you pay for. Not like at the grocery store paying for a house brand of corn flakes with the same quality of the name brand. In this category (electronics) you aren't just paying for the name brand while getting the same quality buying something that had been made in China for cheaper. This name brand is totally quality what you would expect with the price of the speaker system.
Still running my DM602s from the late 90s... Technics SU-C800UM2 control amp Technics SE-A800SM2 power amp Technics SL-MC6 110 disc CD changer Bowers & Wilkins DM602 speakers
Nice cute little compact B&W speakers, said no-one ever! I got myself a used 5.1 set March 2022 or so, and they are magnificent. These are the regular square cross section speakers, they weigh a ton and stubbornly refuse to blend in with the furniture! But they sound great
Wow! You are so lucky to have seen various parts, I've watched many factory tours and B&W videos, you got to see some special stuff that no other videos show. I want to make a 21" version of the Nautilus cabinet (just sub) and this helped lots. They use a dutch Epoxy called 'Marlar' for the chassis of the Nautilus, but I didn't know the front plate was fibre impregnated. Very cool to see and thank you!
What is interesting in this report is to see that B&W manufactures, finally, assembles its speakers like at RCF in Italy. On the contrary, at JBL the speakers are also assembled, but Harman produces its own membranes including the famous aquaplass. The materials (cardboard, paper, cellulose) that make up the membranes are secret and generally manufactured by a specialist who only does that. It is high technology. In conclusion B&W controls the assembly line unlike assemblers who do not manufacture their loudspeakers. B&W is high-end.
Those are standard film-capacitors and thick air-core coils. Should be standard at that price point, or rather go active. So the components are ok, but their crossover-design is peculiar to say the least. Not at all designed to be linear and accurate, rather they emphasize certain frquencies and sell it to you as "signature-sound".
@@Niceaux_B I've seen enough measurements of B&W, particularly the 800 series. The coils don't have a ferrite core, hence air core. Film caps are standard in non-budget crossovers, usually polypropylene.
I have a set of 600’s. Not the expensive ones. On The Beach Boys album Pet Sounds you can actually hear the conductor tap his baton on the music stand. Bowers and Wilkins speakers are the reference speakers other speakers are judged by. If you are thinking about buying some but worried you cannot afford them then pickup a side hustle. I use mine for music and home theater. My ears thank me all the time!
Ihave the 684 speakers and when listening to some of the LSO Sibelius recordings you can hear the conducter humming ! I was amazed that this came to surface and now listen out for oddities when listening! Will look for the tap!
It’s the fifth Nautilus. The first come a couple of years after the original Nautilus-speaker. Before that you have the original 801 and 801 Matrix. Thank you for watching our videos 😊
As much as I appreciate the design and build quality I never have enjoyed any bowers and Wilkins speakers. I've had the 804 d and the smaller models. Sold them all.
Good choice, they are neither accurate nor innovative designs. Standard two- or three-ways with fancy materials and components, nothing more. Their midranges are nice drivers, but their crossover-design gives you the typical coloured "signature-sound". Genelec, Neumann and even other Hifi-brands like KEF will run circles around them, often at a lower price point.
"We take this thingy and mate it to that thingy over there, then we roll the whole thing through those doors over there where we can't go but they take another really big and heavy thingy and compress it so it makes it really hard and you can't see it here but they take the finished thingy we won't be able to see and put it in beautiful boxes and that's when you buy it." And yes, I make tons of money making these presentations because I have to be able to describe things in great detail. Thanks for coming."
I purchased Five 805s 20 years ago for my HT and music and they sound amazing paired with Rotel separates and SVS sub. A lot of money then, but even more money now.
Jeg har et par Quad Z3 høyttalere, som jeg er rimelig fornøyd med. Prisen i UK er ca £ 2500 for de, altså i direkte konkurranse med noen av B&W høytalerne. De er dog lite testet, men vet dere hvordan disse står seg opp mot B&W? Vel, jeg betalte 17K for mine og er vel derfor jeg har de.
Ok, seeing the thickness of the wiring from the inputs to the board we can clearly understand that those expensive connection cables are mostly marketing BS.
Samme hvor bra kassen er så får du ikke bra lyd uten at du har bra høyttalere å et delefilter som er tilpasset høytralerne bra med bra deler. Her er det alt for mange høyttaler fabrikker som kutter hjørner å gjør de alt for billig!
Har personlig hørt 801 D4, nyeste modell, og tror neppe det er kuttet noen hjørner akkurat der. De spiller infrasonisk bass og har en krystallklar, svært detaljert, ufarget diskant og mellomtone. Det eneste jeg ikke liker er utseendet, og prislappen.
B&W kutter dessverre også en god del på komponenter i de «billige» seriene, som mange andre produsenter gjør. Det hjelper dessverre lite at de produseres i stort antall. Dessverre ser dette ut som noe som er blitt vanlig, for jeg fant en kondensator fra Solen i mine billige(5000kr) høyttalere fra Energy for 20 år siden, selv om det var billige komponenter i delefilteret til de også, selvfølgelig.
@@PragmaticTornado801 D4 er vel en av de høyere modeller? Jeg har vært borti høyttaler til 8000 usd som var skuffende lagd! Dete er noe jeg uheldigvis ser offte. Naim fra enland har en cd spiller til kr.22.000 som ikke er lagd bedre inni eller har bedre kvalitet en den billigste dvd spillet dom jeg har. Super billig drivverk å et bitte lite print kort og de billigste rca plugger
@@PragmaticTornado Uheldigvis ser dette ut som noe som har blitt vanlig. B&W gjør også dette på billigere modeller! Billig å billig er de ikke da. Har sett mange relatift dyre høyttaler hvor de har gjort dette, kutter hjørner å lag de for billig
Can't understand anything the fat guy in the blue shirt says but cool video anyway and he looks like he'd be fun to drink with. So nice to see high quality workmanship. They've had a while to figure it out. Impressive.
Много самой разной акустики этой фирмы приходилось слышать. Вся она состоит из высоких технологий и отлично выглядит. Прекрасные технические параметры. И вся она плохо звучит, долго слушать невозможно - в звуке всегда присутствует кислая синтетика.
Yes they are totally revolting and without any visual appeal . IMO the early Quad Electrostatic Loud speakers set the bar for unobtrusive friendly looking units with a wonderful sound quality
What a joke. The thumbnail alone made me laugh but I skimmed through a few spots of this. "High end" is such a funny topic for people who actually understand how speakers work. The guy actually showed-off the large capacitors. Any full-range audio signal that passes through a passive crossover (as opposed to a serious setup which will use active crossovers and different amps / component speakers) like this is AUTOMATICALLY not "high end". This is just getting people who don't know any better to pay large sums of money for speakers that aren't any better than mass produced, general purpose speakers. All the way back to the 70s, I remember various brands and have always chuckled. A fool and their money are soon parted.
We have heard a lot of active and passive high end setups. Theres excellent versions of both. I don’t know what active speakers you have heard that are so much better than Bowers & Wilkins 801. Theres not many to choose from because 95 % of the speakers in the world are passive. If you build 801 active like Abbey Road Studio, the result will be better, but it cost a lot of money. If you like it easier with passive it’s essential to have a good passive crossover.
You can certainly build high-end passive speakers, but these B&W are not in that category. This nonsense about Abbey Road Studio gets thrown around a lot, but it doesn't matter. They're not used as studio monitors, as in speakers enigneered to be accurate and linear, which the B&W are most certainly not. Go to Neumann, Genelec, JBL etc. if you need actual pro-gear for music production.
@@canlib The components (drivers, caps, coils etc.) and cabinet are expensive and well designed, but the acoustic and electrical design isn't even worth a tenth of the price.
@@onecookieboy No it's with the speakers. They're overpriced and have a "signature-sound" that is anything but as accurate or "studio-grade" as B&W-fanboys so often like to believe. It's a standard dome/woofer-design with fancy materials and no attempts made to overcome its shortcomings.
@@iliketoast-q9b Studio grade often means just neutral sounding, many companies have a 'signature sound', most notably Bose (which I don't like at all) and personally I find most US speakers are bass heavy which I have grown tired of. Speaker tone is very subjective and cannot be measured with instruments, and a home speaker designed to be in an average sized and furnished living room is never going to sound right in an big, open space like a hifi fair, no matter how they try to insulate and isolate them.
@@onecookieboy Speaker-tone absolutely can be measured. Check out Floyd Toole's work and he even wrote an excellent book about it all. I'm not buying speakers to have a signature sound. Listening to speakers is not like eating at a fine restaurant, though listening to music of course is and there is a difference (production vs. re-production). Though mostly I don't buy them because I build them myself. Some hifi-fairs happen at hotels as well where rather tiny rooms are available. I've even heard speakers from Avantgarde-acoustics (the big ones) in a small-ish hotel room, sounded just fine if you like their sound. Also speakers like the 800-series can not be designed towards any particular room as they are all standard 1"-domes-above-some-5"-8"-woofers-type of designs with no ability to control directivity, which is what matters most for matching a room.
@@iliketoast-q9b I'm not going to argue with you, we obviously have different perspectives on listening to music. For me it's about the music, not so much as the intricacies of how it's made. I have a good friend who is a sort of audiophile, and whenever I go to visit he plays songs and music that compliments his audio setup, however, that isn't why I listen to music, I listen for the emotional reaction and how a song makes me feel, so I am not listening for perfect clarity, balance etc. All the best with your audio journey, I hope you find what you're looking for.
incredible factory, the quality is amazing. yet to experience listening to some B&W speakers
I bought my first B&W speakers, the 803 Nautilus Matrix, back in 2000 for about US$5K . They are holding up well and still sound incredible. The current generation 803 D4's cost US$22.5K, obviously quite a bit more but the technology has improved and also includes the separate enclosed midrange dome that was only available on the 801's and 802's back then. Can't wait to get the new 803's, hopefully soon.
This was such a joy watching the process to build speakers I’ll never own, but thanks for taking us along.
Outstanding build quality. I’m listening on a pair of B&W buds. Love them.🎼
Fantastic video. Thanks for the tour!
back in the late 1970s i owned a pair of "Bowers & Wilkins DM6 Linear Phase Loudspeakers" the worlds first linear phase design ? that used stepped drivers keeping the Drive Unit Magnet part all aligned so Bass unit stuck out more than the Midrange and Tweeter further back. They had supplied "Sled Like" stands/feet. Used along with a "Yamaha CA 1010 amp, CT 1010 Tuner and Michell Hydraulic Reference turntable with SME 3009 tonearm and Shure V15 III mm Cartridge. What a huge factory!
They are incredible in how they reproduce sound and worth every penny! On point ☝️
Those are typical two- or three-way dome-tweeter/woofer-designs. Nothing special and no attempts are made to overcome their inherent shortcomings. Instead fancy materials and marketing babble is used as a thin veneer to cover up overpriced mediocrity and the layman is none the wiser.
@@iliketoast-q9b I got to the "diamond tweeters" before I went "nope this is a joke." Bahaha
Absolutely, you get what you pay for. Not like at the grocery store paying for a house brand of corn flakes with the same quality of the name brand. In this category (electronics) you aren't just paying for the name brand while getting the same quality buying something that had been made in China for cheaper. This name brand is totally quality what you would expect with the price of the speaker system.
Still running my DM602s from the late 90s...
Technics SU-C800UM2 control amp
Technics SE-A800SM2 power amp
Technics SL-MC6 110 disc CD changer
Bowers & Wilkins DM602 speakers
Nice cute little compact B&W speakers, said no-one ever! I got myself a used 5.1 set March 2022 or so, and they are magnificent. These are the regular square cross section speakers, they weigh a ton and stubbornly refuse to blend in with the furniture! But they sound great
Now I understand why the 801 D4 costs around 393,000 SEK[~ €35,000).
Thanks for showing how it’s done.
Yeah, expensive manufacturing process, unnecessarily expensive materials, fancy finish. Not necessarily the sound itself.
@@lllllllllllllllllllll1lll1 I guess the sound is better than the weird look of those speakers.
Thanks for video and taking us the virtual tour
Thanks for showing They are something special. But I'm pretty happy with my 600 serie system I must say. All depends where you place them in your room
i have the old DM 602.5 S3 on s Rotel RA05. Not much but sounds live heaven.
Brilliant - Always liked the B&W DM7's
Thanks for this tour!
Hiend audio
Thank you for the tour.
I have a set of 803 Nautilus from 1999 and they play better and better with time.
I liked their work very dedicated and serious thanks I'll buy later nice sound quality 👌
Thank you for the English subtitles please keep doing that
pretty sure thats youtube them self :P
We try to do that on more of our videoes 😊
I've a set of 603 floorstanders, classic shape and very well made.
604 S2s here, UK made and they still hold their own. Enjoy your beautiful speakers.
Wow! You are so lucky to have seen various parts, I've watched many factory tours and B&W videos, you got to see some special stuff that no other videos show. I want to make a 21" version of the Nautilus cabinet (just sub) and this helped lots. They use a dutch Epoxy called 'Marlar' for the chassis of the Nautilus, but I didn't know the front plate was fibre impregnated. Very cool to see and thank you!
Veldig artig og interessant å se👍🏻
What is interesting in this report is to see that B&W manufactures, finally, assembles its speakers like at RCF in Italy.
On the contrary, at JBL the speakers are also assembled, but Harman produces its own membranes including the famous aquaplass. The materials (cardboard, paper, cellulose) that make up the membranes are secret and generally manufactured by a specialist who only does that. It is high technology. In conclusion B&W controls the assembly line unlike assemblers who do not manufacture their loudspeakers. B&W is high-end.
Those crossovers are sick.
Those are standard film-capacitors and thick air-core coils. Should be standard at that price point, or rather go active. So the components are ok, but their crossover-design is peculiar to say the least. Not at all designed to be linear and accurate, rather they emphasize certain frquencies and sell it to you as "signature-sound".
@@iliketoast-q9b How are you derive all of that by just looking at the outside? Genuinly curious.
@@Niceaux_B I've seen enough measurements of B&W, particularly the 800 series. The coils don't have a ferrite core, hence air core. Film caps are standard in non-budget crossovers, usually polypropylene.
What a Hi-Tech, facility!
Intressant. Det är som om de gör trumstommar. Man gör det på exakt samma sätt.
11:00
Seriously??? You just keep screws on the top of the speaker woofer? Is that the correct way?
Great videos. Very helpful procedure.
Thank you 😊
Hvor vanskelig er det å plassere en høyttaler som har lange spyd som stikker ut bak?
You shouldn't have speakers against a wall either way
Does it sound buttery or dynamic?
I have a set of 600’s. Not the expensive ones. On The Beach Boys album Pet Sounds you can actually hear the conductor tap his baton on the music stand. Bowers and Wilkins speakers are the reference speakers other speakers are judged by. If you are thinking about buying some but worried you cannot afford them then pickup a side hustle. I use mine for music and home theater. My ears thank me all the time!
Ihave the 684 speakers and when listening to some of the LSO Sibelius recordings you can hear the conducter humming ! I was amazed that this came to surface and now listen out for oddities when listening! Will look for the tap!
What is the output per channel from the amplifier?
Looks nice, but how does it sound ?
We got a listen also 😊 Bowers & Wilkins - gammel toppmodell mot ny
ua-cam.com/video/iW54qzpGn-E/v-deo.html
I would love to visit that factory:).
I like the older B&W speakers with normal box style cabinets...but not these goofy robot looking oddities.
Really simple fix then….. don’t buy them. Nobody cares about your opinion
Have you ever listen to the goofy, robot looking oddities?
@@K-Effect
Yes, they are nice with the correct pairing.
I’m still not grown-up enough to own a pair of beautiful B&W speakers
interesting to show video content like this, how they produce behind the screen..
I wonder how many Nautilius-serie speakers have been produced over the years.
And Thank You for the video!!
It’s the fifth Nautilus. The first come a couple of years after the original Nautilus-speaker. Before that you have the original 801 and 801 Matrix. Thank you for watching our videos 😊
@@Stereopluss
I remember exactly when the Nautilus series came on the market, I still have the original catalogs somewhere.
good video 👍
As much as I appreciate the design and build quality I never have enjoyed any bowers and Wilkins speakers. I've had the 804 d and the smaller models. Sold them all.
What do you like then? They look like high quality including the crossovers.
Good choice, they are neither accurate nor innovative designs. Standard two- or three-ways with fancy materials and components, nothing more. Their midranges are nice drivers, but their crossover-design gives you the typical coloured "signature-sound". Genelec, Neumann and even other Hifi-brands like KEF will run circles around them, often at a lower price point.
Very gOOD!!!
"We take this thingy and mate it to that thingy over there, then we roll the whole thing through those doors over there where we can't go but they take another really big and heavy thingy and compress it so it makes it really hard and you can't see it here but they take the finished thingy we won't be able to see and put it in beautiful boxes and that's when you buy it." And yes, I make tons of money making these presentations because I have to be able to describe things in great detail. Thanks for coming."
I purchased Five 805s 20 years ago for my HT and music and they sound amazing paired with Rotel separates and SVS sub. A lot of money then, but even more money now.
Jeg har et par Quad Z3 høyttalere, som jeg er rimelig fornøyd med. Prisen i UK er ca £ 2500 for de, altså i direkte konkurranse med noen av B&W høytalerne. De er dog lite testet, men vet dere hvordan disse står seg opp mot B&W? Vel, jeg betalte 17K for mine og er vel derfor jeg har de.
Very nice and one day I plan to own set maybe. 🙂
That's why I buy from Munich hi end from other loudspeaker manufacturers. Gryphon Audio..
Its simple here and easy there! So why are they so incredibly expensive theese days???? Lost my appetite when the price went up about160%😵
Nice production video. But no explanation of what that means to me as a potential buyer. I saw a bit of how it is done, but not why.
We tell a little bit more about this in our video that compare the old 800 with the new 801 ua-cam.com/video/iW54qzpGn-E/v-deo.html
Ok, seeing the thickness of the wiring from the inputs to the board we can clearly understand that those expensive connection cables are mostly marketing BS.
Wire gauge is determined by the length of the run, and the power it will handle.
@@TheCyberMantis They're overbuilt in so many ways while lacking basic improvements on the typical dome/woofer-design with all its shortcomings.
You are paying a lot of money for that fancy cabinet. Part art, part sound. If you like the way they look, then maybe it is worth it to you.
1:29
Platen is with one T not 2
15 ans que je possède des 800 nautilus jamais je pourrais m'en séparer fonctionne avec du jeff rowland et dac perfect wave.
Exceptionnel.
amazing quality and sound but i find their shapes repulsive for some weird reason :)
Зачем они поролон на провода натянули? он же посыпится лет так через 5
Too bad they don’t stain the walnut version. It would look stunning especially since walnut wood gets lighter with age.
Really nice, built so well, never had the pleasure to listen to this model801,most likely never will
The 800 series are the only models made in the UK. All the others are made in China, and they should bring manufacturing back and employ UK citizens.
👌👌👌👍
Wow, so impressive. Latley it feels that their expensive speakers are as awesome as ever but their cheaper models has fallen short in the reviews.
Most reviews are positive.
@@MrsZambezi ok, enough for me to react. But thats good
Wow .. ur lucky guy
they dont look like they should cost as much as a tesla. the manufacturing process cant be as intense
Please..... Gloves would have been appreciated... Next time
Lol i was thinking the same. I dont think mr wilkins and mr bowers would be happy with that bald man
Samme hvor bra kassen er så får du ikke bra lyd uten at du har bra høyttalere å et delefilter som er tilpasset høytralerne bra med bra deler.
Her er det alt for mange høyttaler fabrikker som kutter hjørner å gjør de alt for billig!
Har personlig hørt 801 D4, nyeste modell, og tror neppe det er kuttet noen hjørner akkurat der. De spiller infrasonisk bass og har en krystallklar, svært detaljert, ufarget diskant og mellomtone. Det eneste jeg ikke liker er utseendet, og prislappen.
B&W kutter dessverre også en god del på komponenter i de «billige» seriene, som mange andre produsenter gjør.
Det hjelper dessverre lite at de produseres i stort antall.
Dessverre ser dette ut som noe som er blitt vanlig, for jeg fant en kondensator fra Solen i mine billige(5000kr) høyttalere fra Energy for 20 år siden, selv om det var billige komponenter i delefilteret til de også, selvfølgelig.
@@PragmaticTornado801 D4 er vel en av de høyere modeller? Jeg har vært borti høyttaler til 8000 usd som var skuffende lagd! Dete er noe jeg uheldigvis ser offte.
Naim fra enland har en cd spiller til kr.22.000 som ikke er lagd bedre inni eller har bedre kvalitet en den billigste dvd spillet dom jeg har. Super billig drivverk å et bitte lite print kort og de billigste rca plugger
@@PragmaticTornado Uheldigvis ser dette ut som noe som har blitt vanlig. B&W gjør også dette på billigere modeller! Billig å billig er de ikke da. Har sett mange relatift dyre høyttaler hvor de har gjort dette, kutter hjørner å lag de for billig
Finally learn how to make tweeters so they don't break😂
🙋♂🎼🎶🎵💖👍👌
So that's why they cost like a car
I'm willing to bet they didn't give you free samples.
That would have been something ;-) But... No one does.
Touch, listen, review and send back, that's the drill.
Интересно сотрудники могут позволить себе такие колонки
если возьмут кредит
то возможно что да
отстегнуть 20 000 + в раз за колонки ---- слишком дорогое удовольствие
Can't understand anything the fat guy in the blue shirt says but cool video anyway and he looks like he'd be fun to drink with. So nice to see high quality workmanship. They've had a while to figure it out. Impressive.
Профессионалы, критикуют вас за неправильно спроектированные разделительные фильтры- обоснуйте.
Зачем такой низкий срез вверху?
Hello
Too expensive
I'm sure someone will reverse engineer them
No way I'm letting a Dalek in my house.
За такие бабки- должен быть внешний кроссовер с регулировками- иначе это красивая, и недоделаная система.
Look like council rubbish bins
They might sound great (I have no idea) but the look really puts me off.
theres no reason for them to cost more than a car---ridiculous
ABSURD PRICES !!!!!!!!!!!
Du må ha mahogni rød eller hva de heter når du først bruker så mye penger på en høyttaler. Hvit eller sort blir for simpelt spør du meg.
0:33 ni ni un
Bose ok
Много самой разной акустики этой фирмы приходилось слышать. Вся она состоит из высоких технологий и отлично выглядит. Прекрасные технические параметры. И вся она плохо звучит, долго слушать невозможно - в звуке всегда присутствует кислая синтетика.
I think that's called a personal preference not a fact or could even be a setup issue
Не замечал такого.
Дядины DM4 1973 года выпуска по прежнему звучат обалденно. Мои DM602 S2 тоже, но конечно хуже, чем у него.
In English PLS!!!!!
There are subtitles
The design look more like a design line then a performance requisite.... Not a fan.
PLEASE write the title in the language being spoken!!!
Some of us hate reading subtitles....
It`s spoken more english than norwegian in the video. So you need subtitles if you don`t speak both languages
chinese made model have QC problem
The 800-models are made in the UK.
i lie,.. i like it,... but,... cant afford it,..god,.... gift it to me,.... !!
ใครสนใจธุรกิจเครื่องเสียงบ้างลำโพง
People who listen to high end audio.
The new designs are really ugly
Yes they are totally revolting and without any visual appeal . IMO the early Quad Electrostatic Loud speakers set the bar for unobtrusive friendly looking units with a wonderful sound quality
What a joke. The thumbnail alone made me laugh but I skimmed through a few spots of this. "High end" is such a funny topic for people who actually understand how speakers work. The guy actually showed-off the large capacitors. Any full-range audio signal that passes through a passive crossover (as opposed to a serious setup which will use active crossovers and different amps / component speakers) like this is AUTOMATICALLY not "high end". This is just getting people who don't know any better to pay large sums of money for speakers that aren't any better than mass produced, general purpose speakers. All the way back to the 70s, I remember various brands and have always chuckled. A fool and their money are soon parted.
We have heard a lot of active and passive high end setups. Theres excellent versions of both. I don’t know what active speakers you have heard that are so much better than Bowers & Wilkins 801. Theres not many to choose from because 95 % of the speakers in the world are passive. If you build 801 active like Abbey Road Studio, the result will be better, but it cost a lot of money. If you like it easier with passive it’s essential to have a good passive crossover.
You can certainly build high-end passive speakers, but these B&W are not in that category. This nonsense about Abbey Road Studio gets thrown around a lot, but it doesn't matter. They're not used as studio monitors, as in speakers enigneered to be accurate and linear, which the B&W are most certainly not. Go to Neumann, Genelec, JBL etc. if you need actual pro-gear for music production.
801 35K
802 15k
Per pair.
Probably double what they're worth.
@@canlib The components (drivers, caps, coils etc.) and cabinet are expensive and well designed, but the acoustic and electrical design isn't even worth a tenth of the price.
Fine høyttalere.... Synd bare, at hørselen som kan rettferdiggjøre anskaffelsen av slike, blir borte etter 35 år ☝☝🤢🤢
Why is it sick? Stupid wrong use of an irrelevant word! Please respect this Heritage brand by using an appropriate superlative! Cheers
very high price for a mediocre sound., I think the high price is found in the high salaries of the employees and not in the products.
Many will disagree that is mediocre sound. With a good and powerfull amplifier these speakers sound excellent 😊
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sometimes i wish they did some oldschool designing again i dont like the newer model designs remember the 800 diamond series sjeez those where sexy af
Sollte es zu wenig Abnehmer geben, wäre ich bereit ein paar in Pflege zu nehmen.
Ich wäre euch zu ewigem Dank verpflichtet.
bad sounding speakers. listened to at the hifi fair and was disappointed
The problem is not likely to be the speakers, more likely the listening space or the listeners ears.
@@onecookieboy No it's with the speakers. They're overpriced and have a "signature-sound" that is anything but as accurate or "studio-grade" as B&W-fanboys so often like to believe. It's a standard dome/woofer-design with fancy materials and no attempts made to overcome its shortcomings.
@@iliketoast-q9b Studio grade often means just neutral sounding, many companies have a 'signature sound', most notably Bose (which I don't like at all) and personally I find most US speakers are bass heavy which I have grown tired of. Speaker tone is very subjective and cannot be measured with instruments, and a home speaker designed to be in an average sized and furnished living room is never going to sound right in an big, open space like a hifi fair, no matter how they try to insulate and isolate them.
@@onecookieboy Speaker-tone absolutely can be measured. Check out Floyd Toole's work and he even wrote an excellent book about it all.
I'm not buying speakers to have a signature sound. Listening to speakers is not like eating at a fine restaurant, though listening to music of course is and there is a difference (production vs. re-production). Though mostly I don't buy them because I build them myself.
Some hifi-fairs happen at hotels as well where rather tiny rooms are available. I've even heard speakers from Avantgarde-acoustics (the big ones) in a small-ish hotel room, sounded just fine if you like their sound. Also speakers like the 800-series can not be designed towards any particular room as they are all standard 1"-domes-above-some-5"-8"-woofers-type of designs with no ability to control directivity, which is what matters most for matching a room.
@@iliketoast-q9b I'm not going to argue with you, we obviously have different perspectives on listening to music. For me it's about the music, not so much as the intricacies of how it's made. I have a good friend who is a sort of audiophile, and whenever I go to visit he plays songs and music that compliments his audio setup, however, that isn't why I listen to music, I listen for the emotional reaction and how a song makes me feel, so I am not listening for perfect clarity, balance etc. All the best with your audio journey, I hope you find what you're looking for.
THESE SPEAKERS ARE BEAUTIFUL BUT THEY DON'T NEED TO BE SO EXPENSIVE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.. THE PRICE IS NOT WORTH THE BOOM
Still MASSIVELY OVERPRICED!! just like most of the "High-End" hi-fi components out there 🙄🙄🙄