B&w 801

[suri]

Well, last time I asked .... you had tears in both eyes but still did not answer my questionhyeah: http://www.hifivision.com/diy/4250-all-speakers-i-made-suri-33.html#post134751

here is the (definitive answer) -

- 90 percent of people are right-handed-

- of these 3 percent are audiophile -

all of these (3 percent) are right-handed-

for right-handed audiophiles -

the left-brain is dominant -

so when these people are relaxed - listening to music -

their left-brain dominates - (is heavier in mass)

and causes (the locomotor system) to lean the head to the left!

so-

when the (said person) listens to mind-numbing music (!) - his head leans to the left-

and the tear hangs there

 

[murali]

think - very carefully - and exit

Yeah, time to exit.

Before that, just a few points, if I may:

(1) There is nothing wrong in owning a "monstrosity covered in black cloth", I mean the Vandersteens, as "knowledgeable" and "sensible" people in the audio circles always acknolwedge that they are some of the best designed multi-driver speakers and a great value for money. D-I-Y speaker manufacturing, as I have been following in this forum, looks to give more importance to the wood-work and the guy doing the carpentry work.
(2) Coming to the heart of the matter, I wonder how many will argue that Steve Deckert, the so-called guru of single driver speakers, designs and makes better speakers than John Dunlavy or the late Jim Thiel or Richard Vandersteen and several others.
(3) I too was driving a fantastic 2WD BMW till recently but now changed over a 4WD X-5 and therefore, know the difference.
(4) "Related to 18-wheel trucks", I will tend to destroy the decorum of this forum if I respond appropriately.
(5) And finally, you may be in the wrong side of 40 but I am up by another 10, so let us not split our hair here, provided there is still something left on top to split.

Recalling the old Simon & Garfunkel song, "People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening..."

I presume we have the liberty here to speak what others hear and not what others would like to hear.

The End.

murali

 

[venkatcr]

Do you folks consider Planars as a single driver OR infinite drivers ?

If you take the diaphragm, ribbon, and magnets used as drivers, then Planars have a finite number of drivers. At the same time, since the technology is different, would it be advisable to look at it that way?

Cheers

 

[suri]

I too was driving a fantastic 2WD BMW till recently but now changed over a 4WD X-5 and therefore, know the difference

sell that -

and buy - a second-hand - Honda NSX - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

why drive a truck? - when for the same money you could drive an iconic sports car?

i cannot understand your (proletariat) view?

oops! murali - perhaps you and i inhabit (two) very different (and inequitable) planets?

like - you are from MARS and i am from (mother) EARTH?

 

[Hari Iyer]

The acoustic output of a speaker does not depend upon the size of the woofer or the amount of RMS power (watts) it can handle but depends upon the sensitivity of the speaker. The more sensitive the speaker is the more loud it will sound at smaller volume levels. The sensitivity of the speaker is quoted in dB/Watts/Meter and should be typically within the range 87dB/w/m till 93dB/w/m. Anything lower than 87dB/w/m and you will have to invest in a higher power amplifer to drive the speaker system and anything higher than 93dB/w/m will cause it to be too loud at lower volumes. This will cause the amplifier to not reach their dynamic range there by reducing hi-fi qualities.

Regards, Hari

dude, the 801's require a minimum of 200wpc, preferably Class A amplification...

My krell is conservatively rated at 200 wpc (full class A).

If i have to do better than this, it'll have to be ML 333 or Krell FPB 300 or something. Having heard a Krell FPB 600 with 801s3 at another friend's place (who had it in a huge room in his bungalow) i found the sound stage becoming bigger... that's all...)

For apartments like mine in delhi and mumbai, the FPB 200 is optimal.... drives them dynamically , putting out a more than ample sound stage... I just can't complain!

 

[captrajesh]

anything higher than 93dB/w/m will cause it to be too loud at lower volumes. This will cause the amplifier to not reach their dynamic range there by reducing hi-fi qualities.

Is this true? I've read somewhere that first watt is the best watt. So is Nelson Pass wrong?

 

[doors666]

Is this true? I've read somewhere that first watt is the best watt. So is Nelson Pass wrong?

take it with a pinch of salt Also, what he says is what good is 500 watts of power if the first watt itself is crap.

 

[arj]

The acoustic output of a speaker does not depend upon the size of the woofer or the amount of RMS power (watts) it can handle but depends upon the sensitivity of the speaker. The more sensitive the speaker is the more loud it will sound at smaller volume levels. The sensitivity of the speaker is quoted in dB/Watts/Meter and should be typically within the range 87dB/w/m till 93dB/w/m. Anything lower than 87dB/w/m and you will have to invest in a higher power amplifer to drive the speaker system and anything higher than 93dB/w/m will cause it to be too loud at lower volumes. This will cause the amplifier to not reach their dynamic range there by reducing hi-fi qualities.

Regards, Hari

Actually this is only Part fact. eg a harbeth with 86dB can easily run with a 25Watter, but a BW in the 88-90dB needs at least 100 W
the sensitivity can be a deceptive number unless seen with the impedence and phase curves across the frequency ranges

Is this true? I've read somewhere that first watt is the best watt. So is Nelson Pass wrong?

nelson pass is not wrong, but the phrase is pretty contextual ! Nelson Pass's designs are mostly low power meant for speakers on the sensitive side.

 

[ajay124]

The acoustic output of a speaker does not depend upon the size of the woofer or the amount of RMS power (watts) it can handle but depends upon the sensitivity of the speaker. The more sensitive the speaker is the more loud it will sound at smaller volume levels. The sensitivity of the speaker is quoted in dB/Watts/Meter and should be typically within the range 87dB/w/m till 93dB/w/m. Anything lower than 87dB/w/m and you will have to invest in a higher power amplifer to drive the speaker system and anything higher than 93dB/w/m will cause it to be too loud at lower volumes. This will cause the amplifier to not reach their dynamic range there by reducing hi-fi qualities.

Regards, Hari

Personally,I would prefer speaker's with a senstivity in the 88-92 db range.Why pay extra bucks,big bucks,for ampllifying low senstivity 84-85 db speaker's.Higher than 92 db may also not be advisable.I have auditioned
Klipsch speakers which if I remember correctly were something like 94 db.The sound even with a modestly powerful integrated was bright and in your face.A one hour session would induce fatigue.
Does HiFi gear share the charecteristics of their country of origin
Japanese-technical marvels,hard to pin down any other charecteristic
British- mild,understated and well mannered
American-loud,brash,conscious of their 'super power' status
Canadian-cold,neutral,big sounding
Scandinavian-cold,remote and pure sounding
Italian-lush,bloomy,hedonistic
French-stylish,eccentric,romantic
Austrian-refined,classical (i'm biased because i own one and like it immensely)

 

[avidyarthy]

Does HiFi gear share the charecteristics of their country of origin

Austrian-refined,classical (i'm biased because i own one and like it immensely)

... second that .... including German AV gear ...

 

[captrajesh]

take it with a pinch of salt

nelson pass is not wrong, but the phrase is pretty contextual ! Nelson Pass's designs are mostly low power meant for speakers on the sensitive side.

anything higher than 93dB/w/m will cause it to be too loud at lower volumes. This will cause the amplifier to not reach their dynamic range there by reducing hi-fi qualities.

@doors666, Could you clarify as to what should be taken with a pinch of salt? The above statement or that of Nelson Pass?

@arj, My query is whether the above statement that the amp would have to play at a certain volume level to reach their dynamic range there by reducing hi-fi qualities.

 

[arj]

Personally,I would prefer speaker's with a senstivity in the 88-92 db range.Why pay extra bucks,big bucks,for ampllifying low senstivity 84-85 db speaker's.Higher than 92 db may also not be advisable.I have auditioned
Klipsch speakers which if I remember correctly were something like 94 db.The sound even with a modestly powerful integrated was bright and in your face.A one hour session would induce fatigue.

actually it depends on the amplification. Klipsch sounds fantastic with low power Tube amps.. I used to own one many years ago. was pretty in your face with regular SS electronics. but really something else with a Sugden Pure Class A

Does HiFi gear share the charecteristics of their country of origin
Japanese-technical marvels,hard to pin down any other charecteristic
British- mild,understated and well mannered
American-loud,brash,conscious of their 'super power' status
Canadian-cold,neutral,big sounding
Scandinavian-cold,remote and pure sounding
Italian-lush,bloomy,hedonistic
French-stylish,eccentric,romantic
Austrian-refined,classical (i'm biased because i own one and like it immensely)

I very much agree..these could be "house sounds".. remember a couple of other forum discussions in the past
Japanese is of 2 types. the regular Mass market, forget it
their Audiophile products are extremely refined/controlled and analogue sounding. very rarely Behemoths and never Brash. Pay a lot of attention to harmonic content and texture.
also
German - very detailed/precise and surprisingly have a romantic twinge !
Eastern European: pretty much like the austrian

 

[Asit]

Missing countries/regions (not including India, China, Taiwan etc):
France
Italy
New Zealand
Scandinavia


Regards

 

[ajay124]

@asit
New Zealand-cheesy,buttery,woolly
India-one foot in the east,one foot in the west.a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track
China-inscrutable,mysterious,powering into the future

 

[sonosphere]

@asit
New Zealand-cheesy,buttery,woolly
India-one foot in the east,one foot in the west.a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track
China-inscrutable,mysterious,powering into the future

Hi ajay,
How would you describe "Taiwanese sound" of Usher X-718 /Be-718 type of bookshelves? Have you heard these/
Regds,

 

[malvai]

Hiya folks....

Its been more than 3 months that I have been living with the B&W 801 S3's and I AM SO SATISFIED!

Nothing that I have heard in the interim - Nola, Wilson Watt Puppy or anything else for that matter has made me turn my head. All good stuff mind you, but the 801 JUST does everything right.

The upgraditis bug is very much dead for now!

 

[ajay124]

@Manav
"The upgraditis bug is very much dead for now!"

I am copy pasting from one of your earlier posts

"Now,as Chris Rea bottle necks his guitar and croons,I say its (upgrade) over!
And Mr.Rea sings: Fool if you think its over... Its just begun!

 

[shershah]

Very interesting thread!

Bowers & Wilkins are very highly regarded, and are supposed to be amongst the best for their offerings.

i would like to know if there are any better?

i mean, any other speaker that can be placed on a pedestal above the "most high"?

 

[ajay124]

@sonosphere
How would you describe "Taiwanese sound" of Usher X-718 /Be-718 type of bookshelves?

What I posted was more in the nature of light hearted banter.Not meant to be taken seriously.There may be some basis to the statement that people impart their personalities to the HiFi they build,but beyond that it would be difficult to pinpoint national traits and their impact on the HiFi manufactured in that country.In any case it would be difficult to identify national traits.There are many traits that people of every nation have in common.And many traits that are specific to a region,caused by religious beliefs,levels of education and prosperity,proximity to the sea,mountains,nature,and above all by climate.
Therefore one can't really say that Usher has a Taiwanese sound or not

 

[arj]

well although usher is a Taiwanese Co..the designer is an American. so any philosophy needs to be american as well