Summary: In my quest for great sound, it has lead me to these wonderful speakers. I have owned JVC, Infinity, and B&W 601s2, 602s2 and I must say the 805s are without a doubt the best I've ever owned and or listened to. The ability to render voices as sweetly and real as they do are fantastic. They seem to just disappear, but I'm glad they don't because they just look so cool. I have them paired with Martin Logan Grotto sub. I also have the matching 800 series center channel to complete the front end. I still have my old 601s2 serving as surround speakers. A friend of mine who has a respectable system of his own says that music sounds better through my B&W 805s.
Strengths: Clarity, soundstaging, voices, fit and finish, surpisingly deep bass(maybe tight bass is a better phrase)
Weaknesses: I'm tired of telling people they are not microphones on top of my speakers
Similar Products Used: JVC, Infinity, B&W 600 series
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Rating Reviewed by: Alan B(Unregistered User)
(AudioPhile)
Review Date November 3, 2006
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for Less than 1 month
Visitors rate this review 4.75 of 5,
4.00 votes
Review 3 of 5
Price Paid:
$0.00
Summary: I cannot believe the performance of these speakers. In the past I have owned speakers costing over twice as much SF Guarneri's, SF electa Amator, JM Lab 927Be but these are the most musically engrossing and 'right' sounding speaker ever. With my Musical Fidelity Nu Vista Amp and MF A5 Cd Player they produce a totally believable soundsatge that is both wide and deep. This is in a small 12'6"x10'6" room. They are superb on both large scale orchestral and small chamber music. They will rock with the best and female voices are stunning. Singers appear in the room as if by magic. Deep bass is missing but i believe that deep bass often clouds the music especially in a small room. It is well worth biwiring as it will bring out the last nuances and use of good quality front end and and cabling will bring it's rewards. They also look fabulous on their own dedicated stands. If I could give 6 stars I would!!
Strengths: Besides looks an engrossing sound with ALL the detail one could want.
Weaknesses: Pardon??
Similar Products Used: SF Guarneri's, SF Electa Amator, Proac Response 1SC, Proac Tablette, KEF 103.2, Celestion SL6 & 6S
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Summary: The sound from these bookshelf speakers is really quite incredible. Probably the best bookshelf speakers I have heard. Amazing bass for a speaker this size. The soundstage is excellent as well, midrange and highs are clear and crisp. I auditioned B&W 705, 704 and 805S and in the end sacrificed the bass of the 704 for the soundstage and clarity of the 805S. The sound of the 805 is more open and clear than the other two speakers. Music seems to explode from the speaker as opposed to sounding like it is coming from a box or tunnel in cheaper bookshelf speakers. Depending on what kind of music you listen to, the lack of low end bass is not an issue. If you are into jazz, classical and vocal, these speakers are excellent and the bass is sufficient. They work exceptionally well in smaller rooms. If you are into rock and roll or music with heavy bass, go for 703's or 704's instead, OR add a subwoofer to the 805S.
The 805 is really unique in the amount of sound and bass from such a small unit.
My setup is as follows :
Parasound HCA1200 amp (205 watts per ch)
Parasound PLD 1500 pre amp
Rotel 1072 CD player
NAD 405 am/fm receiver
MIT Bi Wire cables.
Strengths: Clarity of sound
-Bass for such a small speaker
-Sound stage and imaging
-Quality of construction
Weaknesses: -Price
-$600 stands (stand are required)
Similar Products Used: B&W 705
B& W 704
B&W 601S3
(Although none of these are really similar to the 805S)
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Summary: Please do not try to operate these speakers without bi-amplification. B&W speakers are generally quite power hungry, and reward you when you feed them enough power. After writing this review, I'm likely to go back to using my Parasound amplifier, which could essentially feed each speaker 400 watts vs. my current 120 watts fed from my Denon amplifier.
These are clear, strain-free speakers. They are an enormous improvement over the previous generation. I was allowed to make the direct comparison at the store through a Meridian system with a DD-12 subwoofer. The user is essentially guaranteed that when they hear bad sounds, the source of the problem is not the speaker.
These speakers are a phenomenal value. But their lack of bass requries the user buy an equivalently good subwoofer, and their power-hungry nature requires the user provide 4 channels of clean high power amplification. These two additionally required items are expensive, the reason I dropped the value rating by one star.
Though I've listened to these speakers with multiple setups, my current system is as follows:
Acoustic Research Interconnects
B&W 805S
Denon AVR-4800
Denon POA-5200
Monarchy Audio DIP 48/96 Upsampler
Philips SACD-1000
Toshiba SD9200
Tributaries Speaker Cable
Velodyne DD-12
Strengths: - Clarity
- Ease from strain
Weaknesses: - Bass
- Power hungry
Similar Products Used: B&W Nautlius 805
Definitive Technology BP2002TL
Sennheister HD 650
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