B&W 802D (or 800D or 801D)

[mobilemozart]

Hey everybody,
just registered to gearslutz after having enjoyed reading it for a long time - this is my first post!! Great people, good topics - love it!

I'm writing/producing R&B/Hip-Hop/Pop, doing most of the production in my Logic Pro-based Project Studio in Germany. For the past few years I have used Dynaudio BM6A's as my main monitors (nearfield distance).

For the final 2% of quality I used to take my DAW to a really good mastering studio to put the final touches on the mix by going through the production track by track, finetuning EQ, Compression and Rooms (all ITB) and then using the finest DA's, worldclock and analogue compressors to finalize the mix & master.

Here's a link to that studio:
http://www.soundstudion.com/master.htm

They have B&W 801's and thats how I fell in love with those speakers.

I am now thinking of putting a pair of B&W 802D's in my Project Studio. Basically because I want to get more control over what I'm doing. I'm really happy with the BM6A's though, but I feel to really go a step up in clarity, frequency response and dynamic, it takes the B&Ws. I've worked quite a lot with Dynaudio M2's, but they come nowhere near the B&W 801.
My room is quite good acoustically and big enough to freely place a pair of speakers in the room, with about 2 - 2,5m listening distance while there is still 1m left to the back wall and also 3m left and about 5m right to the next wall.

I'd love to get some opinions regarding 802D versus 800D versus 801D. Also, what's the minimum I should invest in amps? Do the 801D's need a bigger room etc.
To be honest, I haven't heard the 802D, only the previous 801 and that was in a very very good room (mastering suite, as mentioned before).
Obviously it would be nice getting away with the 802D (12K € vs 16K € for the 800D vs 20K € for the 801D), but also I don't wanna miss out on anything...

Any thoughts and suggestions welcome!
Marc

[StudioTinPanAll]

i heard a lot that the 801 needs a really big room
the b&w's live or die depending on what amp you use
minimum : bryston 4b
better : passlabs, halcro, perraux or chord

i have the old 808 (two 801's in 1 enclosure)
i feed them with a meyersound ms-1000 each (1200W each)
they really need it !
my old 802 matrix gets 400W each delivered by a couple of onkyo 5550 's

grtz, and succes with the b&w 's

wim

[danasti]

Hello -

Make sure your room is very well designed first and you have a large enough space for a floor standing full range. They can cause massive vibration in a studio. If you are buying those as tracking/mixing monitors you need to know they can get very boomy in the wrong room.

At that price point you can't overlook soffit mounting or a customized design. You can't overlook ATC. Augspurger. I would personally put an almost equal amount of money into the room as the monitors if I were approaching 20k euro or dollar and I would most definetely hire someone and get a few outside opinions monitoring.

It's just that important.

I've heard most of the B & W you mention. I've heard them sound amazing in a mastering room and like the biggest pile of butt in a audiophile's home. But audiophiles don't care what they sound like cause they look cool plus they'd rather talk about their $10,000 magma infused cables, right? We actually have our children starve if our monitors don't work correctly - only (half) joking...

Good Luck!

Originally Posted by mobilemozart

Here's a link to that studio:
http://www.soundstudion.com/master.htm

They have B&W 801's and thats how I fell in love with those speakers.

Any thoughts and suggestions welcome!
Marc

[mobilemozart]

Originally Posted by danasti

We actually have our children starve if our monitors don't work correctly - only (half) joking...

Good Luck!

Very well said, danasti, we can't afford to fail. I will definitely get a specialist to have a look at my room.
And maybe consider getting the less expensive 802D to invest a bit more in treating the room.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by StudioTinPanAll

the b&w's live or die depending on what amp you use
minimum : bryston 4b

Actually, if you asked the B&W folks what the "minimum" recommended amp for a pair of 800-series speakers is, they'd probably suggest a Rotel RB-1080 or RB-1090, either of which costs significantly less than a Bryston 4B SST.

Of course, that's because B&W and Rotel share the same US distribution company. I've heard 800D's and Nautilus 800's driven by a Rotel RB-1090, and it's an excellent combination... nice "synergy" as the posers who write for Stereophile would say.

Yeah, I'd probably rather have the Bryston if I had the cash.