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804Ds and bass performance

I am on the verge of buying a pair of B&W 804Ds, but I have one reservation. I can only reach one dealer from where I live and they have a hopeless demonstration area and zero concept of good customer service. Having heard the 804Ds I have no sense for their bass quality and am concerned that this will be an issue for me going forward. On the plus side, I'm very impressed by their apparent clarity and wide, "3D" soundstage, and they look fantastic.

They will occupy a 23 x 21 room, and I am a fan of female vocals, acoustic instruments, quality electronic music (goldfrapp, daft punk etc) and limited r&b.

Basically, I don't want to wish I had more in the upper mid and bass department. I've heard that said about the old 804S, and I don't know whether this also an issue for the 804D so would like some help from anyone who has heard or owns the 804D. I fully understand that amplification, room acoustics etc and personal preferences are significant factors. I currently run B&W 604S3s with a NAD C272 (150W x 2) but the amp will be improved in future. I have a Def Tech Supercube 1 sub. I don't need gut wrenching bass (I realise how subjective this is!), I just don't want a speaker that the consensus would say was "lean" when compared to its peers.

I am also seriously considering the Sonus Faber Liuto (no issues in the bass department, but they don't seem to deliver the same full, uninhibited detail that the 804Ds did). I've auditioned and ruled out a lot of other speakers before getting to this point.

Any help out there from people who have lived with or auditioned the 804Ds would be immensely appreciated, thanks in advance.
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Showing 1 response by mark_nz

mark_nz
48 posts
 
A few years ago I upgraded from 804S to 803D because I could not get the bass performance I was looking for from the 804S. I suspect, but cannot verify first hand, that while the 804D bass will be better than the 804S, they are still likely to be slightly lean simply due to physics - the enclosure is not large enough to support deep bass.
Going back to my experience with 804S - brilliant on vocals, but not great on electronic music with decent bass.
On the other hand the 803D has more than satisfied me in terms of overall balance and bass quality. Even after 3 years it still surprises me with how deep it goes. What is also great is that the bass quality is retained at late night low volume listening levels.
So my suggestion is try to compare the 803D to 804D at the dealer to gauge whether the difference in bass weight is significant to you.
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