B&W 800d's or MAGICO V3's?


considering a move from my 800d's to the V3's? is this a side ways move or will it be a big improvement?
koegz
Firstly you have great speakers so if you never ever changed I would understand as that would probably be the most sensible thing to do. As others have said you are changing for teh sake of changing. However, perhaps you have the 7 year itch.

What can I say about the B&W 800d's if I were to nit pick.

1) They are bass extended with a port at 40 Hz (this will not be quite as tight as a sealed box or a pro design that uses a port for higher efficiency or a subwoofer without port for the bottom octave) On the upside you get fantastic powerful bass - probably ideal for HT - but it may cloud or muddy the lower midrange except in large rooms.

2) The B&W midrange is exceptional - but it has one weakness - it is too large for a midrange and it beams. Therefore you get a weak presentation off axis from about 1 Khz to 3 Khz with most B&W's of this type and the 800d is no exception. When the dome tweeter kicks in around 4 Khz you suddenly get a proper presentation (wide dispersion off axis) and this tends to make for a relative sudden boost at these frequencies (remember you hear the primary direct and the off axis reflected signal which are combined to give an overal audio presentation to your brain - so things will jump out at you a bit more than they should - and this helps sell as it dinstinguishes B&W's and gives them their "detailed" but polite sound). In essence this type design is called the classic "BBC Dip" and although a coloration it is EXTREMELY popular - it is associated with a warm and less harsh sound - seeing as it is used in many of the most susccesful speakers on the planet - again not a real issue and if you like classical this is a great presentation!

Nothing to worry about. The above is in the category of extreme nit picking. (looking for faults when there really aren't any - as this is B&W's best speaker by far)
Koegz,

Really, I think you are just looking for a more open and transparent full range sound. Sonus Strads certainly fit the bill, but I'm not sure you necessarily have to spend that much to get what you're looking for. I would think twice or three times before starting there. Even if cost is no option, you want to make sure the speaks fit the room before springing.

Also, I'm noticing your listening room with the speakers set up around the corner and what appears to be mirrored walls. This does not look optimal for your B&Ws from what I can see. It appears you are trying to enable a wider soundstage with this configuration and that maybe size of the soundstage is a problem for you. Maybe try a different configuration with speaks at various distances apart near a shorter dimension wall? Some room treatments might help even once the placement is optimized, though that would be secondary. I don't think the refined very British timbre of the B&Ws are a mismatch per se to your room acoustics from what I can tell. though, so I do not think that is likely a problem.

I can't really tell how big the room is. Maybe the speaks just do not have the room to breathe and image well needed?

If so, you might consider something smaller even possibly, and possibly LESS expensive with a good sub if needed to extend back to the range of the B&Ws or perhaps even better.

I owned B&W P6's. Not as high end or large as yours, but I found even they needed a larger room to sing. If I had the right room, I would probably still have them because I did like what they did when set up properly. Unfortunately, I did not have a suitable room to put them in so they went.

B&Ws are not best in class in terms of being FAST or transparent though, I have found. Listen to them next to any pair of decent Triangles or Maggies and you will hear what I mean.

For large, full range sound stage without sub and flexibility in placement in various rooms, the Ohm Walsh speaker line is the most cost effective option I know of. I own two pair that helped send both Maggies and B&Ws out the door in my application.
Dear Koegz, I don't know how you can make an opinion on the V3 with the advice of A'goners that haven't even heard them in a similar setup as yours. I would be lost.