B&W 805 to 804

I used to have N804s and I am upgrading to 803Ds, but....In the meantime my dealer gave me a set of 805s while I save up the rest of the money for the 803Ds, so I don't go clinically insane..I am listening to them now actually, and they are nice, very nice for the $$. But IMO not even in the same league as the 804 bass-wise. Don't get me wrong, they are nice, very clear and have the B&W signature sound, which is very enjoyable to me. But these little monitors have taught me one thing, there is reason there are floorstanders and monitors. I notice differences not only in the bottom end but also the midrange richness, being less with the 805s. For what they are they are outstanding, but you will notice a significant difference with 804s no doubt.

The 805s was one of the first speakers I fell in love with, and I have always been a fan of the 804. I have to tell you though that I recently heard 804's with these VAS Audio EL34 based mono-blocks and the combination was OUTSTANDING. I had heard the 804's on Rotel and McIntosh before and these little monos wiped the floor with them. It's all about system matching in this game and let me tell you this combination is ridiculously musical.
The 804's have no right to sound the way they do at 4K retail. Incredible bass- liquid midrange- detailed top end with 0 fatigue. Check it out!!!

www.vasaudio.com

-J

just to add my 2 cents...i have owned both the 805s and 804s. my room is 16 x 22. I felt the 804s was definitely worth the upgrade because of its fuller sound. I listen to low volumes, usually around 60-70db so low level detail is absolutely critical for me. I felt the 804s performed well in this area. Even though the 805s is nice, when pushed with challenging music, it can sound strained and thin, as if it is trying too hard to keep up, which it is.

Give the 804s a good amp and you should be very happy...also think about room treatments, especially in a square room.

Thanks for the feedback guy's. I hope to have them by next week. I'll let you know the results.

i upgraded from 805S to 804S about a year ago for use in a smaller room than yours, seated at a closer distance than you describe. i agree with earlier comments that the 804S perform very well even in a "near-field" environment. playing at low level was not an issue. biggeest improvement was much tighter and deeper bass. i was using a BAT VK-75 amp and BAT VK-31 pre with very good results.

the 805S's are amazing monitors, but i think you would find the 804S a noticeable improvement. i did.

If you are thinking of buying the newer 804S and not the Nautilus 804, I'd say yes, go for it. It would be a real nice upgrade and I don't think your room size will be a hinderance.

The upgrade will be well worth it. Contrary to popular belief, well designed large speakers do not need to be played loud in order to sound good. It is actually the other way round, they sound so good and lively (transient response) that you can't help the urge to turn them up. Small two way speakers start distorting and compressing much sooner than larger three way speakers and that is the reason nobody likes to crank 'em and you never see these designs in a nightclub.

Another factor is that smaller designs are often intentionally built to sound "big" in the bass at low levels (recall equal loudness curves and that big bass sound in a small box sells speakers - usually a hump between 75 and 100 Hz does the trick but this will sound bloated at higher levels and drown out the lower mid range often with copious amounts of distortion).

Larger speakers tend to be more balanced and therefore sound good at all levels but may require the use of "loudness" or a little bass lift at extremely low levels to match what you are used to hearing from their smaller bretheren.

The upgrade difference will probably be most noticable with better clarity on male vocals...i.e. in the region of lower mid range.

In my experience, the size of the speaker doesn't have much to do with how well it performs at low volumes.

I had N804s in my 14x13 room and they worked well although in the end, I wanted more bass extension. In your case, I don't think you will have that problem! The 804S is supposed to have more bass and a bigger sound than its predecessor.

Arthur

If you have a 15' x 15' room, you have bigger problems than choice of speaker!
That being said, the only thing you will benefit from is a more extended low end, but then again, your room will play havoc with that!

Regards,
Bruce