Hey everyone... curious on your thoughts between a set of Dynaudio Focus 600XD vs B&W 804D2 speakers. The Dynaudio are obviously amplified, the 804's would be run off my Cambridge CXR200 (170 wpc).
Over all, which would be a better set up for music and HT fronts? Thanks!
The Dynaudio speakers have a midrange bloom type of sound. The midrange is very full and strong and forward and lively (probably more forward towards the upper mids). This type of character extends into the tweeter area as well. The tube-like bloom is not very accurate, but it is loud, exciting and lively. Very strong and forward presentation.
The B&W D2 series have very clear and accurate highs, due to the diamond tweeter. The bass is good and tight. Mids are somewhat soft/warm and a touch laid back (due to the Kevlar driver), but they are very natural sounding. It represents how a voice sound "naturally" much better. Overall, I think the B&W is a more accurate and natural sounding speaker, but not as lively/strong as the Dynaudio.
^^^ Older Dynaudios were balanced as described BUT all new Dynaudio’s have been voiced much closer to nuetral with amazing resolution and ability to dig deep into a recording!If you look at the specs Dynaudio has lightened up the bass just a touch and removed that midbass hump.The new coating process has delivered tweeters that are extended and very refined,more so than the B&W’s...They can now also be run with lower powered tubes as the impedance corrected crossovers result in a extremely linear load...My money would go towards Dynaudio's...
You are right, the "new" Dynaudios have been voice much closer to neutral (no longer have a "bloom"). They are smoother and much more controlled. However, I don't know that I fully agree that the tweeters are better than B&W. The new Dynaudio tweeters are very clear and clean. (The Op was asking about the Focus 600XD, which is the old Dynaudio sonic signature).
The B&W Diamond tweeters have a "bite" to the sound that kind of reaches out and grabs you. The "new" Dynaudio has a clearer and more solid sounding midrange than the B&W D2.
In my opinion, the B&W would have a much more exciting sound for HT, and I think it still sounds more "natural" than the new Dynaudio.. The "new" Dynaudio has a much more controlled and linear response, probably leaning more towards the Sonus Faber type of sound.
I think it depends on your tastes and what type of sound you're looking for.
I think your AVR would be fine. It is 170 watts per channel into 8 ohms, or 270 watts into 4 ohms WHEN ONLY 2 SPEAKERS ARE DRIVEN. Or it is 120 watts per channel when all 7 speakers are driven. This is still a good size shared power supply. You are never going to use all power for all speakers concurrently.
The 804 is considered an 8 ohm speaker, but the impedance will drop down to 3 ohms (not entire sure where). I think you may start having challenges with an amplifier that is 100 watts or less, but it still would work. With your specific AVR, I think you are fine. If you really wanted to, you could always attach an external amplifier using the Left/Right Pre Outs.
Freedriver, a few reasons: I guess I just presumed the 804's would be a better speaker than a passive Dynaudio. Size, I didn't want an overly large tower. Both were available and about the same price.
I love over the look of the 804's, and I guess I would prefer them. But, if my CXR wouldn't sufficiently run them, I'd throw the 600 XD in the mix. Then, the AVR would just just run my center and process everything.
Another option is a Focal 1028 BE 2... ugh, so many options!!!
I’ve owned the 804D2’s for about 3 years. I ran them for HT and 2-channel listening, prior to building a separate HT passthru, dedicated 2-channel setup. They are more efficient than many Dynaudio’s, but it was not until I put the 804’s on a McIntosh MC452 that they really opened up. I ran them with a couple different McIntosh integrated’s, prior to the MC452, and also ran them on a B&K 200.7 when I used them in my HT. Frankly, for my personal listening tastes, I was never a fan. For HT they were fine, but that seemed a waste to me, at the time $7500 for HT R/L. I viewed them as an ex-girlfriend I really wanted to like, but just continually disrespected me and was happy to see them go.
I now run Dynaudio Confidence C4’s, not quite an apples to apples comparison, but I lean towards the Dyn sound, it’s just my preference. Ultimately, it is your money and listening preferences that drive your decision, I would throw caution to the wind and that my experience with the 802’s was that 200w was not enough power to drive them properly.
@toddcowles - The B&W D2 is going to be a slightly warm/soft response in the midrange because of the Kevlar. The B&K 200.7 is an great amp with high current, but it is extremely warm sounding (I had this exact amp in the past). I can totally see where the combination of these two items would sound very lackluster. The McIntosh would probably do better, but still the McIntosh is not a very fast amplifier - McIntosh will lean toward a full and warm midrange (but probably not as extreme as B&K). The D2 series would do much better with amps such as Krell, Classe (new stuff), or Bryston or Plinius.
The B&W D2 series really needs a high current amp with very fast resolution. The Cambridge CXR 200 should be just fine as the Cambridge has a faster and more dynamic sonic signature.
B&W 800 series would be a poor pairing with most AVR. In order to get the proper sound out of them you need high current amp which can double down power from 8ohm to 4ohm and ideally another double down to 2ohm. Without going into math science, above is primary reason why @toddcowles experience great improvement when switching to Mcintosh (besides the factor that its a great amp). I agree with other's suggestion that you'll need a dedicated power amp besides your AVR to pair with B&W 804. To offer you my own experience, I tried using my B&W 805S with Marantz SR7011 160W AVR and I got thin bright sound with poor oomp. This is primarily because the 800 series speakers start dropping in ohm (higher resistance) as the frequency range drops (midrange to bass), the Marantz AVR doesn't have enough current in 6-4ohm range to keep up so the result is that the higher frequency (less resistance at 8ohm and above range) stand out causing the bright sound. Switch to a 'high current' Marantz HD AMP1 that has 35watts 8ohm and double downs to 70watts 4ohm brings the speakers to proper level of performance. Sorry if too much technical info, bottom line, B&W 800 series speakers are current hungry and AVRs don't have enough current to drive them properly.
@auxinput Unfortunately, I never listened to them on the amps you’re referring to. I think I may have auditioned them on a 600w Classe 2-channel and A/B’ed with the McIntosh, if my aging memory is serving me right. But, by that point, I was a McIntosh fanboy and blinded by the blue meters. No one could tell me otherwise and this was long before I had even heard of Audiogon.
Focal 1028 BE is a great option. I think I'd go Focal over either the Dyns or B&W. My Dyns seem to start hurting my ears after listening for not all that long. Also, the new(ish) Focal Aria series are getting great reviews. Also look for a nice used set of Revel F208.
Hey everyone... I just realized I made a newbie mistake... The B&W I am considering are the 804 D3, the newest version. NOT the D2 version. Idk if the above comments will still apply to both the D2 and D3 versions.
I apologize for wasting your time for those that helped me!
I’m still contemplating the 804D3’s and the 1028’s. The Revel are a little too tall (I need a tower 43" or shorter).
If I may add... My current set up sounds decent at med to higher volumes. At lower volumes, which I listen to the most, doesn't sound that good.
My my car on the other hand, has an amazing (factory) sound system. It sounds incredible no matter how quiet, or loud I play it. I would LOVE to replicate that in my house.
Is this a speaker quality issue, or are the car systems just like that because they're built around the acoustics of the car?
That's why receivers used to have a "loudness" button on them! IMO, it helps for speakers to be physically large with respect to sounding decent at low volume levels.
I understand you have concerns about large towers, but considering that you stated that you mostly listen at lower volumes, in my opinion, you might reconsider. With your stated desire for speakers that sound nice and full range at low volumes, there are two sets of Dali Helicon 400 Mk2 available on Audiogon now, at the ~$2,500 price range. I just read some reviews, and they specifically mention how good they sound at low volume levels. And I don't think the 400 Mk2 are much, if any, larger than the 804D2. Actually, after reading up on these Epicon 400 Mk2, I'm considering a set of them to replace my Dynaudios that are in my bedroom system.
I have very little experience with subs, so I'm not the best person to ask. But my guess is, yes, a sub would be able to fill in the lower octave at low volume levels.
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