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Why hasn’t B&W ever entered the ultra hi-end for speakers?

Being one of the biggest speaker manufacturers in the world and arguably some of best sounding, they have never gone past their 800 series and produced anything beyond that point. Don’t get me wrong, $30k ( 800 D3 ) is expensive and most people wouldn’t be able to afford to pay that much for a pr of speakers even if they wanted to, but in today’s market that really isn’t considered ultra hi-end considering some speakers now days cost close to a million and many in the $50-200k range. You would think with the knowledge they have and for the years they have been around they would go the distance and build 
beyond the 800 series? 
hiendmmoe
imthorek
21 posts
 
I have auditioned many B&W speakers except the Nautilus. I generally think they are great speakers except they are a little too bright for my ears.  If  B&W are really selling a lot of speakers are europeans buying them more than us?

imThorek
asvjerry's avatar
asvjerry
5,194 posts
 
Remember these?

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usedprice.com%2FItemImages%2Fimg25538_real.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usedprice.com%2Fitems%2Faudio%2Fbowers-and-wilkins%2Fspeaker%2Femphasis-5801.html&tbnid=Q_VpQzfL5Vn5JM&vet=12ahUKEwins-mQ_8fqAhVHB1MKHeWoBQYQMygRegUIARCLAw..i&docid=_bZu61CbiU5LiM&w=200&h=150&q=emphasis%20speakers%20b%20w&ved=2ahUKEwins-mQ_8fqAhVHB1MKHeWoBQYQMygRegUIARCLAw

(Damn, that's a lot of characters.....*L*)

Exclusivity can be a siren song that's hard to ignore....and, at least to my eyes, the Emphasis is lovely.  Whereas, the Nautilus? *Bleah*

If you're going for 'sculpture', do it Well.  The Naut has naught...imho...

...and it helps if you don't have to have to make a major investment in amps to drive a pair.  Not everyone can fit a forklift into their homes...;)
dynacohum
836 posts
 
B&W is to speakers what Mercedes is to cars...unfailingly well engineered, respected by all the best people...a safe choice and pretty good performers to boot. The utterly pedestrian 600 series gets raves in the UK, the 700s are sold by specialists and Magnolia alike. The 800/802/803 are their prestige line, and to my ears do compete well for the price with  many boutique brands, and their aesthetic design is exceptional. To whom is $30K a pair not “enough”?  Not enough buyers for B&W to bother with must be their conclusion. 
limomangus's avatar
limomangus
2,028 posts
 
Their bread and butter is good sounding speakers at good prices for the audiophile with limited means.Which there are thousands. GOOD Job B&W.......
larry5729's avatar
larry5729
1,018 posts
 
I wouldn't either.  After spending $ thousands to develop them, who would buy them and how many would they sell.  Talk about diminishing returns.  They would lose a lot of money and destroy their overall profitability.
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