What are your general thoughts of B&W speakers

Chadeffect..the defense of B&W that" only the best studios use them "is an argument as old and tired as the brand.Doesnt hold water anymore especially considering Abbeys heyday was 3 decades ago and most of the studios today employ them are doing movie tracks..I agree they were and I repeat were a speaker worth additioning back in the 1980s but there are too many speaker builders today that are far superior in every aspect ,in the same price range and dont out sourcing to China,my opinion only.

No doubt a lot of vendors have been nipping at B&W's heels in recent years, but in defense of B&W, they seem to be holding their own pretty well in regards to popularity, at least in the US with the more mainstream and less esoteric remaining B&M shops, despite there being perhaps more formidable alternatives out there these days than ever.

Both local major remaining local audio/video shops in the Baltimore metro area still carry B&W but also seem to carry more alternate brands, like PSB, Totem, QUAD, Polk, Thiel, Vandersteen, and Monitor Audio. B&W has a very solid brand reputation developed over the years in its corner.

I own 800 Diamonds at the moment. They sound better and better with every small upgrade. Great speakers.

Mapman.I agree with what your saying.IMO its an old brand with an established name.Doesnt mean anything really to me.My closest B&W dealer reps lots of speakers including Magico.In converstaion I asked him about B&W,his comments were customers come in with a madeup mind and buy them,no salesmanship required,nor typically any other additions."I just keep my mouth shut and sell em what they want hence I stock em".

Missioncoonery,

" An argument as old and tired as the brand". "Abbeys heyday was 3 decades ago..." My friend you are misinformed.

They main reason Abbey road still exists is because it has everything. It is one of Londons only studios apart from Air that can hold a large symphony orchestra, and is home to some of the finest collections of mics, resources and people.

Dont for a minute underestimate them. Abbey road can have anything they want. Every idiot tries to get their equipment in there.

Nearly every prestige film score recorded in the UK is done there. (Lord of the rings/Harry Potter, Star Wars etc) So all the finest engineers and producers go there because they get the results they need. This includes the monitoring. All you have to do is look in the utility rooms or under the stairs to find any speaker (admittedly many forms of top end B&W speakers).

Do you think that a manufacturer like B&W, with the experience they have could somehow not be able to make speaker systems to compete? They have probably forgotten more than most guys know.

B&W actually build their own drivers. Not OEM guys plonking in other people's parts( aside from caps which are made to their specs by mundorf).

Of course monitoring is a very personal thing, but you cannot be serious if you believe they haven't made a speaker worth auditioning since the 80s. That's just daft.