Summary: I finally took the plunge into hi-fi after having a Denon 3802 and a pair of ProAc 100's along with my older speakers to fill in for sides and rears. In my move from NYC to Chicago, the security deposit came back, and I decided it was time for an upgrade, especially since the movers destoyrd one of my ProAcs due to poor packing.
I originally went to the audio store to buy a pair or two of Anthony Gallo Nucleus 3.1's after hearing them a few times before, but when I went in they had the Gallos and the 804Ss hooked up side by side. The difference between the two was night and day to my ears, and I went with the 804Ss. Midrange was just mesmerizing. I also rounded out with 805Ss on stands for the surrounds, and the HTM4S center to match.
I hooked the 804Ss to my Denon and was very pleased, but the speakers clearly were strtching the Denon beyond its capabilities. Fortunately, I had ordered the Outlaw Audio 990 prepro and the 7700 amp with balanced interconnects, and have been in a newfound state of symphonic bliss ever since.
If you have around $12,000 to spend on what seems to be an entry level hi-fi setup based on the prices I've seen for electronics, I can recommend this setup wholeheartedly. I'm new to this hobby, but I know what it is like to play baritone in a county band symphony, and this is as close as I've ever gotten to that experience without the actual instruments surrounding me. These B&Ws are simply superb, but you have to drive them with good electronics.
Strengths: Clean midrange detail, punchy bass (I've plugged mine), beautiful highs without beeing sibilant. And they look fantastic in rosenut veneer, especially with the grills off.
Weaknesses: They seem to be misunderstood by some folks. You must drive them with high current and an amp that is fast enough to handle 8 ohm nominal impedence all the way dow to 3 ohms. If you don't, they will tire you out, and you will hate them.
Similar Products Used: ProAc 100's
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Summary: good for midrange detail revealing, but not for everyday nice listening
Strengths: very few background noise, much detail in midrange. Nice to hear so much detail with almost silent background. Player's attack/strikes to instruments can be heard clearly. Vocal have a natural, deep sound. Clear vocals.
Weaknesses: too few and odd lean bass, too bright, especially with home listening sound levels. Loses detail when played at moderate sound levels and too few bass makes home listening tirying. Pushing volume up to get makes higher frequencies hard for your ears. Vocals little laid back, with some "nnnn"-sounding-edge. Doesn't sound airy. Uninteresting overall balance, where's bass?
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Summary: I, as others were, was a little cautious in purchasing the N804's from some of the appalling reviews posted here. I picked up an ex dem pair a few months ago for a very good price after auditioning all the usual suspects.
Straight out of the box these speakers were MAGICAL (admittedly they were run in by the dealer). Norah Jones on import HDCD was simply stunning as was pretty much everything else i've run through them since. This includes opera, classical, pop, rap, female vocals, violins, the list goes on.
I was initially a little worried that I had lost some lower octave from swapping from my big Jamo's. Now I there shouldn't be because the lower frequency roll off was very similar. However after listening to Rimsky Korsakov's Easter Overture repeatedly (Lots of bass drum and Tympani) it was not so. What I found is the lower bass decays in a more controlled manner and is less 'wuffy' if you know what i mean..? I hate to use the old cliche but the bass is tight...there I did it... Even when i thought i had lost a little bottom end the mid and top more than made up for it. I also ran some sine wave samples through them and the bass roll off is about the same as my big Jamos - somewhere between 30 and 35hz reinforcing the change is with presentation rather than simple frequency roll off.
Saying that you do need a fairly good front end to keep them reigned in and get the best out of them. They officially present a minimum 3 ohms load however it wouldn't surprise me if it was a bit lower than that. My little AVI will put out nearly half a kilowatt per channel at 2 ohms with enough current (according to AVI) to arc weld with..! A lot of the adverse comments seem to be from people running them off home cinema amps which really are not up to the job. I wouldn't partner them with my DSPAX1 as although it was/is a fairly big amp in the HT world it is NOT up to the job of controlling 804's IMO.
They can be a bit tempramental with positioning too. My music room is about 14 x 16 feet and they are positioned about 2 feet from the back wall, and about 3 feet from the sides, with about 15 degrees of toe in - however i'm still experimenting. As you do...
For me anyway they are an absolutely first rate 'mid price' (in the grand scheme of things!) speaker. There may be better or cheaper out there but if you want a transparent monitor then these will work very well as long as you have suitable kit wired up to them.
Strengths: Aesthetics, Sound staging, Imaging, Air, Timbral accuracy, Very sharp bass, Very clear top end, Gorgeous mid range, Reproduces Piano/violin/Sax/female vocals better than most. Simply superb.
Weaknesses: They're not cheap...
I want some 801's ;)
You put cr*p in you get cr*p out - sorry.
Similar Products Used: B&W Concept 90 1&2's
B&W 600's
KEF Reference
JM Lab
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Summary: I was getting tired of buying pairs of lesser speakers in my quest for the sound quality that I knew was out there, but had iluded me. I discovered the 804's at a high-end home theater outfitter, and after auditioning these speakers for quite a while - using my own source material (brought from home), I just couldn't find fault with the 804's.
They converted my home theater set-up from pretty good, to world-class. My Yahama DSP A1 came to life and I was hearing things in my music and soundtracks that I never heard with the lesser speakers I had previously used.
Right out of the box, the 804's were a bit harsh and bright. Even still, a far sight better than the Bose and Polks I had use before. After about 4 months of frequent use, I could actually hear the speakers finding themselves. After they broke in, it was a totally different and much more pleasing experience. Smooth, clean, airy, silky and mature audio is the best way to describe the N804's.
I also pair each 804 with a B&W AS2400 sub and the CDM2 Center Channel and a pair of B&W Surrounds. All I can tell you is the resulting product is superb and I am looking forward to moving up to separates -- probably Rotel gear.
Strengths: Everything
Weaknesses: Nothing
Similar Products Used: Nothing close
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Summary: For the first couple of months I struggled with the shrillness and complete lack of bass and wondered what kind of idiot I was for buying them. I also had a hard time getting the sub dialed in with them. I was experimenting with a way to get the woofers to loosen up and came up with the “death metal” channel on music choice. I would leave the stereo on when I left the house for a few hours at a time. After about 6 months they sound magnificent. I don’t even need to turn on the sub. To me they are the definition of accuracy and transparency. I got the sub dialed in by running lamp cord from the amp rather than coax from the pre-amp. I’m not sure why it works but try it. If I had it to do again, I might skip the sub because I find some recordings get a little sloppy with the sub-sonic audio the engineer isn’t aware of like foot stomps that sound like an earth quake.
Strengths: The 804’s have great stereo imaging, are very clean and accurate and beautiful to look at.
Weaknesses: Long,long break in time, pricey.
Similar Products Used: McIntosh C40 very very good pre …or
McIntosh C712 alternate pre with remote
CJ MF2250A power amp
Rotel RCD 1072
Velodyne HGS-15
Music Choice “Jazz station”
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