I write this opinion as both an Audiophile and as a B&W dealer. I own B&W speakers myself and have a termendous amount of respect for the technology that goes into the manufacturing of these fine units. I had an opportunity in June to meet with the people at B&W and tour both the factory in Worthing and the Design House in Steyning, at which time I had my first opportunity to listen to the Silver Signature 30s.
They were driven by a pair of top-o-the-line Mark Levinson mono blocks with and the reference CD transport and DAC from Denon. In a word "intoxicating".

These are not a speaker for a bass-head, it for someone that wants real bass to sound like real bass. You know, not the chest caving SPLs so many big box speakers produce, but the sound of the lowest octaves of a Double Bass or an unamplified drum set. The mids and highs are classic B&W. Easy to listen to but still upfront and dynamic.

I will note with regards to an earlier rewiew, the aluminum bass driver is not the same as the bass unit in the Nautilus, obviously it is smaller and as a result must employ a phase-cap rigidly fixed to the pole piece. I am personally suspicious that B&W will be using this driver in many more designs over the next 5 years and beyond - bye bye cobex?

Anyways, I really look forward to hearing them on less than $120,000 worth of gear, I think I will be even more impressed.

The speaker was auditioned at Goodwins, Boston. The speaker is a sample model onloan from B&W. It's not for sale. The system consists of
Krell FPB-300, KRC-3, KAV-300CD and Cardas cable. The room is not a very good room. There are several other pairs of speakers behined the speker,
and one pair of Wilson speaker stand next to it(!). There is no spike under the SS 30 either. The list price is $12K US.
I spent about one hour and 10 CDs with the speaker. My first impression are the
followings.
The SS 30 has very different presentation from B&W 801s. It's not very big. The size is like 803. The sound is extermely smoooooth. Warm midrange. Silk high. Quick bass. A lot of mid-bass but no deep bass. Not very dynamic but can sound loud. Very transparant. Very high resolution. The soundstage is broad but not
very deep.(Not sure here since the room is lousy). My feeling is SS 30 might need a stand to better control the mid-bass.
The 801s is more dynamic and can go much deeper. However, 801s can't compete in the midrnage and trebel of SS 30. The 801s is cold in the midrange and lack of the extremely high resolution of SS 30. The SS 30 is so smoooooooth that I can hear it for hours and hours without any fatigue.

My conclusion is: Give a stand and raise the SS 30 by few inches, the speker is a killer speaker for Jazz, Human Voice, instruments, orchestra and claasical music. My only critics of SS 30 is it's lacking of deep bass. It just won't shake the room as 801s or Wilson Watt/Puppy. But, no speaker I know of can touch SS 30's extremely smooth and extremely high resolution midrange and trebel.
And no speaker I have seen look as pretty as SS 30. Would I buy SS 30? My answer is YES! - if I can afford it.

B&W Silver Signature 30
Heard with:
CD-player: Marantz CD-17, Accuphase DP-75
Amplifier: Marantz PM-66, Accuphase C-250/P-350
Cable: Audioquest both cases

Even though the SS30 is still not available in Europe, I had a chance to audition it at a fair (Marantz setup) and at a dealer's (Accuphase setup).

I recently replaced my 801s with a pair of SS30s. No question the 801s were heavier in terms of deep bass, but the comparison ends there. In fact, I would say the deep bass on the 801s sounds a bit muddy when compared to the SS30s, which are much tighter and much more precise. The change took some time to get used to, though and, at first, my wife hated them. I have also found the SS30s to be very sensitive to the other equipment in the system. I currently have them hooked up to a borrowed FPB200 and have noticed a dramatic improvement over the Proceed Amp2 I was using. In terms of overall performance they are very good, especially the mid-range, which is both detailed and lush. A word of caution, plan to match these with a top-notch system because that is what they demand.

Best sounding speaker I have heard to date. Listened to these immediatly after listning to wilson grand slamms. Heard with Krell FPB300, KRC-3, KAV 300cd. Any good adjective the mags have used can be said about these speakers.

no deep bass

For the price of $12000, I would expect a full range speakers. the Nautilus 802 easily beat these speakers in every category you name it, and you save $4000 in the process.

Similar Products Used:

Nautilus 802

I listened carefully at the store in Ghana Town and I wasn't thrilled with the resolution -- particularly at the top end. No, not advised -- not at 1,00000000000 Ghana dollars.

One of the best midrange in the business

Lack of killer bass

One of the most vivid speaker I have tried. Needs top ancillary equipment to sound good. Currently using Audionote M7 premp and the Mark levinson 332. Still looking around to find the equipment to bring out its best.

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan SL3, Martin Logan Request, ProAc T50S, Impulse Taus, Rogers 5/9, Quad Pro ESL 63