Absolute Sound Review of 801 D4

[Greg Gale]

Interesting review. Discussed how sensitive they were to having the right kind of power as with his existing Pass XA 60.8 monoblocks with 60 Watts of power experienced, " a lack of control and grip with dynamic source material". He claimed this also included Piano recordings. Even with a 200W per channel amplifier he said he had to "lean in" to engage with the music. Part of this I wonder is if he was too close to the speakers for him to experience a fully coherent sound stage. He stated he was only 8 to 9 feet away in a listening room 15x15 which would appear to be too small for the 801.

Others on this forum including Joey had this experience with the 800 D3 and felt he could not get his listening chairs far enough back and that the speaker had to be pulled further away from the back wall due to bass challenges.

He did agree however the speakers represented a fantastic value, although reading Andrew Quint's review was not as enthusiastic as I thought it would be, considering the improvements to the D4 series.

[4music]

Living with the 801 for 16 days now, I can confirm that they do need power and I guess the smallest monoblock by Pass Labs is not enough to drive them properly. However, reviewing them in such a small room cannot be accepted as a relevant review. You must give them space to perform and be at least 3 meters away from them so they sound coherent. I still have not read the review, so I will get back once I read it.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by 4music

Living with the 801 for 16 days now, I can confirm that they do need power and I guess the smallest monoblock by Pass Labs is not enough to drive them properly. However, reviewing them in such a small room cannot be accepted as a relevant review. You must give them space to perform and be at least 3 meters away from them so they sound coherent. I still have not read the review, so I will get back once I read it.

I read the review. I agree. Too much speaker for a small a room (15x15). I think a square room is not a very good room acoustically, either.

Best

Charles

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by Charles

I read the review. I agree. Too much speaker for a small a room (15x15). I think a square room is not a very good room acoustically, either.

I did not read the review but I agree. I've had the bigger 800 series speakers in my main system and they all need much more room than a 15x15 space.

[Levitator]

As an 800D3 owner, agree the speakers need breathing room off the wall, a bigger room than used for the review and LOTS of power. I was using 1.2KW Mac amps to drive mine before moving to a D’Agostino amp. A largely irrelevant review I’d suggest in terms of being able to judge the speaker properly…

[joey_v]

I didn’t find the review helpful

[crwilli]

Building on what Charles mentioned, I can confirm a square room can be very difficult to tame the low frequencies in. While larger, my room is also square and I had to go to a 45 Degree offset arrangement. Eg back and face towards opposite corners.

I also have a dedicated room so total flexibility on listening and speaker positions - that is very important.

[4music]

The 801D4 came in place of the 800D2. I will try and simplify my findings, just in case someone is interested. The new generation is easier to drive, can play much louder without strain, is less sensitive to placement (it requires careful positioning, but not in nanometres as the D2 required) and much more musical. It serves a greater amount of detail and information but in a way that it involves you more into the music, without being annoying. The distracting and attention grabbing treble is gone, now it is balanced and perfectly blended. The bass is amazing! Deep, articulate, extended, fast and never overpowering. I get the impression that it is much bigger speaker now (which is not). I have the 802D3 in another system (next room), so it is pretty easy to compare with the 801D4. The 802D3 is a lovely speaker, great value! But now compared to 801 D4 seems a bit off balance and hate to say, inarticulate. Still joyful, but it takes at least 40 minutes to wear-off the D4 effect. The D4 is still a B&W Diamond sound, they did not lose the essence, but now it is much more sofisticated, lush and inviting sound. I do not want to sound over enthusiastic, but 801D4 is a top of the line loudspeaker.

[gds7368]

Originally Posted by 4music

The 801D4 came in place of the 800D2. I will try and simplify my findings, just in case someone is interested. The new generation is easier to drive, can play much louder without strain, is less sensitive to placement (it requires careful positioning, but not in nanometres as the D2 required) and much more musical. It serves a greater amount of detail and information but in a way that it involves you more into the music, without being annoying. The distracting and attention grabbing treble is gone, now it is balanced and perfectly blended. The bass is amazing! Deep, articulate, extended, fast and never overpowering. I get the impression that it is much bigger speaker now (which is not). I have the 802D3 in another system (next room), so it is pretty easy to compare with the 801D4. The 802D3 is a lovely speaker, great value! But now compared to 801 D4 seems a bit off balance and hate to say, inarticulate. Still joyful, but it takes at least 40 minutes to wear-off the D4 effect. The D4 is still a B&W Diamond sound, they did not lose the essence, but now it is much more sofisticated, lush and inviting sound. I do not want to sound over enthusiastic, but 801D4 is a top of the line loudspeaker.

Nice, helpful review!
Thanks for taking the time to share

[ARQuint]

This response is a few weeks late but I just saw the post(s) and did want the chance to engage with the forum on some points regarding rooms and speakers—especially when the conversation can happen in reasoned and civil tones, as is usually the case here.

A couple of comments were made about the size of my listening room, in terms of the space being large enough for 801s. Certainly, the latest version of the Bowers & Wilkins flagship will work well in a much large space than mine. But many audiophiles with a more typical domestic listening environment will want to know if the speaker's a consideration. I've formally reviewed about 30 loudspeakers in this room (and have tried out a few others) and I have a pretty good idea of what will work at this point; so does Robert Harley, who assigns 90% of the products I review. Manufacturers generally do their "due diligence" to assure that they aren't setting a product up for a negative assessment by arranging for it to be heard in an inappropriate setting. So, I can assure you that there's been an informed decision made about bringing a given big loudspeaker to my room.

Nominally, my listening room is 15' x 15', which doesn't sound promising for a larger speaker—but all 15' x 15' rooms aren't created equal. Here's my view of why mine worked out well with the 801 D4s.

• The ceiling is high, and it varies in height, from 10' to 11'6".

• There's a 9' long hallway leading off from one side, even with the right front loudspeaker, as well as other asymmetries/irregularities to the room dimensions. I've positioned GIK diffusers in the middle of the front wall. I usually measure the in-room frequency for each visiting loudspeaker with a Dayton OmniMic system and there haven't been disqualifying room problems—significant modes, etc. I use that information to most effectively dial in a subwoofer, if one's to be used.

• I enjoy relatively near-field listening. I played in orchestras (and rock bands) when I was young, and this audio perspective gives me some of that participatory sense.

Obviously, there's a limit in terms of how large a speaker can go into my room, and I've turned down projects based on my understand of those limits. Clearly, Wilson XVX's or Von Schweikert Ultra 9s don't belong here. But, especially given the specifics of my 15' x 15' room and my listening practices, I feel that the new B&Ws were not mismatched to my space, and that other interested audiophiles with a similar situation should be dissuaded from investigating further. After all, I'd say my review was a positive one.

Thanks for hearing me out. And if anyone's ever in Philly and wants to hear the room (with my usual speakers, Magico M1s) drop me a note and we'll find a time!

Andrew Quint
Senior writer
The Absolute Sound