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In Reply to: RE: B&W 802d3 posted by lmaletz@comcast.net on October 31, 2020 at 10:03:39
there is a significant B&W "house sound" after Lawrence Dickie left---they don't control the high frequency dispersion bloom after the crossover to tweeter, unlike KEF and Revel who design to best known quantitative principles.
Basically too bright in the room around there. Since they obviously have technology to do something about it, but it persists through multiple models so it's clearly an intentional choice.
This wasn't the case for the 1980's Matrix speakers, which had---for the time---great performance and were often adopted by professionals for mastering or monitoring acoustic classical.
Follow Ups:
Seems like close to a third of the speakers JA has measured in recent years exhibit a goosed-up treble response, anywhere from 2dB to more than 6dB. Not sure why this design decision is made. In some cases, a model features an exotic tweeter and the designer wants to make it the star of the show. Mostly, I suspect either (1) the designer suffers from HF hearing loss and compensates or (2) the designer assumes the customer suffers from HF hearing loss, and compensates. After all, those of us who still buy real speakers are an aging demographic.
Personally, I don't care for speakers thus "voiced." They quickly become shrill and fatiguing, even if they initially sound "lively" and "exciting." It's why I'm a big fan of quality variable L-pads on tweeters -- you can dial in the treble to precisely suit your room, your tastes, and individual recordings which vary widely in brightness.
DrChaos,
Thanks for responding. This subject is of considerable interest to me.
Whatever you mean by 'dispersion bloom', I experienced in abundance what I interpreted as midrange bloom with the 802d2's s such that everything on first audition sounded wonderful and, after further listening, muddy in particular comparison to the d3's....and I have owned the 'original 802's, just before the diamond model. Classical piano served well for this comparison.
I am puzzled by your reference to the KEF loudspeakers. I have not heard Ravel loudspeakers. I found the KEF loudspeakers more than muddy....though I did not audition the 'blades'.
As of now I interpret the B&W 'house sound' as midrange bloom which may be at the expense of clarity, and the high frequencies 'sharp' but with
? rolled off upper end.
So...again....further thoughts appreciated. I am aware that the B&W lead designer had particular sonic goals. I hear also that British speakers are considered 'polite'...whatever that means...does it mean rolled off high frequencies ?
Seventies
https://www.stereophile.com/content/bw-802d-loudspeaker-measurements
Look at Fig 5 around 4000 Hz.
And here is a B&W from the 1980's when the top of the line was top of the line.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/bw-matrix-801-series-2-loudspeaker-measurements
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