B&W Signature 805 vs. N805

I've heard mixed results of comparisons of these 2 speakers.. Many claim there is no sonic difference b/t the 2, but others say there is.. Anybody have an opinion? Anyone ever done a A/B between the 2?

 

Heard both. There's no denying they're good speakers. They ain't cheap. I didn't A/B them.

If it were my money, I'd buy the Revel M20's [If you haven't heard a pair, you should check them out..]

 

Andy, what do the 805 sigs go for 'state side' ? are the 20's the stand mounts? T.

 

Yes, the 20s are the standmounts. Very nice they are too Not a patch on a pair of Dynaudio Contour 1.3MkIIs though :MILD:

Michael.

 

$4200 - I think. They should do a version with the drivers and crossover etc, but without the fancy finish (I actually prefered the Cherry..)

Yep. I didn't intend to audition them, they were in an "unattended" room in one of the local dealerships, so I thought what the hell I closed the door and was greatly surprised by how good they were..

I haven't heard many of the Dynaudio's - the dealership is a super-high-end. I did get a chance to listen to the "Confidence", but for that kind of money I'd expect to put on Sheryl Crow, turn out the lights and think she was lap dancing me.. Sadly they ain't that good..

I stopped by that same dealer to see if they had a pair of 5m XLR's (for my Active 10's) - they had a 2m pair on sale for a mere $600. Oh how I laughed and then had to explain that the speakers only cost me $1800, so $600 might be reasonably called excessive!

 

My comment about the Dyns was in jest. I think the Revel 20s and the Dyn 1.3MkIIs are both excellent - it's just a matter of preference. The fact that you can get the Dyns for about £600 (used) over here these days makes them excellent value.

Michael.

 

I did like the Revel's mids and bass, but not the treble, could be the system, Meridian 108.24 + Plinius 8150 + pornographic thick cables and mains treatment... :JPS:

 

Hi Wes,
I was lucky enough to hear both the B&W 805's and the 805 Signatures back to back. I also heard a pair of Wilson Benesch Arc's in the same Demo.

To start with the B&W 805's:

I liked the way they looked at first sight and they sounded far better than the Spendor S8 that I had at the time. Lot more open and fast, treble was a bit hard, but I could live with it. But I must confess that I was a little unimpressed with them.

Overall: Good but no cigar.

Now the Wilson Benesch Arc's:

These were much more like it. Smooth, Open, Fast and full of Boogie. They are also very compact to boot. I really did like the sound of these. They were much better than the 805's.

Overall: Go get 'em Floyd.

Then came the B&W 805 Signature:

Ouch. Boy oh boy were these good. They were very similar to the Wilson's, they had all the same ingredients, but they had them in bucket loads.
They really were outstanding. If you like you music Open, Fast and full of Boogie, then they should be at the top of list.
Their only failing is, as with the Wilson's and the 805's, Bass was a bit wanting. But the Signatures had more bass than the other two.

Overall: Well I bought a pair, Nuff said.

BTW, if you do get the 805 Signatures, the Rd Eye finish is to die for.

Hope This Helps.

 

Great. Thanks Mark!

 

The 805 Sigs were designed to answer some of the critisisems of the 805N,I found the 805N to very good speaker,very forward and bright which i would imagine could become a bit fatiguing over an extended period of time,but a very unboxy sound.The sigs are in a completely different class to the originals,but as previously stated quite a hefty price tag.

 

Let's hope the Sigs are in a different class - the 805s had really naff tweeters, I blew 3 in a year, and a porty bass. Midrange and imaging superb though, so long as you use them as headphones.

 

I have a pair of 805sigs (in grey tiger's eye) too. I love them. I did hear a pair of WB Arcs in a dem and was impressed with the detail listening at low levels compared to the B&Ws.

I have given my system plenty of time to run in and it sounds blinding. The B&Ws seemed to take an age to run in though. And they seem to prefer being played loud.

If you get a pair be patient, they will give eventually.

HTH

 

I've been demming a pair of N802s today and am seriously considering them - the weigh and scale is awesome. I listened to Bjork's Hyperballad and I could feel the bass physically compressing me - when it cuts out after the intro, I kind of sagged! The dem pair were only a few days in - ie not run in fully. What changes did you experience from the 805s as they ran in - and how long do you reckon it needed?

 

are the 802s the ones which look like daleks? I heard a pair of these on dem and the bass was superb. I thought the midrange and top end a bit clinical though.

 

Those are the ones. I spent several hours with them, with material ranging from acoustic folk through Led Zep, orchestral, dance and Arab. Actually initially the bass wasn't what impressed me (the Bjork came at the end of the session, so could be that my amps had properly warmed up by then or that the speakers were starting to loosen up) - on acoustic stuff like Eliza McCarthy and Suzanne Vega, the mid was very good. I deliberately also put in some tracks with known, recorded sibilance on (eg Teardrop from Massive Attack) to see how painful it was. Where my old Celestions used to make me wince, the N802s reproduced the 'whistle' realistically but not painfully. My amps have been described as valve like, so it could be that they slightly warmed up what other amps might show up as clinical. The string tone was superb (Scheherezade, Elgar's Cello Concerto). I guess you can get those qualities with a lot of high end speakers, but these beasts also brought body and scale - when an orchestra kicked in it really felt like one, not like a picture of one. I played a lot of Led Zep 1, and that was awesome - the dynamics of the drums, the texture of the voice. I'm going to be listeing to Sonus Faber Cremonas on Friday, which will be an interesting contrast.

 

They are fine speakers for sure. I heard them on the end of Naim amps so more valve like kit may do the trick. I had them up against some Neat Ultimatums. If there was a speaker which combined the midrange and treble of the Neats with the Bass of the 802s then I would have it.