Phil Collins - Do You Remember Bowers and Wilkins 803 D3 Loudspeakers are driven by ESOTERIC F-05 Integrated Amplifier and DENON DCD-1600NE Super Audio Cd #SoundSommelier #BowersandWilkins #BestSpeakers
My favourite Phil Collins track. But, I find the B&W is just a tad relaxed for my taste. I would love to hear the same track through the Dynaudio Contour 60 and Sonus Faber Olympica Nova 3. Once again, fantastic job!!
Yep... one of these days... one, of, these, days... I'm going to get a wild hair up my ass and just POP on a pair of those without thinking twice. I can sell my CM-10's to help ease the pain.
Nah.. They havent produced a good sounding speaker since the 801 D´s - But ofc thats just my oppinion.. always nice of u to upload thise videos.. ur sound is as always the best on YT ;)
Great sound ! I own Focal 1028BE also a great speaker, but this sounds also great! About 35yrs ago i had the B&W DM6 and the B&W DM7 both were great speakers - with the tweeter above. I regret that i sold them in the past, but that was 35 yrs ago. I wonder how they will sound today?
What do you think of Esoteric f05? Do you think it a substantial upgrade coming from Marantz pm11s3? I want sound more upfront, with more tempo and dynamics, but don't want to trade Marantz signature richness and musicality
Hi Sound Sommelier, I love your videos, could watch for hours! "Great" and the picture quality is also very good, what camera are you filming with? best regards....
Don't call it a miracle, but it's your (listening-) experience that you achived over the years. (,';--)) Es ist kein 'Wunder', sondern Ihre (Hör-) Erfahrung, die Sie im Laufe der Jahre gemacht haben. (,';--))
Hello, I am thinking about getting a pair of B&W 803 D3 speakers and powering them with Anthem STR pre and power amplifiers. How do you think that this would sound?
I did happen to hear a demo recently at B&W store a 805D3 paired with Anthem pre & power amp and it sound absolutely gorgeous. I sat at the store for more than 2hrs. To me it felt like a perfect match. Good luck hope you get your dream match.
I'm listening to this with my meze empyrean headphone. Sounds amazing and i can hear every instrument. I wish you would make a list of more songs with this 803 D3.
Am listening to this demo on a high end PC and Sennheiser gaming headphones.First off,to level the playing field, I think the speakers should exchange places when playing.Personally I prefer speakers that sound a bit forward and the Band W's sound so to me .Both are fantastic sounding but the Bowers are more open and instrument placements are more defined.The Bowers are incredible works of art which one could enjoy just looking at them in candlelight with them turned off.Also they are less expensive than the Martens, which, to be brutally frank look like cheap DIY efforts.
I know you have access to a lot of equipment, so I was wondering what your take on the Esoteric F-05 was? I've had one for the last few months and think it's a very nice all-rounder. How would you place it against the Hegel 590 I wonder? I would love to directly compare them... Take care; we have been watching your problems in Italy (a lot of Italians in Scotland, inc. my sister-in-law) so our prayers continue to go out to you. All the best.
Thanks a lot Bill! Sorry I missed your comment...I consider The F-05 one of the best integrated at any price. Maybe not the absolute perfect partner for B&W 800 series. Their extreme separation and definition could request a more mellow amplification to be musically satisfying (just my opinion). I never compared the esoteric with Hegel 590 in controlled condition therefore I can't give you an useful opinion. All the best to you and your family
@@SoundSommelier Hi there, & np, I knew that you probably hadn't noticed, life is busy. . . Well, it used to be at least! And all the very best to you and your family too, do stay in touch and keep up the videos, they're a very welcome source of respite to hi-fi addicts everywhere👍🎶😉
All I know is I listened to these yesterday 802's with two McIntosh monoblocks attached and all the fixings about $80,000 worth of stuff I was told. I much prefer my JBL 590's sitting next to me for a fraction of the cost of what these are! Using a Denon 3801 receiver! James Blunts latest album which has fantastic sound quality! I contribute most of that to the compression driver and the horn that the 590 offers. Now I don't know if I had these in my room which of course they weren't they would blow me away but I was very unimpressed to what I was listening to using the same songs that I'm listening to right now!🤪🤪🤯🤯😳😳 They sounded a little bit veiled in comparison I was shocked. I know sound is subjective but this was Way Beyond subjectiveness.🤔🤔🙄😬 And yes, it could have been the McIntosh amps that suck the life out of them but they didn't sound too good to me that's for sure.
Big Jay I hear you, horn speakers have a level of clarity, power, and presence that other speaker types simply can’t match. I have Klipsch RF7i’s, a bit too bright but overall very good, and the bass is unreal from the dual 10’s, no need for a sub 🔊 🔊
@@jstoli996c4s I use the technique New Record Day talks about regarding facing the horn loaded speaker to the opposite seat cushion that I am sitting on and it sounds fantastic! Only can do with horn loaded tweeters like mine and yours! You should try it if you haven't already! Tilted like 45 degrees in. I used a laser pointer and it really worked tremendously!🤗😇😜😬
Big Jay I appreciate the advice, might give it a try 👍 A couple years ago I heard the big dog 800 D3’s at a hifi store and was underwhelmed by them. Maybe using the wrong amp? Incredible holographic imaging and soundstage, but completely lacking in power and bass. Perhaps would have sounded better using big McIntosh or Classe amps, but seems ridiculous to spend $50k+ on such a setup.
I've owned 3 versions of an 800 speaker since 1984 starting with the 802f, 1989 Matrix 802 and 803D in 2007. I run a Bryston 4B-SST2 and BP26 with MPS2 power supply. 803D and amp set up love each other audibly, like totally in sync. I spotted a pair of used 3 year old 803 D3 in black in immaculate condition from the dealers original trade in stock as client went to D4 series. I was fixated and dreamt of owning 803 D3 and I'd only heard a 30 min audition in 2016. Covid didn't allow an audition of 803 D3 but at 13k AU I thought, what can go wrong, I can have it and bought them and they looked fantastic ! These 2 garbage bin looking dalek inspired transducers were simply just awful 😖 truly truly woeful. Minimal bass impact, forensic detail, too much and a 6db peak in the mid range, leaving a very bright almost shrill impression. I was devastated, I hear people scream, it's the Bryston amps they're overly bright, not a match etc I ran a 4B-ST previous since 1997 and while not as smooth as 4B-SST2 it sounded OK with a myriad of floor standing and or bookshelf speakers. I keep an open ear in different speaker amp set ups. Bowers want nearly 30k AU for a 4th generation diamond well, forget it, I would never touch the 800 Series ever again and I've not auditioned them but they can have them. So design excellence and all that backend research for drivers etc and they produced a sterile, lifeless speaker in the D3, cables connects all fine thank you. Bitter disappointment on a truly lifeless sounding speaker that I described as an uptight bitch and I've worshipped B&W for near 40 years ! If the 803 D3 was tuned to an mp3 standard then, it shows 😄 totally lost the plot, I'm still in disbelief and wonder how they justify the enormous price tag. They say up to 10k for a speaker, there after is realm of diminishing returns and I believe it with D3 performance. Bowers will price themselves into oblivion and for all its design limitations, the original 803D pissed all over the D3 version sonically. Yes subjective opinion. Bowers should produce a 10k version of a Diamond speaker in the original 803D design and I'd buy it again but the 803 D3 belongs in the rubbish tip and this is from a long-term die hard, brand loyal customer. Any bass you hear on U Tube on D3 is an artefact of MP4 compression which just makes it sound like bass but it's just an illusion. 803 D3 gets 3/10 for absolute sonic ability. 9 for the design. Never Again. I'll keep my 803D for life Yes I lost 20% on purchase price as I returned them to the dealer. 24 hours was enough to tell me it's not for me and yeah yeah always audition first but I wouldn't expect such a highly coveted speaker to be such a bitter disappointment. I wouldn't recommend the 803 D3 to my worst enemy ha ha 😄 u have been warned ! Oh, get the 802 version with bigger bass drivers ... ahhh no ... near 40k AU for a set of 4th generation D speakers .... naaaah not interested, the love affair is Over !!
This loudspeaker controls the (somewhat reverberant) room perfectly! You can also hear here that this is a perfect recording. Suddenly it becomes clear how important these two components belong together, especially when you think of the bad sound of the previous video, (ELAC Carina Demo with Air - Playground), which could not be enjoyed at all. (Provided they apply same recording conditions.) (,':--)) Diese Box beherrscht den (etwas halligen) Raum perfekt! Außerdem hört man hier, dass es sich um eine perfekte Schallplattenproduktion handelt. Auf einmal wird klar, wie wichtig diese beiden Komponenten zusammen gehören, besonders wenn man an den schlechten Sound des vorangegangen Videos denkt (ELAC Carina mit Air -Playground), das so gar nicht gefallen konnte. (Vorausgesetzt es gelten die selben Aufnahmebedingungen.) (,':--))
This is false. I own a set of older matrix 802 series 3 and a very similar sound to these. Not bright at all. Very clear and open if you have the right gear. Pair them with the wrong gear and they will tell you. It's all about system synergy not the speakers
Wow these sound amazing...could someone tell me when is spending $30,000 for a pair of speakers worth it? I mean if you want a 5.2 surround system, what would the cost be? At any rate, I want to thank the Sound Sommelier for turning me on to the Tannoy revolution (something) lol...to me these sound awesome and if God wills, these are the speakers I'm going to get. But let me ask the SS...for a speaker for a beginner, do you recommend anything that would sound better than the Tannoy
I weirdly prefer the KEF ref 3. The speaker that pulled me out of B&W, after owning N805, N804, 802D2, ... D3 is a bit to fakely revealing. KEF ref 3, more balanced and beautiful soundstage
I took a listening of both the 803D3 and 802D3 at one of the BestBuy's Magnolia stores, I came away liking the 803's more than the bigger brother. They didn't have the 800's, so I couldn't tell.
Always depends on what’s driving them maybe the setup was in favour of 803’s. I mean a 90w a channel amp may be just right for 803’s but on 802’s they may like a more powerful amp to bet better accuracy
@@life_in_solace everyone has their options which is great. They sound way better than they should through my ether flow open back planars with class a amplifier and dad. Thanks!
