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Hi,Has somebody tried the new 800D vs new 801D ? I mean in a large room that can handle both, with a big high-current amplifier.
I didn't compare them in the new range. But with the previous range, I prefered the N801 over the N800. When looking at the specs (see link below), it seems that the 801D is better than the 800D on all the criteria : bass response, distorsion, minimal impedance,...
And it costs 4000 dollar less ! Don't you think that if the room can handle them the 801D are better than the 800D ? I know that the 800D have some esoteric audiophile devices (components in gold and silver) but that does not make the, sound better. I think.
Best regards
Follow Ups:
You need a lot of current to drive the 801's and the 800's are dsigned to be easier with less amp. It is written in the technical spec sheets. The 801's also are more at home with larger rooms and would be better suited for playing at louder listening levels whereas the 800's are better for medium sized rooms and would be happy with less, however in my own personnel experience the 800's also sing quite well with more amplification, but may be employed in larger areas but with less dynamic range as the 801's. Happy hunting.
The 800D has the same effieciency and a lower minimum impedance than the 801D, but both are WELL within the abilities of any decent amplifier. There are many speakers that are literally 2-4 times as difficult to drive as these speakers. The 800D is a far better design then the 801D which is only designed that way for "legacy" reasons. The woofer is totally inappropriate for the midrange. Actually, the only big thing preventing the 800D from being a top flight speaker is the midrange and, sadly, that could be easily fixed using a more conventional design.
Yup!They should swallow their pride and use a Excel or Accuton instead of the kevlar driver. :-)
I wouldnŽt be very surprised if they work towards a stiff midrange within a couple of year.
I guarantee that the next iteration of the 800 series has a proprietary driver based on some ceramic or something similar to Revel and they will finally say "oh, yes, Kevlar was a great compromise, but NOW we have developed proprietary technology that surpasses Kevlar and operates pistonically....." I just KNOW this will happen. And then all the lemmings (I call them the B&W Dogmatic Lemming Society for kicks) will say "oh, yes, Kevlar was okay, but NOW, the new midrange is AWESOME" and I'm going to roll my eyes and sigh, like I do EVERY time B&W comes out with a "new improved" speaker. I KNOW this will happen. And I'll laugh my butt off. Or they'll do it when they finally introduce a digital speaker which will have to happen in the next 3 years or they'll be hurting. But it will be $25K-$30K when it happens.
since I came to think of the published full bandwith distortion of the 800D in their paper about the work behind the new series. It actually had very low dist. in the mids but not very good in the top. The lows are good as far as I remember.Of course sinewave distortion does not tell the whole truth but anyway.
They don't quote full THD distortion, for one thing. NHT's Xd is rated at .2% THD at 97dB throughout the midrange. The 800D at 4 times the price is .5% 2nd/3rd harmonic distortion at 90dB. So you can guess the kind of disparity that might occur if the volume was raised 7dB to match.
Seas Excel W15CY has about 0.3% in upper mids and closer to 1% below 300Hz, so if NHT has not worked with Seas to end up with their lowest distortion 5"er so far, IŽd say the NHT specs are a little optimistic. Still amazing drivers none the less.B&W800D according to their own measurement (at unknown level);
about 0.1% 400Hz-4000Hz
about 0.2-0.3% 60Hz-400HzWhat surprises me is the tweeter with THD peak about 0.5% in the top octave and only in a small portion close to 6k it go down to 0.1%.
Would be fun to see side by side tests of a B&W speaker, a Excel based speaker and a Accuton based speaker.
/Peter
NHT doesn't exaggerate there stuff, they were truly getting that kind of distortion. Perhaps because of the high-order crossovers or cabinet with Corian-like low diffraction baffle. It will be interesting to make some real comparisons after these make it to the reviewers and get measured indendently using the same procedures. Of course, I don't think it's THD that is the problem, it's the delayed resonances. I'm not sure if THD measurements pick those up or not. If you put in a sine wave and measure how close it comes out, perhaps, but when you do a waterfall plot, I guarantee that the SEAS Excel and the B&W midrange are pure night and day. There's a lot of stored energy in that B&W that won't exist in an Excel.
http://www.avalonacoustics.com/revu-spceram3.htmlFor fun. Some Wasserfall on various speakers.
A 15" driver simply isn't appropriate to go with a 6" midrange, and far less with an FST design which is inherently limited in the low mids/upper bass. However, if you liked the old N801, you'll probably like this one as it's going to be very similar. The 800D has a more sensible driver complement and, if it's like the N800, punchier, more precise bass. I'd probably go for 802Ds and then spend $4K on two really awesome subs, if you're into that sort of thing.
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