Speakers - Bowers & Wilkins DM 110i

HiFiCollector.com community member, Tony sent in this nice write-up of the B&W DM 110i speakers he owns. Thanks Tony!

If YOU have photos and a story, send them on to: HiFiCollector88 [at] Gmail.com    Thanks!

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Hi Tom;
I noticed your pictures of the B&W 100i bookshelf speakers, and thought you might like to hear about my DM 110i speakers. As you can see from the picture, they are the next size up from the 100's, and also the family resemblance is clear.

I have taken the following information from B&W's own literature;

"DM 110i
Stand-mount/Bookshelf loudspeaker system

1 x 26mm high-frequency driver with dome/coil construction of special polymide material
1 x 200mm nominal piston dia and 26mm high temperature voice coil with critically impregnated composite short fibre cone."

In fact, it looks to me like the "short fibre cone" is made from paper fibres. It has a light but sturdy feel when pressed lightly with the fingertips, the stiffness comes from the impregnation they mention.

This is what used to be called doping, given a fancy new name here by B&W !

The overall impression is of very good build quality of both cabinets and drive units. The tweeter is soft-domed, as opposed to cheap plastic, and the mid/bass unit has a very solid metal frame.

If I remember correctly, the 100 series were designed with the dynamic nature of digital music in mind, and the 110's are certainly a very good speaker.

Bass -  well detailed, no trace of muddiness or boom. I never feel as if I could use more bass.

Midrange - well detailed for what is essentially a budget speaker. Like the bass, I never feel as if anything is missing.

Treble - bright (a B&W characteristic) but not fatiguing. I think the soft dome helps here.

Overall, they are a very well-balanced speaker, they are dynamic and can reproduce drums with a good deal of "whack". They also reveal shortcomings in recorded material, so I'd be prepared to classify them as true monitors, although only at a moderate level and not as top studio quality.

They are hooked up to my computer, via a Terratec sound card, which is far better than the basic sound cards usually supplied with  computers, and this is connected to a Cambridge Audio A500 amplifier, which drives the B&W's. The Terratec is quite old now, so I'd like to replace it with a more up-to-date card.
I have a digital TV/Radio attachment on my computer too, so  I also use it to record music from radio. Computer-based music has become an important part of my listening,  however I am still an analogue person at heart. I have used the 110's to edit music which I have recorded live myself for burning to cd, so this backs up my comments about their qualities as a monitor.

The 110's are described by B&W as Stand-mount or Bookshelf, I have them on stands as you can see, I would think you'd need generously proportioned shelves to use them as bookshelf speakers, as they measure;

Height: 490mm Width: 260mm Depth: 250mm

They are essentially a variation on the 25-litre, ported-box, wife-friendly speakers which I would think everyone has owned at some time.

Finally, the best part of all - I bought them from a colleague at work a few years ago. He was asking £20 for them, he brought them round and they were in mint condition, so I gave him £25! I think they were about £200 when new.
So from the HiFiCollector community point of view, that was very good business indeed.

Best Wishes

Tony

B&W Vs KEF - And the Winner Is?

I wish it were that simple. I'll tell you this much, when pitting the B&W CDM 9NT against the KEF 105.2, I was forced to make a tough decision and admit some uncomfortable truths. First of all, if anyone of you has been following the KEF 105.2 sale on Audiogon, you may have noticed that I've raised the price to $1,500 for the pair. I've also pulled them from CraigsList. Why? Good question. It all came down to some critical listening tests I've done over the past few days.

The fist speaker comparison I performed was between the B&W CDM 9NT and my KEF Reference Two speakers that have been my, well, 'reference' for mid-priced quality loudspeakers for over two years. The result here was that, in almost every way, the B&W beat the KEF Reference Twos. Bass extension, midrange and treble clarity... the list goes on. Not that there was a "night and day" difference. That's why the comparison needed over a month to complete. Had this been a slam dunk, you would have been reading about it in early August. The result? I sold one of my pairs of KEF Reference Twos last night. Still have another pair, in rosewood, that's in my office. I'm keeping these for the time-being, but if you REALLY must have a pair in excellent condition - shoot me a line.

Now, on to the KEF 105.2 story. Posting these great speakers for sale was not an easy choice, but I simply needed the room. The addition of the B&W 801 S2 pair and the CDM 9NT was creating a clutter condition more akin to hording than collecting. After the KEF Reference Two had gone up against the CDM 9NT, I felt it only fair to give the 105.2 one last chance at saving itself. Turns out that the CDM 9NT got a run for its money.

The KEF 105.2 proved equal in the bass - both extension and overall "punch," and much more natural and more mellow in the mids and highs than the B&Ws. Where the Reference Two was lacking clarity in these two critical tonal areas, the 105.2 held onto clarity and brought a true-to-instrument naturalness that I had forgotten they possess. I'm so glad I took the time to listen carefully to these speakers again. After only an hour or so, I pulled the CL sales advert and adjusted the price up to "extreme gear enthusiast" level on Audiogon. If someone wants these for $1,500 - we'll talk, but it's gonna take that kinda scratch for me to consider letting them go.

How did the CDM 9NT compare to the 105.2? Pretty darn well, actually. The one characteristic that takes getting used to on the CDM 9NT is the forwardness (read: brightness) of the midrange. That 6.5" surround-less midrange driver packs a serious punch, and throws vocals right through your eardrums. This is fine for most purposes, and I suppose desirable for movie soundtracks where vocals often are lost, but for casual listening? Notsomuch.

I tested several vocal tracks, but kept coming back to Sade's Diamond Life album. "Your Love is King" sounded cool and natural on the KEF 105.2, but Sade's voice plowed right through me on the CDM 9NT. It actually was quite grating. Switching back to the 105.2, I realized that these KEF speakers offered the kind of "all-day-listening" that most people seek in quality loudspeakers. Listener fatigue can be caused by many things - muddy or sloppy bass is one I've experienced recently, but brightness in the mids and highs is another. Everyone is different though. Upon hearing the same Sade song on the B&W, a friend noted that the detail was amazing. His take was that the KEF's, although plenty good, sounded muted in comparison.

As I've noted before, when it comes to comparing speakers, it all comes down to personal taste. Specs mean nothing once you get past the Best Buy listening room speaker stock and on to more vintage or higher-end, specialty speakers. Whenever possible, take time to listen and compare speakers prior to making a purchasing decision. This is rarely an option, and I've bought plenty of speakers with only hearing a selected track or two, so I'm asking you to do as I say, not as I always do.

You can get speaker recommendations from a friend, an online blog (hello!), or someone who claims to have a golden ear, but the only ears that you have to satisfy are your own. If nothing else, remember this from this post: If a vocal or musical passage seems grating to your ears or even slightly unpleasant, regardless of how the speakers shine in other areas - beware! Remember that these speakers may, eventually, end up in a primary listening space, and all-day listening comfort will become a concern.

So now what? As soon as I hit "publish," I'm going back up to the loft to move the KEF 105.2 back into position and pump some tunes through them, enjoying every single natural, sweet note.

Speakers - Bowers & Wilkins CDM 9NT

That's the KEF Reference Two on the right

Just got pair of B&W CDM 9NT last night, so it's a bit early to do a proper review. The deal was simply too sweet to pass up - more than half-off Audiogon Blue Book price. I'll get around to doing a proper write-up on these soon, and I'm also doing a head-to-head with my KEF Reference Two, which, so far, is proving quite interesting. Stay tuned!

Speakers - Bowers & Wilkins 801 Matrix Series 2

While scouring the Web for reviews of the B&W Matrix 801 Series 2 loudspeakers, I came upon one comprehensive review, by Stereophile, and a few forum posts, but nothing else substantial. That's surprising, as this speaker model is heralded as being one of the most popular high-end speakers produced in the past 25 years. Hopefully this review will encourage other 801 owners to chime in and leave comments, so that this speaker can get its fair share of attention.

 

The Purchase 

I've waited for a pair of 801 S2 or S3 (series two or three) speakers to pop up for local purchase for a few years now. The few times I've seen them, I hadn't the available cash, or they were plucked up by another buyer. This time I got lucky. Found this pair on CraigsList in a nearby town, and communicated with the seller a few times throughout the day, finally arranging to meet him for a listen that same evening. As soon as I walked into the room, I knew I'd be leaving with these speakers. There were a couple of finish options for the 801s, and the all black ash was the one I'd been waiting for. Not that big black speakers look great in my family room, but the wood veneer options for these with the brown Fibercrete head units were, in my opinion, atrocious. Of course the sound mattered as well, so my son and I did a test-listen with an acoustic guitar CD, jazz, and some rock. The speakers passed muster on all counts. They were as good as I had hoped.

 

With the help of the seller, my son and I were able to load these beasts into our van. Once home, it took considerable effort to tilt them out of the rear compartment and onto a skateboard which I used as an improvised dolly. From there, it was only about ten feet of travel into the garage, but each inch was a test of balance, strength, and nerves. These are 110 pounds each, 39" high, 23" deep, and absolutely no handles of any kind. Yes, there's a bass port, but that's a hole, not a handle.

 

The Move Inside 

They sat in my garage for four days until the family left on a Saturday. I needed an empty house with plenty of echo room for cursing and grunting that I predicted would accompany the transfer of these speakers into our den. I was right. The three steps from our garage into our kitchen were agonizing. At one point, with neither any room behind or in front of me to rest the speaker on a flat surface, I felt a shock of pain in my lower back. I steadied myself, and then slowly pushed the speaker onto its side and slid it past the threshold into the kitchen.

 

Once in the family room, I drove to my local hardware store and bought eight 2.5" casters and installed them on the speakers. I'm pretty certain these didn't bring the speakers to their optimal listening height, but, since I can't find that info online anywhere, I'll live with this setup until information comes my way. People have suggested using the original Sound Anchor stands built for these speakers, but at $300/pair, I couldn't get myself to pay for something that I think I can eventually improvise with commonly-found building materials. More on that in another post.

 

The Setup 

Once in the den, I disconnected the right Vandersteen 3A Signature and bi-wired the 801 in its place. From the preamp, I was now able to use the balance control to switch back and forth between the other Vandersteen and the new 801. I had prepared for this listening test by transferring several dozen lossless audio files onto my iPod Nano. For this family room system, I use a Keyspan TuneView iPod dock connected to my Sony STRDA555ES receiver that I use as a preamplifier. The Sony is connected to my Aragon 8008 power amplifier.

 

The Sound 

My first impression while listening to both channels was just how apparent the sonic differences are in the Vandersteens and the B&Ws. Where the Vandersteens were laid-back, neutral, and forgiving, the 801s were forward, analytical, precise, and aggressive. Not all of these terms can be immediately likened to sonic fidelity, but they immediately come to mind when i think about the characteristics of these speakers. Speaker reviews are often criticized for using language that's too esoteric, but often, using concrete terms to transpose an emotional, aural experience is a wasted effort. When I write about the 801s being analytical, I'm referring to their honest, uncolored reproduction of sound - all sounds, true to the original recording. There's a wandering bass line in the Beatles Golden Slumbers that snaps to the front of the soundstage on the 801s where it gets lost somewhere in the lower mid-bass on the Vandersteens. The Vandersteens produce silky-smooth mids and highs, but Paul's voice sounded like he was in the room with me on the B&Ws. Some of the vocal realism is also due to the fact that the 801's midrange and tweeter sit at ear-level for my prime listening location. These drivers on the Vandersteens were nearly a foot above my ears. Adjusting my head height a bit revealed more realistic mids and highs on the Vandersteens, but I'd have to sit on two pillows to get that height from my couch. That's not going to happen, and no, tilting the 90 lb 48" tall Vandersteens downward to adopt a more precise driver angle isn't going to happen.

 

I disconnected the other Vandersteen after several minutes of listening to both brands. Once the other 801 was connected, I sat back for some serious fun. The close-mic'd vocals of Julianna Raye sounded amazing. Her sensitive, but not overly-breathy "Dominoes" brought me right into the studio with her, and "White Bicycle" was equally as hypnotic. Karen Carpenters vocals sounded a bit more harsh on the 801s, but then I realized that her vocals are so clean and clear that, again, I felt part of the studio session instead of listening in a home environment. I heard Richard Carpenter move on his piano bench, and the hammer mechanisms inside the piano. Sounds were being revealed that I'd never heard before. The subtle wavering in Karen's well-controlled vocals, the violin bow hair doing an initial, gentle bounce off the strings before moving along them, so many musical discoveries that force me to want to listen to more and music to rediscover sounds I'd not heard before.

 

UPDATE: I switched out the Sony ES receiver for my McIntosh C31V preamplifier/audio controller. I made this change because I didn't need the complicated sound fields and Dolby intrusions on the Sony, and was interested only in two-channel sound, even for my home theater in that room. With the McIntosh, I also have the benefit of a five band EQ broken into frequency steps of 30, 150, 500, 1,500, and 10,000 Hz boost or cut at 12dB. This gives me a great range to tweak the sound, when needed, for various recordings, but especially for movies, where, without the use of a center speaker, vocals can get lost. NOTE: I use the Playstation 3 as our Blu-ray, and have HDMI coming out of it for our TV. I use the PS3 Multi-out analog RCAs for audio. As the McIntosh C31V is an all-analog unit, I'm not using the digital optical from the PS3, but might consider getting a decent DAC and going that route someday.

 

B&W 800 Series Bass Alignment Filter

So far, in my Web searches, there's been more written about the B&W Matrix 800 Series Variable Bass Alignment Filter & Equalizer than the speakers, themselves. I've got an eBay search going for one, and will probably purchase one if I can get it for around $150 or less. Seems like a reasonable experiment, in any case, and can always resell it if I end up not using it. I won't go into details on how this bass alignment filter works, suffice to say it changes the 4th order crossover in the 801s to a 6th order Butterworth crossover, allowing an extra 1/2 octave of deep bass. The nice thing about the McIntosh C31V is that I can eek out quite a bit of bass between the variable loudness and the 30 Hz EQ boost, so this little filter may not make much, if any difference. True, the McIntosh won't let me hear what isn't already reproduce-able, but at that low of a frequency, it's gonna be hard to tell without listening to isolated test tones.

 

Conclusion

I am so very pleased with these speakers. After a hit-and-miss affair with B&W speakers over the years - LOVE the DM640, lukewarm on the 602 and DM100i, like the DM12, did NOT like the 802 Series 80, the fact that these met every one of my expectations speaks volumes and is quite a relief. I've flipped my fair share of speakers, but always hang on to the ones I consider "keepers." I'm glad to say these fall into that category. Full range speakers like the B&W 801 S2 have to step to the plate with a lot to offer. Although one could always throw in a subwoofer to round out the low-end, the idea with these is that you shouldn't have to do that. If I find that a full-range speaker isn't living up to its name, I'll sell it. The 801s are going to stay with me for a very long time. 

Speakers Head-to-Head - Bowers & Wilkins B&W DM12 VS KEF 103.2

I thought I'd use this new loft stereo system as a comparison bed for bookshelf speakers. First up - B&W vs KEF.


I love these little B&W Dm12 speakers. Love them so much, in fact, that I hated to pit them against the KEF 103.2 because I knew they would inevitably pale by comparison. I was [sigh] right. 


Once again, the openness of the KEF 103.2 soundstage exceeds any other small speaker I've listened to, including these. In the case of the B&W DM12, however, the difference is not night and day. 


In fact, while most music I played sounded better on the KEFs, Karen Carpenter's close-miked vocals of  "Close to You" sounded too brilliant and harsh on the KEFs, but much more controlled and mellow on the B&Ws. "Infinite Arms" from Band of Horses revealed fewer differences between these two speakers. Both reproduced the sounds with similar sonic characteristics. Still, the fact is, when I closed my eyes, the B&W still sounded "boxy," and with the KEFs, the box disappeared, to leave only the vocals and instruments.


In all fairness, the B&W DM12 and KEF 103.2 are not the same size, and, of course, the cabinet size has impact on the sonic qualities of all speakers. 


That being considered, the B&W DM12 is an excellent mid-sized bookshelf speaker and fully-worthy of consideration if you ever get the chance to purchase a pair. 


Have any experience with either of these speakers? Chime on in :)

Speakers - B&W DM100i

I've mentioned how much I like collecting great little bookshelf speakers. My goal is to one day have a home large enough to use them all in "mini" systems in several rooms throughout.

In the meantime, I'll keep snagging the ones I want and enjoy them in my garage system, rotating them out every month or so.

Picked up these B&W DM100i at a thrift store for a song! Work great, and sound quite nice. I haven't put them through their paces with acoustic or jazz yet, but they sound terrific with rock and pop.

I'll post a follow-up after I have more time for critical listening.

Any experiences with B&W bookshelf speakers? Chime in!

Speakers - B&W 802 Series 80 - Initial Thoughts

There were two pairs of these early 80's beauties listed on our Los Angeles CraigsList in the past four days. I found the first pair Thursday evening and the sellers wanted only $400 for them. I caught the advert 2 hours after it was posted, and it turns out I was too late.

Bummed, but determined and now on a mission to find another pair, I kept looking. Then, Sunday morning another pair showed up for sale in the San Fernando Valley for $600 - more in-line with their true value of ~$800 or so. The advert was posted at 11:41PM, and I responded at 5:05AM - SCORE! See, the early bird DOES get the worm. . .or the loudspeaker.

I only had time to haul these up to the loft and plug them in last night. Listened for just a few moments, but it's too early to write up a judgment. More photos and a review coming soon.

Have any experiences with the B&W 802 Series 80 speakers? Let us know what you think: hificollector88 [at] gmail.com or leave a comment.