What's on your Christmas wish list this year?
Posted by: Loki on 23 November 2016
With Black Friday nearly upon us, cyber Monday around the corner and the advent of, well, Advent, I hope I'm not too early in asking what you are hoping/planning to get to augment your system this Yuletide? Dreams, hopes and more realistic Naim additives are all viable.
Bodger, stop tempting me! My Xmas wish list is already fit to bust! 802s not possible just now.
This should be the last instalment of my particular speaker saga which began in earnest mid July this year. I have had the opportunity to listen to seven very different speakers but only one of these was a home trial. Long story short, I now own a shiny new pair of B&W 802 D3’s. They arrived last Saturday and are now warming nicely. The 802s replace a 2005 pair of 803S. After about an hour of unpacking and generally faffing around, unpacking, getting the ramp in place, removing transit screws for the mids etc., we got some music.
The weather has turned recently here in Athens and the units were very cold to touch. Even so and out of the box, the music was a quantum up from the old 803’s. Over the course of Saturday I got some hours in them and borrowed a pair of ears too. Lots of detail and bass grunt but also not surprisingly, not the sound I had previously heard during the demo with well run in samples. It was like the drive units were waking up at different speeds and the soundscape was not together yet. Not surprising as the mid units had only been released from the transit position for a few hours.
Sunday was better. I had left them playing quietly with a CD on repeat overnight. I reckon it will take 100 hours or so to get there. From the outset I did hear new things on familiar tracks, both vinyl and CD. The sound was opening up and becoming more satisfying. This was only days 1 and 2 so lots more to come. I could live with the sound right here, so any improvement, which is inevitable, is great to ponder. Last night started with a rough patch, rather harsh for 20 minutes or so. As I had mostly been running in with very low volumes, I moved up to 12 o’clock on the pre. The music just came alive.
Some other vague observations. Listening is extremely enjoyable at background to low volumes; they deliver a very complete image even when barely audible. I guess the drivers are getting along. They appreciate being given some “welly”. It seems the louder the better. Walking over to change a CD sounded like I was getting closer to the stage. Previously I was aware that I was moving towards the left speaker. They seem to disappear behind the music – you are not aware of two boxes at all. The sound is coming from over there. This is not to say there is no image as imaging is great but it is from points in space not left or right.
No worries about making the right choice now. Thanks to all for the feedback since July. It is now a good place, to know that the itch has finally been scratched. Once they settle down more I will fiddle with final positioning. To date simply plonking them down where the old ones were seems to work just fine. I would also add finally that the finish is absolutely first class.
Was that a 'turntable of some transcription'? 