B&W Owners Thread

I was patient.... Finally snagged a pair of DM14 yesterday. The cabinets aren't terrible but will need a little work. I've got them hooked up to a Yamaha CA-810 and I'm not disappointment in the sound. Hopefully the Luxman R1120a, which has twice the power of the Yamaha, will be back from the shop soon. That should really make them sing. Does anyone know the MSRP of these in USD when new?
 
Well, the owners (who one the company now) want people to call them Bowers and Wilkins and not B&W as it sounds too much like BMW or BNW (which is a white van speaker brand).

Sooooo, I also enjoy my B&W DM-14's, luckily the pair I bought were in near perfect shape.

I was patient.... Finally snagged a pair of DM14 yesterday. The cabinets aren't terrible but will need a little work. I've got them hooked up to a Yamaha CA-810 and I'm not disappointment in the sound. Hopefully the Luxman R1120a, which has twice the power of the Yamaha, will be back from the shop soon. That should really make them sing. Does anyone know the MSRP of these in USD when new?

They were not that expensive in 1981 compared to some offerings from the little I've seen, high $400's....
If I am wrong, please enlighten me.
Great speakers if you can stumble on to a pair.
 
Sooooo, I also enjoy my B&W DM-14's, luckily the pair I bought were in near perfect shape.



They were not that expensive in 1981 compared to some offerings from the little I've seen, high $400's....
If I am wrong, please enlighten me.
Great speakers if you can stumble on to a pair.
That is very reasonable if true. MSRP on KEF 103.2 was in the $900 range. I wish I still had mine so I could compare, but they definitely have some similarities. I'm impressed with the DM14. They also seem to have held their value well over the years.
 
Teak and stands were options, mine have the stands, wood may be teak, do not have enough info to compare.
Imagine competing with AR-3's just ending their run, probably a competitive market pricing for exposure.
Excellent speaker for it's price.
 
My Luxman R-1120 sounds better than I would have suspected with my second pair of DM23s. The definitely-in-need-of-an-alignment tuner can barely pull in WPFW 89.3 in stereo (I bought that Luxman from a guy who smoked, and he owned a long haired cat that liked the heat that the Luxman gives off).

I had the older pair of walnut DM23s (purchased for cheap from a certain auction site years ago, and the cabinets weren't in good shape then) re-capped, and they are the best bookshelves I have owned, hands down, prior cabinet damage and all. I ought to get that Luxman and the other 23s recapped/restored, as well.
 
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My Luxman R-1120 sounds better than I would have suspected with my second pair of DM23s. The definitely-in-need-of-an-alignment tuner can barely pull in WPFW 89.3 in stereo (I bought that Luxman from a guy who smoked, and he owned a long haired cat that liked the heat that the Luxman gives off).

I had the older pair of walnut DM23s (purchased for cheap from a certain auction site years ago, and the cabinets weren't in good shape then) re-capped, and they are the best bookshelves I have owned, hands down, prior cabinet damage and all. I ought to get that Luxman and the other 23s recapped/restored, as well.

You should indeed. Recently hooked my restored R1120a up to the B&W 14's (which are unrestored)--fantastic! It's difficult to remember how inefficient the speakers are, given the Lux's power. The tuner on my Lux (which has been aligned) is excellent, as good as many separate tuners. It includes a narrow band FM switch and you can disengage the CLL tuning system with the push of a button, which is nice. I should probably get my DM14 recapped as well. Everything sounds great as it is for now, though.
 
Just purchased a set of DM330is locally. One grill was funky but after some fiddling around, it's repaired to my satisfaction. The 330is are now set up in a secondary system, and they are wonderful to my untrained, boorish ears. Thought they would be a backup for some older advent small towers. Right now the advents are the backup. I realize DMs are low on the B&W ladder but they are high end in my place. Will post a pic in the next couple of weeks.
 
I have the 805D2 with a REL S/2 Sub in the main room. They check all the boxes for me. The folks at Steyning definitely know what they are doing. I also have CM5s in another room.


So it was the CM5's in the office that led me to the 805D2 I mentioned in the post above (#105).

Recently I was looking for a pair of speakers for another room and wasn't really satisfied with any of the standmounts I was trying. The last speakers I tried were the LS50. I was very hopeful that they'd be the ones but I still wasn't quite satisfied. Then I brought in a pair of CM6 S2 and all was right with the world again :).

Yes, I love what these Bowers & Wilkins speakers can do. Few can come close, at least to my ears.

CM5 in the office
CM6 S2 in the second system
805 D2 in the LR

Standmount family shot before the LS50 were moved on...



... and their replacement, wow - just what I was looking for.

 
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Currently enjoying a beat up looking pair of 640i’s. It’s embarrassing how little I paid for them, but they sound very good. Cabinets need some cosmetic help - black vinyl is so scratched up - but drivers are quite healthy. Found them at a Goodwill of all places so took a chance - $35 for the pair! Never even listened to B&W’s before these. I like ‘em!
 
Well, I replaced the A-88X with a McIntosh MC-2002, a McIntosh C-39, and fed through a NAD M51 DAC...my Matrix 1s now officially WOW! me beyond any expectations. The change of electronics resulted in a genuine revelation as to what true "hi-fi" is about...the clarity, the separation, the immediacy, and the tonal reproduction are all simply mouth-dropping. This Mac/B&W combination is definitely the cat's "MEOW!"
 
So, picked up a set of DM5's. Had a pair when they were brand new back in the mid to late 70's and wanted a pair again. However, I must be going through a dumb phase again as I cant figure out how to attach speaker wire to them. I know from looking online that the din input is paralleled to the two other connections but those seem to be way too small for banana jacks and I know I just don't stick bare wire in there...

What am I missing??
 
Well, I now have my TOTL home system complete...for the time being :)

Upgraded my B&W Matrix 1 series 1s with a pair of Matrix 3 Series 2. Not a whole lot of difference. The 3s do sound a bit fuller and they are 5db more sensitive (90 vs. 85 on the 1s). The sound coming from my system now is absolutely sublime...as close to live as I've ever heard from a recording.

I also have the full story on the evolution of the Matrix series to the 800 series, according to Doug Schneider at Sound Stage...

"A while after that initial Matrix 1, 2, and 3 lineup, B&W gave their much-heralded 801 the Matrix treatment and dubbed it the 801 Series 2. The audio world had heart palpitations. Although some disagreed, many called it the greatest dynamic speaker of the day. Stereophile's Lewis Lipnick crowned it Class A and that was that. Soon afterwards their longstanding 802 became one of the Matrix brethren and it too carried the Series 2 moniker.

B&W seemed to like that Series 2 name so gosh-darn much that when they released a new version of the Matrix 1, 2, and 3 lineup they tacked Series 2 to the end of that too. However, from what I could tell the consumer world didn't seem to like the 'Series' part of the name as much as they liked seeing 800 up in front. The B&W 800 series quickly became known as the upscale B&W line.

Being the smart marketers B&W are, they latched onto the 800 name pronto and brought out a mucho expensive 800 speaker (Series 1 implied, I'd imagine). Seeing as they already had an 801 and 802 (in Series 2 form) it seemed only logical to scrap the Matrix 1, 2, and 3, redesign 'em, then call them 803, 804, and 805 (Series 1 implied of course)."
 
On a bet, i stuck a McIntosh MQ104 (bass equalizer) into my system. Using only the MQ101 functionality right now, but my Matrix 3s have found their missing bass. Very nice full frequency response coming out of my speakers now.

I knew that B&W made a similar unit for the original Matrix 805s and figured they were basically the same thing and it proved to be the right assumption.

It just keeps getting better and better.
 
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