B&W Owners Thread

I very recently came across a pair of B&W DM14 speakers, there was even the STAV 14 stands! In pretty good shape although one of the stands has a chunk out of it. Now it's time to match them in a system and hear what B&W is all about.

Has anyone come across a particular amp or brand that works well with these or with B&W? My choices are limited here, a Sansui AU2900 (15W), a Radio Shack Realistic System Seven receiver (talk about being base heavy! :yikes: ), a Dynaco St80 or two with a PAT4 preamp (needs a lot of deoxit love), maybe an older Denon receiver or two? Any ideas how much power I would need? These will be for my home office system so I don't need gobs pf power.

I feel like some cool British vintage would be nice if they pass my listening tests - which is if I like them long term, if no caps go bad, they keep working, etc. Not sure what amp, though.

Suggestions welcome!
 
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Tangent said:
I very recently came across a pair of B&W DM14 speakers, there was even the STAV 14 stands! In pretty good shape although one of the stands has a chunk out of it. Now it's time to match them in a system and hear what B&W is all about.

Has anyone come across a particular amp or brand that works well with these or with B&W? My choices are limited here, a Sansui AU2900 (15W), a Radio Shack Realistic System Seven receiver (talk about being base heavy! :yikes: ), a Dynaco St80 or two with a PAT4 preamp (needs a lot of deoxit love), maybe an older Denon receiver or two? Any ideas how much power I would need? These will be for my home office system so I don't need gobs pf power.

I feel like some cool British vintage would be nice if they pass my listening tests - which is if I like them long term, if no caps go bad, they keep working, etc. Not sure what amp, though.

Suggestions welcome!
Click to expand...
Congrats on finding some classic British speakers. I had a pair of DM14 once and really liked them. I ended up selling them to someone here on AK. Hopefully he's still enjoying them. Even though you will not be using them in a large space, 15 or 30 wpc will not do it, in my opinion. They will sound dead with low-powered amps. They are not efficient speakers and need lots of solid state power to sound their best, even in a small space. I would try at least 80wpc, even in an office. More is better. Your Denon receivers might do the trick, depending on their power output. It's always better to have more than less power, so you don't damage the speakers with a stressed amp.
 
Thanks, the Denon AVR-886 is 80W a channel so I'll try that first.

Actually it's my most powerful amp, I have nothing more powerful.

I might investigate British amplifiers just for the coolness factor. :D
 
whyaskit said:
I moved to a newer house a couple of years ago and the room my large television went in did not accommodate the CDM7SE speakers. Sadly, I let them go and run a stereo plus sub for my home theater.

I was able to find a nice pair of 805S’s for my main system. A speaker I have always wanted. I really enjoy the sound of these speakers.

View attachment 2239100

The CDM7SE
View attachment 2239101
Click to expand...
Those are a beautiful pair of older CDM's
 
I have not seen many people here who owns a set with B&W DM 4.
Well, I have and am very satisfied with them, it is amazing what these old type Bowers & Wilkins can perform.
Design is from 1972, mine are produced late 1978, but still going strong.
They are well balanced ,B&W woofer, a Celestion midrange and a Coles supertweeter.
They are 10-30 Watts only , but enough to fill a livingroom.
Very nice midrange and highs , some complain about the bass, but if you place them with their backs against the wall, you will get a very nice bass.
What also helps, take the woofers out and turn them 180 degrees, because they were for more than 40 years in the same position.
Sound is still incredible. And if you are patient, you can find them on the internet for a reasonable price, although prices are rising.

P1040809.JPG P1040810.JPG P1040813.JPG
 
snorrewiets said:
I have not seen many people here who owns a set with B&W DM 4.
Well, I have and am very satisfied with them, it is amazing what these old type Bowers & Wilkins can perform.
Design is from 1972, mine are produced late 1978, but still going strong.
They are well balanced ,B&W woofer, a Celestion midrange and a Coles supertweeter.
They are 10-30 Watts only , but enough to fill a livingroom.
Very nice midrange and highs , some complain about the bass, but if you place them with their backs against the wall, you will get a very nice bass.
What also helps, take the woofers out and turn them 180 degrees, because they were for more than 40 years in the same position.
Sound is still incredible. And if you are patient, you can find them on the internet for a reasonable price, although prices are rising.

View attachment 2306874 View attachment 2306875 View attachment 2306876
Click to expand...
Very nice! Yours look to be in excellent condition. I had a pair of DM4. They have their own unique sound IMO. They are more difficult to find than many of the later B&W models, at least here in the U.S. The Coles super tweeters were bad on the ones I bought, which is common. I got replacements from Falcon Acoustics in the UK.
 
Hello, mine were in not so nice condtion as well, a lot of scratches which I covered up by sanding it first and then use Howards Restore and Finsh...
I had the same problem with the Coles supertweeters, they were replaced by some cheap Taiwanese tweeters 8 Ohms, while the original tweeters should be 16 Ohms.
I was able to find the Coles secondhand in Holland for 40 Euro's . ( I am from origin Dutch as well , but live in Poland)
There is a lot of DM 4's available in Holland on www.Marktplaats.nl , but prices are rising fast, but if you wait long enough you will be able to find for a reasonable price.
Holland was in those days the first distribitor outside England, so a lot of sales here...
Regards, Ben.
 
snorrewiets said:
Hello, mine were in not so nice condtion as well, a lot of scratches which I covered up by sanding it first and then use Howards Restore and Finsh...
I had the same problem with the Coles supertweeters, they were replaced by some cheap Taiwanese tweeters 8 Ohms, while the original tweeters should be 16 Ohms.
I was able to find the Coles secondhand in Holland for 40 Euro's . ( I am from origin Dutch as well , but live in Poland)
There is a lot of DM 4's available in Holland on www.Marktplaats.nl , but prices are rising fast, but if you wait long enough you will be able to find for a reasonable price.
Holland was in those days the first distribitor outside England, so a lot of sales here...
Regards, Ben.
Click to expand...
It looks like you did a nice job with the Howards. I used the same thing with mine. The DM4 are not as accurate as B&W's later speakers, but offer a listening experience that can be just as enjoyable with the right amplifier. Plus, as you note, they do not need a lot of power. I remember using a 20wpc tube amp with mine and they sounded really good. Enjoy yours. :music:
 
Thanks, they are connected to a Superscope R-1270 from 1976 ( see my avatar ) who share a lot of Marantz components, max. 35 Watts, which I think it is a good combination. :rockon:
 
B&W Matrix 1

Bought these from the original owner recently. They should be more presentable after I clean up the cabinets and grills. Also included were the original stands, but unfortunately one base is damaged, probably beyond repair, making it unstable. These things are heavy!

Matrix1.jpg

Matrix2.jpg

Matrix3.jpg
 
Very nice find montrecott, I have no doubt the Matrix 1's are terrific speakers. I have the Matrix 2's.

Please update us when you have finished the cabinets.
 
Nice find, montrecott, curious how they sound when repaired, please let us know....
How heavy are they? Are they two way ?
 
snorrewiets said:
Nice find, montrecott, curious how they sound when repaired, please let us know....
How heavy are they? Are they two way ?
Click to expand...
Thanks! They sound great (no issues with the drivers, just cabinets that need a refresh). These could be recapped at some point, but for now I'm going to enjoy them as they are. I was concerned because they are 85db, 4 ohm speakers but are actually not that hard to drive with my integrated amps (which will do well over 100wpc into 4 ohms). They sound excellent with a variety of music from various sources. Good bass for their size, very smooth sounding overall, great imaging.

They aren't that tall or wide, but are almost 13" deep and weigh 22 pounds each, but it seems like more. Very solid. They are two-way, with a woofer that is 150mm (just under 6" diameter).

I believe these were made in the late eighties, so I assume they were designed to compete with the Celestion SL6 and its successors.
 
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montrecott said:
Will do. I'd love to hear a pair of Matrix 2's as well.
Click to expand...

That would be great. The Matrix 2's have a very similar sound signature to what you describe, they definitely do better with higher wattage/current amps. The bass is tight but maybe not as deep/full sounding as the DM-14's with dual woofers that l also have. The Matrix's would have been more expensive in the day though.
 
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