wgb113
03-11-2016, 09:49 PM
My first exposure to HiFi was a pair of N801s driven by McIntosh separates at a local (no defunct) dealer HiFi House when I was in college. I was there to audition my first pair of speakers in the $250ish pair range. After listening to a few songs on the B&W/McIntosh setup the Paradigm Titans didn't stand a chance! This was the mid-90s, I was a broke college kid home for the summer and just getting into gear, and I was RUINED!
On the way out I remember a pair of N805s catching my eye - just from a design standpoint they were sweet, though I never stopped to listen. I ended up with a pair of NHT SuperOnes which gave me many of my first HiFi goosebumps that has kept me on the chase all these years later.
So here I sit, nearly 3 years (a long time for me) into my relationship with my KEF LS50s. Prior to them I had a very different system with a pair of Dynaudio BM5AmkII active speakers. I wanted to get into vinyl and my pro-sumer setup wasn't very analog friendly. I sold them off and bought a Parasound A23, upgraded my Benchmark DAC 1 USB to a DAC2 HGC and bought the LS50s.
Initially there was quite a bit of buyers remorse. The LS50s didn't go down much at all - subs would be needed. In came two cheap-o Dayton SUB800s but for the life of me I couldn't get them to blend well (without using speaker-level connections) so I sold off the Benchmark and Parasound combo for a McIntosh MA6300.
Sure it was entry-level, didn't have auto-formers, etc but it was finally a McIntosh! More importantly it allowed me to dial in some bottom end for my small room near field setup. The KEFs have performed better than I could ask for. I really am happy with them.
It's just that...itch. I think it was a random auction site search session that lead me to a pair of N805s in rosewood that were in great condition and only 30 minutes from the house. Local pickup only. With stands. No dented tweeters or scuffed cabinets. I watched. No bids. I bid and win. Go to pick them up, everything looks good, get them home, I finally have Nautilus line B&Ws in the house, hook them up and...no sound out of one of the woofers.
Bummer!
I take them back the next day, seller refunds the money, says she'll get them fixed and put them back up.
I was so close. SO close! Now I'm searching everywhere. Rosewood was nice but I always wanted the cherry and would rather have black ash as my second choice.
I find a pair in cherry that look to be in great condition, with stands, only slightly more than I had paid a couple of weeks ago...but they're 4.5 hours away! I contact the seller and, as luck would have it (we are close to St. Patty's Day) they'll be within an hour of my place in the near future. We exchange a few emails.
I'll be picking them up Monday.
So, fellow B&W enthusiasts, I see the diamonds are getting all the love lately - but can the 20-ish year old N805s still hold their own against a technologically advanced speaker like the KEF LS50?
Would love to hear your thoughts. I'll give you mine over the course of the next week.
Bill
On the way out I remember a pair of N805s catching my eye - just from a design standpoint they were sweet, though I never stopped to listen. I ended up with a pair of NHT SuperOnes which gave me many of my first HiFi goosebumps that has kept me on the chase all these years later.
So here I sit, nearly 3 years (a long time for me) into my relationship with my KEF LS50s. Prior to them I had a very different system with a pair of Dynaudio BM5AmkII active speakers. I wanted to get into vinyl and my pro-sumer setup wasn't very analog friendly. I sold them off and bought a Parasound A23, upgraded my Benchmark DAC 1 USB to a DAC2 HGC and bought the LS50s.
Initially there was quite a bit of buyers remorse. The LS50s didn't go down much at all - subs would be needed. In came two cheap-o Dayton SUB800s but for the life of me I couldn't get them to blend well (without using speaker-level connections) so I sold off the Benchmark and Parasound combo for a McIntosh MA6300.
Sure it was entry-level, didn't have auto-formers, etc but it was finally a McIntosh! More importantly it allowed me to dial in some bottom end for my small room near field setup. The KEFs have performed better than I could ask for. I really am happy with them.
It's just that...itch. I think it was a random auction site search session that lead me to a pair of N805s in rosewood that were in great condition and only 30 minutes from the house. Local pickup only. With stands. No dented tweeters or scuffed cabinets. I watched. No bids. I bid and win. Go to pick them up, everything looks good, get them home, I finally have Nautilus line B&Ws in the house, hook them up and...no sound out of one of the woofers.
Bummer!
I take them back the next day, seller refunds the money, says she'll get them fixed and put them back up.
I was so close. SO close! Now I'm searching everywhere. Rosewood was nice but I always wanted the cherry and would rather have black ash as my second choice.
I find a pair in cherry that look to be in great condition, with stands, only slightly more than I had paid a couple of weeks ago...but they're 4.5 hours away! I contact the seller and, as luck would have it (we are close to St. Patty's Day) they'll be within an hour of my place in the near future. We exchange a few emails.
I'll be picking them up Monday.
So, fellow B&W enthusiasts, I see the diamonds are getting all the love lately - but can the 20-ish year old N805s still hold their own against a technologically advanced speaker like the KEF LS50?
Would love to hear your thoughts. I'll give you mine over the course of the next week.
Bill