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B&W 803S, are they the right speakers for me?

I purchased B&W 803S three years ago after trading up from the 805S. My system currently consists of:
803S
MC352
MC41
Denon 2810 (Transport)
TADAC w/Tele NOS smooth plates
Upgraded Power cords
Tara Lab interconnects
Anticables (recent purchase)

My room is 20' wide and about 30' long, but I have a sofa about 10 feet from speakers (which are 9' apart and 2' from back wall). I do have a fair amount of furniture in the room with little opportunity for room treatments (wife issue). Speakers are very slightly toed in.

Speaker dilema- I have to crank them to get well rounded sound with reasonable imaging. I have tried for three years to make them really work. Where have I gone wrong? Thinking of a great smaller speaker that may be more efficient with better imaging (Dynaudio C1 is being considered).

Your help is greatly appreciated!
dmm53

Showing 5 responses by dmm53

dmm53 OP
63 posts
 
Thanks to eveyone's advice.

Switched to 4 ohm taps a long time ago. Did positively change sound.

I have played with separation and toe in many times and find it does make a big difference.

My guess is that Rwwear may have had iit right the first time. I need to change the location of the speakers, which is currently impossible.

I am however, going to pull some furniture out, just to test the effect over the weekend.

I may need a different type of speaker. I owned a pair of Magnepan Typonies years ago (talk about tough placement) and have been spoiled ever since. Just dont have the room for 3.6 or 20.1.
dmm53 OP
63 posts
 
Played with positioning for the millionth time this weekend. Moved speakers a bit closer together and imaging improved a bit. I'm also enjoying the anti cables which seem to be a bit more revealing in detail.

This system moves from wow to uggghhh depending on source music. The aluminum tweeter can sound spectacular with good instrumental passages and shrill with some female voice (even with the tube DAC). Is it just the source music and the fact that the 803s are revealing?
dmm53 OP
63 posts
 
Played with severe toe in with tweeters crossing in front and lost all imaging. For whatever reason, my room acoustics like a very very slight toe in.

Might try some tube rolling to tame the tweeters abit more?
dmm53 OP
63 posts
 
Have often thought of changing the preamp to a good tube preamp (CJ, ARC, Audio Horizon, Mac 2200/2300). Wondered how much benefit I would see with a tube DAC already in my system.

Owned a CJ preamp years ago with an ARC 100B and loved the sound. These speakers love power and current and worry about an ARC that delivers this at a reasonable price.
dmm53 OP
63 posts
 
Again, thanks to everyone. Based on comments, I think I am going to try to bypass my SS preamp and use my tube dac direcct to my amp (has gain controls) and see what happens to dynamics.
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