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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
brianmgrarcom
1,317 posts
 
What ohm taps are you using on the MC352? If not the 4 ohm taps, try them.
jaybo
4,478 posts
 
agree with above...something is amiss.
angst0
13 posts
 
4 ohms is much better for my 802's......they need current as well as power
rwwear
2,848 posts
 
Smaller speakers are usually less efficient. It's easier to fill a room with sound with more drivers. Your room is large and you are using an amp that is not really a good match for the speakers you have. I suspect the output transformer used in the Mac is limiting the available current needed to drive the B&Ws successfully.
Having said that, your setup is not really ideal either. You should move the speakers out into the room further if possible and move them closer together. You can try this in small increments until you get enough center fill. But two feet from the wall is really not enough. The golden rule is one third of the room length I believe, which would be ten feet. This probably not feasible for you. But it shows how much off you are.
rwwear
2,848 posts
 
I may be wrong about this. But I am fairly sure that using the 4ohm tap will lower the power output for an 8ohm speaker.
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