No bass on B&W 800D2


Hi,

I’ve been a B&W fan Since the late 90s and have owned many different speakers over the years. I’ve owned a pair of 802Ds (first gen) For a long time and those had always been my dream speaker. 

I recently had the opportunity to upgrade to a pair of 800D2. I had never heard the 800 or the second generation diamonds before, but was tempted by the idea of owning the flagships. I don’t like the looks and sound of the newer generation 800 so in my mind, I was upgrading to the top of the line speaker of the last generation that I like.

I’ve had these speakers for three months now, and I’ve played around with positioning and levels of my subwoofers. when I first set them up I immediately noticed a lack of bass compared to the 802’s. I listen in the near field and have the 800 approximately in the same position as the 802, although with slightly more toe in and a little further away from the wall as they seem more sensitive to room placement than the 802s did. Even pushed up to the wall there is not more bass, just boom. 
 

I’m powering them with a Classé sigma amp 2, which doubles to 400W a channel on 4 ohms. Before you say it’s the amp, the 802s sounded exactly the same on my Denon 4520 as they did on the Classé amp after I upgraded to that - so I don’t really subscribe to the “more power” idea and believe an amp won’t change the sound dramatically as long as it’s decent quality and has enough power. I mostly listen at lower levels anyhow. 
 

Has anybody had the same issue with the 800D2 lacking so much bass compared to the 802D? The midrange sounds about the same and the highs are way more tame, which I like, but this lack of low end authority is making me seriously consider selling these again which makes me sad - since they are absolutely gorgeous in the looks department. 
 

thanks for your thoughts in advance - would appreciate hearing from actual owners of these. 

seb_audio

In my 25 year quest for good bass in my "new" 24x20 ft room, I finally started addressing SBIR head on with acoustic treatments. It made a _profound_ improvement and now I know the answer to my problem. SBIR will really mess with your bass in a large room or just if the speakers are far from the walls. I think the theory says to use largest possible traps on perpendicular surfaces so it’s very different from treating first reflections for mids-treble. I’m using GIK acoustics soffit traps standing on end and placed to absorb bass from both mains and subs with additional 244 ER traps used on walls. Next, I’ll add bass some bass traps to ceiling mount above the mains.

As to why the 2 pairs are so different, are they both plinth loaded/ported? Agree that a larger amp with more grunt might do more than you’d expect. Amps do sound very different and each 3db of increase requires doubling your power.

Well here is an option, Try to Biamp them and Eq just the lowend.

That will nail it, Did that with My 800 Matrix

Get some test tones and a sound meter and chart your Findings.

Rooms suck, those are nice speakers.

How do you like the sound otherwise, If not happy go back to the older B&w's....