Am I the only one who thinks B&W is mid-fi?


I know that title sounds pretencious. By all means, everyones taste is different and I can grasp that. However, I find B&W loudspeakers to sound extremely Mid-fi ish, designed with sort of a boom and sizzle quality making it not much better than retail quality brands. At price point there is always something better than it, something musical, where the goals of preserving the naturalness and tonal balance of sound is understood. I am getting tired of people buying for the name, not the sound. I find it is letting the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. In these times of dying 2 channel, and the ability to buy a complete stereo/home theater at your local blockbuster, all of the brands that should make it don't. Most Hi-fi starts with a retail system and with that type of over-processed, boom and sizzle sound (Boom meaning a spike at 80Hz and sizzle meaning a spike at 10,000Hz). That gives these rising enthuists a false impression of what hi-fi is about. Thus, the people who cater to that falseified sound, those who design audio, forgetting the passion involved with listening, putting aside all love for music just to put a nickle in the pig...Well are doing a good job. Honestly, it is just wrong. Thanks for the read...I feel better. Prehaps I just needed to vent, but I doubt it. Music is a passion of mine, and I don't want to have to battle in 20 yrs to get equipment that sounds like music. Any comments?
mikez
[its all good ] NOT A BIG FAN BUT THEY MAKE OK SPEAKERS FOR THE CASH I HAVE OWNED A FEW PAIRS BUT WILL PROBLY NEVER BUY ANOTHER PAIR YOU CAN GET BETTER SOUND ELSE WHERE
I'm with John, My B&W 602's have boomy bass , muddy mids, and absolutly no sparkle to the treble. Seas woofers and ribbons in kits easily blow away any B&W's and most commercials. Audio Aero is superior digital, Jadis is superior tube. Electrocompaniet is superior solid state...same in drivers you've got superior and the so-so. Just opinion nothing more.
As a very happy owner of N 805's I would like to add a few thoughts to this discussion. B&W speakers have always evoked emotional responses from people who consider themselves "audiophiles". For better or worse everyone seems to have an opinion regarding this brand.

They are and always have been very very fussy concerning the electronics that drive them. Cables too are critical.
I believe that most of their models compete with anything out on the market provided they are driven properly.

Mid-Fi, give me a break!!!
Just some remarks.... many here say they owned a couple B&W speakers that they didn't like. Why bought them in the first place? Second: I don't feel the number of posts on this board by a single person is of any importance. Third: buying speakers is so easy: listen, and if you'll like them, buy them. And last: BMW means Bayerische Motor Werke, where B&W stands short for Bowers & Wilkins. I don't think B&W tried to copy BMW...
I used to work at an audio shop that sold B&W speakers. They weren't the best and they weren't the worst. In my opinion, they are better than mid-fi, but nowhere near the best. The main problems are tubby bass and blanket-over- the-speaker veiling, obscuring detail. Build quality is superior in all respects, and appearance is very nice. You could do alot worse. But on a sonic scale, they are about a 6 or 7 at best.