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The issue of whether or not to use a bass-alignment filter (either the one supplied with the speakers, or an after-market product) is a gray area, since individual room acoustics, wiring configurations, and your personal listening tastes are involved. Unlike the 801 and 802 speakers, the 800 does not require equalization to obtain excellent bass attack and slam. In fact, when I asked Dr. Dibb about this point, he felt that unless the particular listening space is very bass-shy, addition of an equalizing filter may not be desirable. I found it interesting that the people at B&W in…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded loudspeaker with line-level bass equalizer. Drive-units: two 12" polymer-cone bass, two 5" Kevlar-cone midrange, one 1.25" ferrofluid-cooled, metal-dome tweeter. Frequency response: 23Hz–20kHz, ±2dB free-field. Impedance: 4 ohms nominal (3 ohms minimum). Sensitivity: 93dB for 2.83V at 1m. Recommended power: 150W–800W.
Dimensions: 75.375" H by 19.25" W by 23.25" D. Weight: 240 lbs.
Prices: $18,000/pair (rosewood veneer), $15,000/pair (English walnut, black ash veneers, or painted "satin-black" finish) (1991); no longer…
Sidebar 2: Setup
The B&W speakers were initially bi-wired with Straight Wire Maestro speaker cables, as well as similar jumpers between woofer modules. There were also short Maestro cables between midrange and tweeter binding posts, which I replaced a few days later with the supplied solid jumpers. I also tried the Monster Powerline woofer jumpers, but found the Straight Wire configuration throughout to be superior. Electronics initially consisted of Esoteric and Krell digital drives, Theta Pro Generation II (balanced) D/A convertor, Mark Levinson No.26 preamp, and Krell KSA-250…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Normally, I ask reviewers to ship the products to Santa Fe for measurement once their listening sessions are over. In the case of B&W's immense 800, however, the Mountain—in the shape of Robert Harley, Stereophile's computerized test gear, and myself—decided it would be more convenient to visit Muhammad in his Arlington, VA hideout.
As explained earlier, Lewis's listening room is a small basement, with a solid floor and solid walls apart from that behind the speakers. This wall is of drywall construction, with a central doorway leading to a similarly…
"Where do you want 'em?" Doug'n'David (of Stereophile's shipping and receiving, not your favorite morning drive-time talk radio co-hosts) had just wrestled over 500 lbs of cocooned Wilson WITT loudspeakers onto the floor of my garage. Like the Thiel CS7s I had parted with just a few weeks earlier, the WITTs came packed in solid, heavy wooden crates. The pained expressions on Doug'n'David's faces indicated that it was time for me to start reviewing minimonitors! The unpacking went more smoothly than I expected, but this is clearly a pair of loudspeakers that demand to be delivered, uncrated,…
Round One: The soundstage produced by the widely spaced WITTs was, as I noted above, huge. At first I thought the soundstage focus was a bit more vague than I'm accustomed to; this may well have been due to the spread of images within that soundstage in contrast to the usual left, center, and right. Still, I was able to sharpen up the stage noticeably by minor alterations in the acoustic treatment in the neighborhood of the loudspeakers (footnote 2). When I was finished, I found the soundstage surprisingly precise laterally, with good, though not exceptional, depth.
But the biggest…
It didn't. With the Levinson No.332 amplifier and the XLO cables, the sound, special enough before, was now even better. There was a little less midrange immediacy than before, but it was hardly missed. The mid- and upper bass were now well-balanced—more full-bodied, certainly, than with most other audiophile loudspeakers, but somehow right.
There was also now clearly more detail in the bass than before. Jerry Goldsmith's score for Congo (Epic EK 67266)—by far the best feature of a so-bad-it's-almost-good film—is loaded with fast, explosive percussion. Without the proper sense of weight…
Sidebar 1: Martin Colloms on the Sound
I enjoyed my test period with the WITTs. My pair were delivered with only a few hours on the clock, and I was intrigued to hear significant improvements in clarity, dynamics, and bass articulation with more extended use. Even after six weeks, they continued to sound more gracious, exhibiting a fluid ease which hadn't been so evident on first installation.
I liked the WITT. My first impressions that it sounded a touch distant were soon dispelled as it ran in, leading to my final opinion that it is outstandingly communicative, and in a…
Sidebar 2: Martin Colloms's System
Analog: Linn LP12/Lingo/Naim ARO/Koetsu Rosewood II or van den Hul Grasshopper IV GLA.
CD playback: Krell KPS20i/l, Wadia 16, Mark Levinson No.30.5.
Preamplification: Audio Research LS7 and LS22, Conrad-Johson PV10AL and PV12.
Power amplification: Krell KAS-2, Audio Research VT150SE & VTM120, Krell KSA-200S, Conrad-Johnson MV55, Meridian 605, Naim NAP250.
Integrated amplification: Musical Fidelity A1000, Exposure 20.
Cables: Transparent Reference, Kimber Black Pearl & KCAG balanced and unbalanced, Siltech 4x180 & FTM4, van den…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded loudspeaker system. Drive-units: 12" treated paper-cone woofer, 7" treated paper-cone midrange, 1" inverted titanium-dome tweeter. Frequency response: 28Hz–22kHz, ±1.5dB. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m.
Dimensions: 16" W by 17" D by 43" H. Weight: 200 lbs each.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 0209/0210.
Price: $8888/pair (Series I, 1996); $11,890/pair (Series II, 1998); both no longer available (2008). Approximate number of dealers: 44.
Manufacturer: Wilson Audio Specialties, Inc., 2233…