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

BMW was established in 1916 and started making cars after they stopped making aeroplanes during WWII. However the name was well established and prestigious long before that, perhaps not in the USA - but certainly in Britain, and long before 1966. Nevertheless I admit it may just be coincidence and my little jab and may not have any real merit. But the fact that BMW 'America' was established in 1975 has no bearing on matters - as neither is an American company. (it just shows how long it took Americans to realize how bad their own cars were.)

The speaker manufacturers I mentioned are not small fledgling companies - they are well established hi-quality high-end companies who's speakers put most of B&W's to shame - for the money. They probably put a greater proportion of their revenues into r&d than B&W. And because they do not waste resources on designing umpteen speakers to fit avery niche in the market, they can put their resources into designing the best speakers possible. Period. B&W's strategy is to design speakers to 'sell right' - not to sound good. Of course B&W's top speakers are good. Pioneer could make good stuff if they wanted to - and they do - it just costs a fortune and is poor value - and they probably just contract the work out to companies like Linn anyhow (that is what Leouwe does in Germany).

Speaking of Linn, I would say they are the rare company that makes some of the best products available with a strong underlying ethic of sound engineering, simplicity, functionality, beauty, and practicality - AND they have a marketing appeal that is the envy of the industry - largely due to Ivor's personality. But the underlying philosophy of everything they do involves the reproduction of best possible sound. Their products stand up to the test. They have to - you can't get away with being as obnoxious as they are if your goods don't deliver. Just because they are not in the esoteric audio camp - in that they are willing to integrate comfort, convenience and user interface into their designs - doesn't mean they thay are not as focused on sound quality as some of the more dogmatic high-end companies - nor does it mean they are a sell out like Bose or Kakamichi.

I wanted to like the N803 when I went speaker shopping. I still think it is one of the best looking speaker lines. But...I found the Thiel CS6s so much more detailed and accurate with command of the low-end, it was a no-brainer for me.

I would not call B&W mid-fi. I just didn't like the sound. At all.

I should qualify some of my statements - I don't think B&W is mainstream mass-fi stuff like Bose or Polk. In terms of quality I think it is far better. But I just don't think they are purists, even in their top-flight range. I tried to like B&W - as mentioned earlier I brought the 805's home when the new series came out a couple of years ago. What an overpriced speaker the 805 is!

My main point here, and if I am correct the point of this thread, is that there are so many other speakers out there that are overlooked because too many people don't look past the name and the marketing - and actually listen to some of the better sounding better valued stuff out there. Many quality companies are struggling because too many people have the herd mentality and are brainwashed by mid-fi boom and tizz sound. Successful companies got that way because their products are proven is bu%@s*it! Just look at the companies that sell 95% of the electronics out there. Big 'reliable' names that produce mass produced crap.

Sadly, some companies that do make, or started out making good stuff, are forced to alter their sound in order to appeal to mainstream tastes or they'll go under.

To be fair once again - B&W is not bad, but I urge you to listen to some of the others, give them a good chance so that you can get used to the different type of sound before you draw conclusions, and eventually you will hear what you have been missing.

its all about system matching and placement. i had the n805's. build quality was great. hard as hell to setup and make them sound correct. i let a friend use them for about 6 months and he was much more successful than i. very revealing of components. i thought they were punchy in the mid bass. they would play rock great. dynamics were excellent. musical ??? maybe not like my decapos but some of the things that the b&w's did i miss. some i dont. they need a "lot" of clean power before they come alive. great resale value. all and all i think a very fine speaker. not a great speaker just a nice one.

B&W are, and IMHO, will always be a great speaker company. How many companies went under? B&W are still around just by making speakers. The N802 which I happen to own, has to be about three feet from the wall, (many people just don’t have that much room to spare), and toed in correctly in order to sound their best. This takes many days, weeks even, to get them to sound properly. The room has to be taken into consideration as well, such as, furniture, carpet, drapes or curtains, not to mention interconnects, components etc… These speakers aren’t for everyone, most individuals prefer to plug their speakers in and listen right away. Most will not, and can not match components together properly. Others just can’t afford certain things hence the bashing. The sizzle and honk goes away in time when broken in, this also, takes a while. These speakers have to be driven with adequate power. If you starve them they sound horrible. If you have enough juice under the hood of the amp they sound heavenly, even at low volumes, no honk, no sizzle, just musical bliss. Are there other companies that make great speakers as well, absolutely. Choose what you will, but I’ll keep my N802s.