B&W 804 Diamond vs Dynaudio Focus 380

Thanks for your detailed response, Jaxwired! What did you think of the Diamond tweeter? Any brightness or harshness you noted?

The diamond tweeter sounds great. The B&Ws are revealing, but they do not sound natural to me. They sound great, but they don't sound uncolored to me. The dyn sounds much more uncolored. Much more natural. I do not think the B&W diamond tweeter is harsh.

Having heard both its the Dynaudio all the way.

B&W are a bit of an acquired taste. Some go ga ga over them, for others like me - ho hum. In this case overly bright treble and grungy, dead, recessed midrange to my ears. Noel Keywood in Hi Fi World measured them and found a dirty great big treble hump. He said it outright - they measured like shite and will sound like shite. I would not go that far - many speakers have exaggerated treble to give false detail but still you would expect better from a company like B&W.

In that price range there is a lot of competition so broaden your horizons and listen to other stuff. If you can reach that far price wise I would check out the Rockport Mira

Thanks
Bill

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/index.php/loudspeakers/65-reviews/501-baw-804d-.html?start=3

I would go listen to the Monitor Audio Pl-200. Wenn you use an amp like Pass labs you will get a very deep and wide stage with this speaker. In timing and respons it is faster than the 804. It is superior in 3-dimensional image compared to B&W. I owed the best B&W like the 800 Signature. I stopped because B&W still makes poor crossovers. How you know this? Very simple, compare speakers with the best amp who can give a deep and wide stage. B&W is almost 2-dimensional. For the best highend and absolute sound a deep and wide 3-dimensional stage is a pre. Wenn it is not there you do not understand audio and music in real. I even play 1 metre beside my Pl-200 and 5 metres behind. This makes the stage wider and deeper. With this speaker I was the absolute sound at a big audio show with over 50 distributers.