I love the sound of planar for upper frequencies. There's a big difference between ribbons, tweeters, and horns. I just recently discovered Emotiva's tweeters and I'll be buying myself a set of bookshelves for Christmas.

I own several B&Ws however I also own several other brand’s. The opposite of B&W to me is Magnepan’s which I also own. And this is all perfectly fine to me.

As a high-fi salesperson I'm baffled by what other people hear. It's all good though as long as they are happy with their purchase.

I was talking to someone who owned a high end stereo shop for 30 years and he was telling me that b&w speakers tweeters are very harsh. I thought yeah yeah, personal tastes and all... 5 months later, I am at a audiophile show in Toronto and we are coming up to a room around a bend, hiding the stereo brand, I could hear the music however. I Heard this high pitched sound that actually hurt my ears, I had to put my hand up to my ear, "What the hell was that?" It was a B&W system. So my point of view, I have to agree. A side note: we brought our service dog as well, and he loved all the TUBE AMPS!

I figure everybody's ears are different that's why there's so many different speakers. I have about five pairs of speakers that I hook up and switch around according to my mood or the music I'm listening to that way I'm never get bored and none of them are high and speakers but all of them sound good in their own way

My B&W 804s speakers are amazing I love them. Bryston amplification, Well Tempered Classic Black TT with Shure V15MR cartridge and PSA Power Plant, Perfect Wave DAC and Transport makes for a very musical combination!

I've always loved B&W, they use them at Abbey Road studios and you see them often in studios as a reference. I figure that if the music I listen to was mixed with them, then it makes sense to play back the audio with them also :) I'm running mine dual-amped with Linn Chakra and I think they're lovely. But as he says each to their own :)

I've recently bought a pair of 804N. Twenty years old. Paired with my Marantz PM-KI they are fantastic. A huge step up with respect to the LS50 I had before. I really don't think I'm ever gonna change speakers again😊

You're cool. I like you. I'm over here with minimus 7s matched to a hilariously cheap Panasonic sub from the early oughts. Still enjoying your dulcet tones. Whatever works! One day I'll support you with dollars instead of just words, but in the meantime thank you for the great content.

The picture quality is so good, better than the sound! Good job.

Speakers are just very personal because everybody likes a different flavour of fake :)

I have a pair of 607 and wharfedale 4.2. I like them both one does what the other doesn’t 607 - they are the very opposite of evos. The goods of these speakers are clarity, speed, holographic. I like them if im in the mood for live music, electric, rock. Evo 4.2 - sounds very big, sweets highs, room filling bass, turn it up, listen for hours, and no fatigue will come your way. I like them for primarily for jazz and reggae I was thinking of selling the 607 but having both serves me very well. And in the end both are impressive to me. Im set on my gear and i dont see me wanting for more... well maybe a cd player or turn table (it just never ends).

Paul, I doubt you will ever see this, as this little video is nearly 2 years old at this point, but I agree wholeheartedly. Since I was very young, reading Stereophile, Audio (it was a magazine and a good one way back), Stereo Review, all those old stereo magazines, and since then as well, Bowers and Wilkins has been held up as the best thing to happen to sound since, well ever. Fast forward to me being in my 30's, and I purchased not one, but two pairs of B&W. The first was a pair of bookshelves, and while they were okay...I was so unimpressed that I thought they must be wired out of phase, mine must be defective, maybe I'm just stupid, because what I've heard my entire life in the magazines, I did NOT hear in my room. Another year goes by and I buy a pair of floorstanding B&W speakers. Guys I'm sorry I don't remember the model numbers. Well, I liked these even less. It's not me, B&W, it's most definitely you. Unless I would get into the $15k line of B&W, I just do not believe they are the speaker for me (and even at $15k, the tweeters ARE fatiguing!) So yeah, at my middle income household, give me a nice set of Andrew Jones ELAC speakers, much more smooth and musical, which is what I am listening to now and I vastly prefer them to the Bower's and Wilkins' speakers that are collecting dust in my attic. Anyone want to buy them? lol

I think depends on the dome material, for example alu/magnesium has low break up frequency around 20khz (causes metallic coloration?), but diamond is around 70khz!

I wonder if Paul's referring to B&W's diamond tweeters, which I believe most of their line doesn't have.

I remember in 2014 I began to buy higher end speakers, I tried mid level Def Tech's, Paradigms, Boston Acoustic, etc.. just kept buying them and selling them a month or so after. I decided to go for it and really spend some money, got a pair of B&W Nautilus 903's I think it was.. So disappointed, I honestly thought they were way to laid back and just kind of boring. One day I purchased 10 pairs of different speakers at an auction, In that lot was a pair of Infinity RS-4B's, I knew they were older and looked cool but didn't really expect that within 5 minutes I would be saying "That's it, this is the sound I've been looking for!" I think I paid $70 for those! The magic of the EMIT tweeter and that fast, tight Infinity bass had bit me and I was hooked, Next came the RS-3B's then the Kappa 8.1's, and now my final resting place with Original Kappa 8's and Ren 90's. And that's only because I can't afford the Epilson or Beta's lol.

Couldn't agree more, about ribbons! Once you have been exposed to them, there is no turning back. This is especially true if you are listening to types of music where natural timbre reproduction is very important, such classical music.

B&W are known to be brighter sounding, most know this but with the right gear and the right room all is good.My speakers are very neutral some would say boring in a fairly bright room with the gear I have they sound fantastic all about synergy.

I’m with you, Paul as far as tweeters go. I love my Adam A7X AMT tweeters. Even my $50/pair of Dayton Audio B652-Air AMT tweeters are very musical. Keep up the good work.🎼

I had some older DM series bookshelf speakers from B&W. (Made in the mid 80's to early 90's). They were definitely a little on the bright side but to each their own. We all have different tastes.

Thanks Paul for being so diplomatic. As u said, its all a matter of taste. As for me i recall being attracted to b&w precisely becos of their highs. I was thinking wow that tweeter sounds very sweet, open & transparent. That was many years ago. Many yrs later i have owned several b&w spks and still continue to enjoy them. I also like ribbon tweeters and the best i heard so far are those designed by Bo Bengtsson. It was used in the Red Rose R3 bookshelf spks. However good as they are, ribbon tweeters are very difficult to mate seamlessly with a normal cone driver. Those that sounds coherent are those that have their output severely limited. For me that defeats the purpose of having a ribbon tweeter in the 1st plc. While i hv not heard all the hybrid ribbon/cone spks but most of what i heard are not totally seamless, even the very exp Raidho spks. Spks like Alta audio seems pretty seamless bcos they limit the output of their tweeters to a large degree. At least that’s what i heard. Ribbon tweeters are supposed to be very airy, extended & sparkling but those on Alta audio seems very dull & muted. In the 80s i have also heard many Infinity spks with Emit tweeters & somehow still felt that those didn’t really sound seamless too. The smaller infinity with dome tweeters sounded more musical & seamless but they lack a bit of refinement. At the end of the day, pick what u like & enjoy the music.

I have acquired a set of B&W's DM14 recently. Had lots of different speakers and amps over the years, and I can't say the tweeters bugg me at all. Well roundend sound, no Shrill highs, and the bass...d#ng that bass just fills the room like no other, while never getting muddy even with the loudness button on. I use them with a vintage Sanyo A35 plus series amp at the moment.

I have a couple of pairs of B&W 602's as well as Ascend Acoustics Sierra Towers (dome tweeter) and Sierra 2EX bookshelf speakers. The ribbon tweeter on the 2EX is just phenomenal, and I absolutely agree with your stance on them. I do really the 602's as well - I feel like the bass & mid-bass is fantastic for rock music. They've really got some teeth.

I had older Dynaco A25 and B&W DM6 that have silk dome tweeters. After upgrading to 805 matrix and 804 nautilus and other speakers that have metal dome tweeters , I find the treble to bright and harsh. Most metal dome tweeters have very high resonance peaks in the ultra sonics region which you may not expect to affect the audio range. However, I wonder if it would intermodulation with lower band signals to cause audible distortion?

I am actually on the same page as you are on B&W, its really odd though because the same brand sounds Much better in newer Volvos, however I purchased and returned a Zeppelin McLaren edition and my Harman Kardon onyx 4 and 7 both sound better and were way less expensive ! thanks for the content :)

Good points Paul. Listening and taste\preference are as important as engineering when It comes to choosing loudspeakers for home listening pleasure.

I think it's also the CD that is playing and the room. I have PSB xt1 tower speakers and they sound very similar to my Bowers and Wilkins 685s2 bookshelves. Except the Bowers and Wilkins are bit more revealing. But PSB speakers are bright also. So are the vintage Polk audio monitor 4a speakers. Very fatiguing after awhile. Alot of it is the recordings.

hey paul exellent review for my ears i love ribbons as well but there are amazing tweeters like scanspeaks d 3004/6600 that sounds like high end ribbons and have amazing dynamics that not all ribbon has it sounds more lifelike to me.....

I really enjoy Cerwin Vegas from the 80's and 90's. I love heavy hard hitting bass. Models with 12" or 15" drivers can go really deep with the lows. With that said the mids and tweeters sound good on the models I have no complaints from me.

Thanks Paul, I'm 100% agree with you regarding B&W sound signature. I have listened to many B&W speakers including very extensive one; however, they are too bright and dry to my taste.

50 odd years ago I built a pair of speakers using the Decca/Kelly ribbon tweeters which I loved. Too heavy to bring when I emigrated, I ended up with Maggies which have a similar treble. Over the years I have found metal dome tweeters do not agree with me, though I have not heard beryllium or diamond faced ones.

Hi Paul great channel👍 what do you think of paradigm speakers,

Pol, north Finland at the same time north of Norway!

I always thought it was just me that didn't like the tweeters on B&W speakers. I've owned a pair and listened to a pair that I thought I'd end up buying but couldn't gel with them either. I found the B&W tweeter threw the sound out in such a way as to make it difficult to place the high treble position in the soundstage. Well-off axis they sounded good though. When I demoed some B&W against the AE1 MkII and some AVI NuNeutrons, I ended up with the AE1's. The treble was actually better on the AVI but the overall joy was from the AEs. Still have the AEs 20 years on, and with the original surround foam! My listening tastes have moved on, so I now tend to listen with some TDL Studio 0.5s and a dinky pair of Alexander SE2. Much more 'musical' speakers as opposed to 'analytical'. Thanks for your great vids.

Hello Paul, Pedro here from Barcelona. i have a doubt maybe you could clarify me. If we have 1 DAC connected to your computer (music source) via usb+opt then goes to receiver, which DAC dominates? The 1st connected to computer or the receiver as the last device in the chain? Is actually my setup, from my DAC into my receiver where speackers are connected... thank you

I have 703s. Great for me with super tweeters. Yeah I had some French 3 ways speakers with a ribbon tweeter and a servo woofer. Amps gone years ago. Closer queens but wow were they great sounding. 3k list in 1980

I think personally, this topic can be very complex . It's Iike what would a person prefer as far as "room temperature" goes, at a particular time of day, evening, and at night. Now factor in the different house space locations, and finally the individual's age. I love these type of challenges which keeps the audiophile in me alive and active. Or maybe it's just that I'm losing it.

The Kevlar midrange of my B&W 804N's was as much to blame ad the tweeter for the often aggressive sound. With work, I got good recordings to sound good, but they were close to unlistenable on bad recordings. B&W said to have them pointed straight ahead, and specified a 10 foot listening distance. This was not possible in my living room, which no doubt, was evident in the overall sound.

Having lucked out on a pair of Matrix 804 floor standing loudspeakers with matching center unit for 75$, I think they’re superb when compared to my old Polk t50’s. I do like to hear a lot of treble though. A lot of speakers hide the details that these provide for me. Couldn’t bash on em but again 75$ was a heck of a deal.

Had B&W 706 s2 for 6 months. They were to replace KEF LS50 which I had for 1 month. Both speakers auditioned well for an hour or so in the demo room. But at home quickly the KEF started to hurt my ears - too bright and aggressive , tiring and fatiguing to listen to. The B&W were better, but then after a month or so I felt they too were not as easy as I wanted. Used with a NAD M10 so I did a lot of tweaking with the full range DIRAC room correction I bought. Still too bright. Eventually replaced with Spendor A1. Nicer, easier and more intelligible mid range. I think I just might not like modern metal tweeters.

Good for you Paul. Decent and honest 😃

I have six various CM speakers by B&W. They are not bad, but I prefer my Elac Debut Reference DBR62's by far. Much lower price. Much more balanced sound. Deep bass down to 30 htz (with tube preamp into 200 watt Class D amp). I dont care how pretty a cabinet is. I will not pay thousands of dollars for a nice paint job and shiny parts. As a musician, I want realistic sound with a big 3D soundstage. Elac does that. Well, mine do in my room! To BETTER the Elacs, I would expext to pay 10x. Thanks for the video.

Your right Paul, I don't like B&W for the same reasons and I always liked Thiel Audio way better all around including price compared to B&W. Sad Jim Thiel passed he was a amazing engineer. I like Monitor Audio hands down over B&W there I just so many speakers better then that company to me anyway so I agree with you here.

They are bright as hell!!

Paul what do you think of Triangle EZ speakers?

I had a pair of the original 801's for about 10 years. They were highly regarded on both sides of the Atlantic. For their day, their measurements were impeccable, and they had very extended bass response. Yet, I spent most of my time searching out amplification that could power them properly and sources (turntable at the time) that would complement their tonal characteristics. Turned up really loud, they sounded great. At moderate volumes, not so much. I finally sold the to a good friend who enjoyed them for many years, and still has the stored away in his basement after building himself a set of Linkwitz Orions.

You nailed perfectly about B&W.

I've owned a pair of B&W Matrix 802 S3 since 2001 and it wasn't until 2019 when I bought a used pair of Dunlavy SC-III when I realized how bright the B&W tweeters are. They definitely sound slightly aggressive, and the drivers don't blend as well as the Dunlavy speakers. I've since gone from SC-III, to SC-IV to SC-V.

B&W speakers especially the mid and upper tier ones are fatiquingly bright. They may sound exciting at first but after a month or so the highs are so bright you don't want to listen to them for any extended time. I'll take Harbeths over them any day.

I totally agree 100% with you Paul on most things Audio, B&W are not for my taste in the tweeter as well. I sure wish I had some PS Audio speakers but still getting the shaft! lol

I had BW605 for a short time right before I got Maggie's, when I still had a pair Genesis genre 2s. The tweeter hurt my "cat ears" , too bright. I ended up giving them to goodwill.

Had a pair of DM 10's a while ago...the ferro fluid was gone and so were the highs.....great speakers though.

Bit like North Carolina. ( the south or north thing ) Anyway what's your opinion on Dali ?.

i have 802's and i adore them...they must have very, very good amplification to drive them though otherwise they sound bright with weak bass. serious amps smooth the high end and deepen and tighten the bass. i also own a pair of Adam Audio monitors in my studio that use a ribbon 'x-art' tweeter but these are harder sounding than the 802s (still very good though)

love it

It's with taste, but it also has something to do with what kind of music we are talking about as well. For my part who likes almost all kinds of music, it becomes difficult to find the most perfect speakers for it.

I have an old pair of Matrix 804's and I'm realizing the highs are just too harsh for me when the music gets complicated. 80%-90% of what I listen to is rock - Wilco, GBV, Dylan, Pretenders, Courtney Barnett etc. I thought my NAD electronics were the culprit but upgrading electronics to Musical Fidelity and a new Denafrips Aries II dac, although much improved, the highs are still hard edged at volume enough to get the air moving.

And what about focal do you like the speakers lines ?

B&W typically uses aluminum dome tweeters that have a big ultrasonic peak (somewhere around 8dB at 28kHz), which could create some type of intermodulation distortion. I also think there is significant phase distortion from their use of second order crossover slopes. To me, they sound "Hi-Fi" vs natural.

Paul planar ribbon tweeters while having excellent detail and fairly wide horizontal dispersion have narrow vertical dispersion and should be used in a line array ,is that what you are doing with your new speaker. Don't AMT tweeters sound as good with better vertical dispersion.

I prefer electrostatic tweeters. It was a real revelation to me when I heard KLH 9s. Now I listen to Acoustats. Only new speaker I heard that sounds as good are Sound Labs.

American & British speakers , different preference, to each his own of course

B&W’s have some problems (or house sound) in their tweeter. The dispersion pattern of the tweeter becomes very wide on the transition from the midrange that is beaming at it’s upper range. This is very much visible in their power response. As peaker’s frequency response pretty much follows the power response in untreated room, it means that this sudden change in the dispersion is very much audible.

I have the Quad S-2 Bookshelf Speakers which has True Ribbon tweeters! 🙂

I wanted to hear the diamond tweeter when it came out. Also in the room was the Sonus Faber Toy I believe. B&W sounded like real cymbals. Yes incredible! But! Being in close proximity to a cymbal will make your ears bleed! The chocolate smoothness of the SF was milk and honey for the ears.

I am looking at a pair of Matrix 800. It has a tweeter needing replaced. I was thinking of upgrading to another set of tweeters eg satori berylium tweeters. Thoughts Paul?

b&w works really really well with EDM, dance, modern music. not my favorite for classical or instrumental....that said i would love to see you cover the dynaudio emit m10 and m20. they are the best under $1000 bookshelf speakers i have ever heard. the midrange balance which is so wicked hard to pull off without shrill....they did

my tweeters wer made in the seventies.I got them in 1999 so you know i had a loud system, the tweeties still work as they are the voice of the music

Paul what do you think another the klipsch rp8000f ii and how would you compare them

I would agree - I have B&W 702 S2's and if they made them with a ribbon tweeter I'd snap them up. As it is I knock the treble down by 1db in my amp and it's enough to keep me happy. Overall I love the speakers but they are a pain in the ass to get positioned initially.

I keep a pair of B&W speakers in the stable to occasionally remind myself what too surgical sounds like. Allows me to adjust my perception by A/B comparison when voicing new builds or re-voicing old builds. It is too easy to climb that ladder toward accuracy - occasionally one needs to be reminded what has become painfully bright. For me, B&W is a few levels too far, and immediate torture to my ears. Because of this I've learned (and re-learned occasionally) to stay away from metal tweeters - as a general rule.

All you guys that don’t like B&w sound, what kind of music are you listening to?? And also how about home theater and movies? What is your opinion of B&w in a home cinema??? Waiting for your opinion!!!

I have the same opinion. JBL, B&W and Infinity tweeters. That also comes to car stereo

As he notes in the video: to each their own. But it's funny how when I was speaker shopping a couple years ago lots of tweeters were the ribbon type. Now I'm not seeing it nearly as much.

Warrior nodding to warrior. Nice vid Paul. Love B&W!

if you like the bright sound,go for anything by klipsch.

Other adjectives to describe B&W speakers sound could be revealing, transparent,airy and precise none of which are faults but questions of synergy. I listen to B&W and when matched with valve pre amp gives a smooth yet detailed sound.

Kinda depends on which B&W tweeter we are talking about? The diamond tweeter on my 805D3:s are bloody marvelous..

I still use b&w 683 s2 that i bought 5 years ago love them, great match with hegel h190, the best part about them is the midrange, but the treple is very good as well, bass is tight, great for the most part but can become a bit muddy at times

The higher end B&W’s are very decent. But they are starting at close to 10k for relatively small speakers. But almost all decent contemporary speakers are at that price range

I picked up a pair of DM1400's cheap, they were overly bright in the top end, installed a fixed L-Pad in each which cost me less than $20.00, problem solved, sounded beautiful after that.

ANY OPINION ON THE Q ACOUSTICSQ3050I?

oh no!!! ....you got _east_ on my _west_

I hate to admit it but I used to own Bose, I upgraded to JBL and now have B&W. I just love the sound of B&W bookshelf & subwoofer combo.

Yeah, Paul. All in all, it's the one's perception that counts.

There's so much beyond science that makes the industry, and this is a perfect example. It is far more "preference" than it is "standard"

Love my B&Ws. They are older

1980s B&W is phenomenal. Especially the DM-220s and 330s.

Funny old game really... even if hifi equipment and speakers could accurately reproduce a near perfect representation of the musicians, venue and recording. Not everyone would like that sound. So we are lucky to have so many options to mix and match to suit our personal tastes and needs.

A friend had a pair of 802. 3 or 4 of us audiophiles went to his house to hang out and listen, We all agreed they were beautiful but we found them to be too bright and aggressive.

I have been disappointed in B&W's lower-end models. They remind me of Sennheiser's lower-end headphones -- dull and uninviting. B&W's higher-end speakers, however, have delighted me (when used with the right components) -- though these better models are priced above what I can afford to pay.

+1 for ribbons/planars. I had them all, horns, domes, etc. I got my first set of megnepans (vintage MG IIIa’s) and I am HOOKED! I’ll never go back unless it’s for HT. Keep in mind what paul said... MUSICAL. So for HT I would say B&W type/horns/sharpness is what one might want in a movie room

Obviously I'm late to the game, but FWIW I also hated the bright sound of B&W speakers, and had written them off entirely. Then one day a pair of 90s 802 Series 3 popped up on my local Craigslist for a price that was absurd. I immediately agreed to buy them with the plan to just flip them. When I got them home and tested them on my system my jaw dropped. Long story short, I've now had them over a decade as my primary speakers. I love these things! If you have the chance of giving some of there 20th century speakers a listen, you might, like me, end up surprised.

Most audio brands with a long history have made some excellent as well as some bad products. Just ignore those bad ones.

I had a Bowers and Wilkins 802, I liked it....I liked it a lot. Until I went magnepan, sold the 802 never slept less over it

I own the 702 S2 and within 2 years 2 tweeters same speaker have failed very frustrating Ithouhg for the maney thwy woud be better buit still waithuing for Replacement

Many people complain about the squeaky sound of the KEF T27 and the honky resonances of the B110. But go check out the prices of BBC LS3/5a units.

I absolutely love my B&W’s for 2 channel.

I have to agree with Paul that ribbon / planar tweeter sounds better than other designs like dome or horn ect. I just prefer the sound ribbon or planar sound as they sound more natural.

Can I use B&W speakers without tweeters?