Diamonds & Hearing Clearly

Back when I was about 8 years old, I got my first pair of glasses.  I still remember the first time I was able to distinguish the leaves on the trees.  Up until that time, I had known trees to be clumps of green blurs; but, when I put on my first pair of (blue clear plastic framed) glasses, I discovered what everyone else had been seeing all their life.  

I had another "seeing clearly" moment today when I got a demo of the B&W 800 series speakers (what B&W refers to as their Diamond Series, as the tweeter contains diamond!).  It was as Barenaked Ladies' "Brian Wilson (Live)" played and I could hear the clapping of the audience.  For the first time, I was able to hear the variety of distinct sounds in the clapping.  Impossible? Not on these speakers. We've become accustomed to hearing blurs of sound as our speakers don't fully reproduce the sounds of our music -- to the point that we're not even hearing the full songs.  There's something absolutely exhilerating about actually hearing the music - the strings of the guitar, the drumsticks hitting the drums, the rasp in the voice.   

The speakers, to say the least, are shaped interestingly.  These are not your typical rectangular, box speakers.  These have curves, are spherical on top, with tweeters (that have been mistaken as microphones) resting on top.  For me, they take some getting used to, but when the music plays, the shape just makes sense.  I can't explain why, because I haven't figured that out yet.  These aren't small, compact, or bookshelf speakers in the least, but the power of the sound that plays is worth every square inch of floorspace occupied by their footprint.

I haven't met a single person who doesn't enjoy hearing music live, and these speakers have the horsepower to give that experience from the comfort of your home.  In one word: Amazing.

-Kate

Comments

[Roger C. Parker]

Dear Kate:
It's very refreshing to read such enthusiastic product reviews, reviews that stress the joy of quality audio equipment, not the latest acronym of the day.

For decades, Gramophone has always stressed "what really matters;" it's great to see the tradition continues.

Best wishes--
Roger C. Parker