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B&W DS8S Surround Speaker Pair - $1,500 (indianapolis)
condition:
like new
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I figured you would want to see what they looked like, so I first photographed one sealed box.
Then I opened the flaps, took a photo of that, and then carefully removed the speaker and photographed it.
After that it was promptly repacked so that it will stay in the MINT condition it is in now.
The other speaker in the pair will remain sealed.
Incorporating B&W’s special tweeter technology, these speakers have extremely extended highs with absolutely no harshness or false “brightness”. You can listen for hours and never want to turn the music down or off.
This long-term listenability, combined with perfect octave-to-octave balance is what has propelled B&W from a small British speaker firm to the position of the most sought-after high-end speaker brand on the planet.
These speakers can be used in MONOPOLE mode, there they fire a wide sound-field around the speaker or DIPOLE MODE where they fire sound toward the front and rear of the room, with little directly out from the front of the speaker.
In this way, they can be placed near a listener and not sound like the speaker is screaming in your ear. The surround sound is reflected off of adjacent walls and envelops you.
I suggest you try them both ways, and use whichever sounds best in YOUR room. You can switch between the two modes vie a convenient switch on the front of the speaker.
There is even a connection on the rear panel so you can rig up a remote-control switch to change between modes, or program a trigger on a processor to do the job. That’s a VERY cool feature!
These speakers come with keyhole mount on their rear for simple wall mounting. They can also be used with various swivel brackets like we used in the store.
The larger drivers use B&Ws signature Kevlar cone. Kevlar is what they make bulletproof vests out of. The idea is not to make your speaker bulletproof, though.
Kevlar has a great stiffness to weight ratio, and very high mechanical impedance. When notes begin to travel through the cone in most speakers, some gets reflected back into the cone after reaching the edge. Again, this causes a delayed sound, which makes your music sound less “clean”.
In the DS8s, the Kevlar absorbs these waves as they travel outward along the cone. When they reach the edge, a special suspension design helps to absorb the remaining energy and prevent it from reflecting back. Quite ingenious.
The cabinet design is sophisticated, with stiff crossbraces in the cabinet to prevent vibration. In some speakers, the cabinet is designed to flex and add to the sense of bass.