"Music Matters" at Bjorn's: The B&W Group Demonstration

Posted by: Chris Martens at 11:11 am, July 27th, 2009

B&W Group: Exceptional Audio Room, Bjorn's Audio - Video, San Antonio

Click here for an overview of the "Music Matters" event at Bjorn's: www.avguide.com/blog/1st-annual-“music-matters”-event-bjorn’s-audio-–-video-san-antonio

Chris Browder, B&W group executive vice president, briefly spoke about the background of B&W in general, and of the firm’s 802D loudspeaker ($14,000/pr.) in particular, but for the most part he preferred to let the 802D speak for itself (the 802D was matched with a suite of McIntosh components, including an MC2300 tube preamp, two MC1201 monoblock amps, and a McIntosh SACD player). One particularly interesting factoid: during his short talk, Browder mentioned that the 802D was, by a substantial margin, the best-selling high-end loudspeaker in its price class.

Browder had on hand a fixed set of demo discs designed to showcase the 802D’s prowess on recordings of male and female voices and on piano, but he also invited attendees to play favorite discs of their own.

I submitted a disc, Steve Strauss’ Just Like Love [Stockfisch, SACD], which I knew had been mastered on B&W loudspeakers, and after a favorite track was played I was delighted when a couple listening with me murmured softly, “Wow, that was great…” I couldn’t agree more.