B&W ASW 850 or a Sunfire ?

Rip

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I have been putting a bit of money away saving up towards a B&W ASW 850, (still got a way to go yet tho) but in this months Home cinema choice, there is a review of the sunfire true subwoofer EQ, looks very impressive http://www.sunfire.com/TrueSubwooferEQSigPR.htm#featured, has anyone got any experiance of these subs & if they are any better the the B&W ASW 850 ?
 
The sunfire is a great sub and a good choice if you have plenty money and not a lot of space. However I do not think it will out perform a 850 from what I've read. I've never heard the Sunfire (I have heard the 850 though).
 
What speakers are you running? I sold the Sunfire with Wilson Benesch Discovery's all round. First impressions on the sub were that the bass was a bit boomy and disjointed from the main speakers. But after doing the Auto calibration with the mic, it blended in seamlessly and removed any trace of room-boom. After the installation we put Kill Bill on and ended up watching the whole thing. Fantastic subwoofer. I'll be keeping my eyes open at Bristol for the 850 as I've heard great things about it.
 
My system is a bit mixed at the moment, i have B&W DM604's for fronts, DM601's as front effects, KEF200C center, KEF TDM34DS rears, B&W ASW3000 & Jamo SW600 subs. The reason its a bit of a mix is because i was switching over to a kef system, i swapped from B&W CC6 center & B&W DM601's rears to the KEF's, & i was going to get model 4's for fronts, but i was about to move house, so i never bought them in the end (wish that i did ), But they do blend in well together. I am quite happy with the sound of my subs, but i am still looking to get the best i can really, which form what i have heard , is the B&W ASW 850.
 
Nice as the 850 is are you sure you want to unbalance things like that? Are you planning on upgrading your fronts later on?

I'd be tempted to sell the 604s and use part of the money that would be going to the sub to upgrade them and get a B&W 750 or SVS instead of the 850.
 
Daneel, why do you think the 850 would unbalance things ? & yes i do plan to upgrade my fronts at some time, one of the refrence KEF's if i can afford it. Either that or go back to B&W's all round, tho that might be a more expensive option...... :rolleyes:
 
You wont be able to buy an ASW850 now anyways unless its second hand. B&W are all out of them and they have stopped production.
 
Rip, I don't mean that it will sound bad, just that the 850 is a top flight sub and your fronts are mid-range. If it's all part of a bigger plan then go for it, but if this was a one off you might get a bigger improvement from the money spent by spreading it around a little more.
 
ok, i see what you mean. rags, B&W are still showing the 850 on their site, are you sure about this ?
 
personally I would choose the B+W. Are they not introducing new 800 series subs soon? New 800 series speakers were released just a couple of weeks ago.
 
Its a weird situation actually - only one of the new subs is out at the moment - the ASW825 which is the 12" version. The replacement for the ASW850 is the ASW875 which has a 15" driver has room EQ and costs £2,600. It wont be released for a few months however as the software is still in testing, B&W are talking about the summer.

As a stop gap they may release a non eq version but nothing confirmed yet.

I agree with Daneel on this anyway - it is generally better to spread your money a bit more evenly.
 
The Sunfire is supposed to be very good and with a 2700watt amp it will give plenty of punch but will lose out consdierably to the B&W ref extension as it has a much larger drive unit.
 
By the way I have that issue of HC choice and Recruit is right - although they liked the Sunfire a lot they do say that it lacks outright depth compared to some of the big boys. If you look at towards the back however they still have the ASW850 as their No.1 subwoofer. Shame they are no longer available. Bit of a cock up by B&W - stopping its production before the new model was ready.
 
Rags - I bet the new ones will be good and worth waiting for... :smoke:

Rip - If you can get hold of an old 850 S/H definitly worth it, it is a monster of a sub.
 
yeah, well, like i said, im still putting money away at the moment, saving towards the day when i will have enought for it, by then there might be some second hand 850's for sale, or i might have enough to think about getting a 875 even. Someone suggested earlier that i should maybe spread my money out a bit & get a 750 & better left/right speakers, well, the way i think about it is, if i did get a 750 & better left/right speakers, i would have to start over again saving for somthing better which would again take even longer. So i think the best thing i can do is get the best sub i can, then save towards the best left/rights i can, i already have a great center speaker, the KEF 200C & rearsTDM34DS, so its not that far out of my reach really. I know my amp is getting on a bit now, its a Yamaha DSPA1, but it sound awsome really & i can only use the power at just a fraction over a quater of the way round anyway(anymore & the missus moans like hell) , so thats somthing i will upgrade at a much later time. PS, if im waffaling a bit, i been drinking...........heheh :thumbsup:
 
Rip said:
the missus moans like hell , so thats somthing i will upgrade at a much later time.

Wow, that's true dedication to the cause :rotfl:
 
Rip said:
the missus moans like hell , so thats somthing i will upgrade at a much later time.

If you are having to save for the sub I don't think the missus is an upgrade you will ever be able to afford :laugh:
 
Rip - I think the 850 would be fine with you're existing setup as a good sub can really make a difference to any setup, of course there is always something better out there but you need to make decisions on what you want and by getting a decent sub like the B&W will only add to the quality of you're system.

Cheers
 
Rip,
dont drift away from the Kefs....add those Model 4`s you spoke about + the 850 & you will have one of the most devastatingly potent sounds around, regardless of price.My dad uses this speaker system with an old (but good!) Velo sub .Everyone who has heard his rig.....well it just knocks `em sideways!! Dont know what cable you are using, but AudioQuest Midnight+ (£15m) sounds good with this kit.

Dan :)
 
I'm in torment at the moment while I await the arrival of my new Pio AV amp. I bought my ASW850 from rags and it's currently sitting there with nothing I can plug it into!

I still need 3 x B&W SCM1 surrounds, does this mean I can no longer get them new either? I will post a wanted ad in the classified forum and hope I get lucky again!
 
Matt - there may still be some SCM1 speakers around - the best thing if you want new ones would be to call B&W direct and ask them. Then call some dealers up asking whether they can do a blowout deal on them.

There are definately no new ASW850's with B&W as another forum member discovered recently to his dissapointment. The few they had left have gone like hotcakes.
 
I think i will stick with my plan & carry on saving for for the B&W (secondhand or otherwise ). rags, is that right, you sold your 850 ? if so, what did you buy in its place ?. As i mentioned the model 4's earlier, i see them on ebay from time to time, how would they compare to the latest range of KEF speakers, cos i think i see them being sold for around the £1200 mark, a good price really compared to the latest high end speakers. Also, i would just like to add, i talked to the missus about a upgrade at a later time, & she didnt seem at all impressed....... :laugh:
 
I would love to see her face when you wheeled the Model 4`s into the living room....they look like two upended coffins! :laugh:
£1200 for a pair is a veritable hi-end bargain. The new reference series are superior sonically but only if you partner them with v.hi-end electronics.

Dan :)
 

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