B&W 800 Series Speakers The End of An Era?

[icebreaker]

Rumour has it that B&W is coming out with a new 800 series in 2010. Good news? Maybe... but the speculation over at the B&W forum at HT Guide is that the enclosures will be made of aluminum to reduce vibration. They will also be out sourced to China from the present manufacturing plant in Denmark and Great Britain.

 

So if anyone wants the beautiful and carefully sculpted speaker enclosure that is offered in the present 800 series, well buy soon because time may be running out!

Heres hoping its just an ugly rumour. Oh well, I may have to settle for PMC as my next pair of speakers:)

 

[ronfint]

beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I always thought that the B&W 800 series speakers were tastelessly ugly, but some people might say that so am I.

 

Sorry,

Ron

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

The 800 series has always been one of my favorite looking speakers. I had the N802 about 6 years ago so I guess I am a little bias. My favorite version was the Signature 800 speaker with the Tiger's Eye finish. It was a limited edition and you don't see them very often.

 

[Audio_ELF]

Regardless of rumors and where people claim they have come from ... I tend to think it's unwise to believe any of them until products are officially announced by the manufacturers. Just look at how many rumors there have been about Apple "Tablets" which have all turned out to be wildly off the mark.

 

With Bowers and Wilkins (why would you believe people who can't even get the company name right :-) for example - there have been rumors of an 805D since 2005 when the 800s/800d series were launched. The rumor about the cabinets being built in China also seams a little far from the mark when (if I am correct which I may not be) the CM series cabinets are still built in England - it's only the 680 series which are built in China.

 

Anyone who really knows anything will have signed a non-disclosure agreement, which yes they may break, but for now they are just rumors, nothing more.

 

Eloise

 

[Audio_ELF]

Just for the record and to correct myself ... I just recieved this reply from B&W ...

 

Many thanks for your email enquiry regarding the country of manufacture of our products.

 

B&W remains a UK Company, based in Worthing, West Sussex, continuing to manufacture and assemble the premium 800 series products.

 

All other series are manufactured in our very own B&W factory in China by B&W employees.

 

We employ the same quality in our China facility as we do in our UK based factory ensuring our high standards are maintained.

 

The moving of the majority of our production to China has allowed us to increase our production in Worthing of our premium speaker systems allowing us to keep up with demand as well as keeping other costs to a minimum.

 

The last two paragraphs were marketing speak I know but thought others would be interested "from the horses mouth" as it were.

 

Eloise

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Thanks for the info direct from B&W

 

[icebreaker]

Eloise wrote: "Anyone who really knows anything will have signed a non-disclosure agreement, which yes they may break, but for now they are just rumors, nothing more."

 

Very true. Thanks for a bit of sanity Eloise!

Also, people tend to get a bit nervous thinking they may miss out on a new pair of 802Ds. And when the post clearly states that he heard from a friend of a friend who talked to a B&W dealer....well.....

NOW the thread says the 800 series cabinet factory is moving from Denmark to UK and not to China.