B&W DM 220 Floorstanding Speakers

B&W DM 220 Floorstanding Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

3-Way Speaker - 8" Woofer, 8" Midrange and 1" Soft-Dome Tweeter

USER REVIEWS

Showing 11-20 of 28  
[Oct 24, 2003]
mike
Audio Enthusiast

I have been using these speakers for some more than a year now and I'm still amazed by the clarity of the sound they produce. All frequencies are covered very well and then to think I got the from a friend who only used them to attract dust.. Perfect speakers with a great sound!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 22, 2003]
William Wages
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Excellent Bass and overall Sound quality.

Weakness:

None

I have the B&W 220i these will be the hardest speakers to replace at any price. They have excellent sound and a very solid bass. I just could not beleive someone put these in a Charity Garage Sale they where just like new!

Similar Products Used:

Polk Audio Model 5a

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 13, 2003]
kaleidophone
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Overall balance and the ability to spring the ocasional surprise. It's amazing what these speakers can reveal in the music with little careful placement. (Spiked stands recommended)

Weakness:

Top-end could be a bit sweeter. Contemporary tweeters certainly have the edge. Can sound a bit 'muddy' in the wrong set-up.

Still Crazy After All These Years. Well who wouldn't be? These speakers have served me faithfully for the last 17 years, and I'm not about to divorce them yet. I have auditioned many speakers and found none that could justify my spending the £800 - £1000 that I feel I would need to shell-out in order to realise a significant improvement.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jan 24, 2003]
DJ Cle
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

undestructable and unbeatable with some types of music.

Weakness:

high end can be a lttle harsh but who would notice on a sat night ?????

Bought these speakers about 5 years ago and they have provided the sounds for party after party. Everyone mentioned the sound, ok that may not be a technical review but i is what counts.

Similar Products Used:

B & O Beolab 2500

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 30, 2002]
Lorenzo
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

better when placed on parquet floor. They need space. I tried to place them on stacks but the result isn't better.

Weakness:

connectors on the back are not sealed so they pull out when unplugging banana connectors.

Good Speakers, very polyvalents and beautiful, I've seen them at a friend's house for several years. the dm 220 he owns have a fuse on the back of each speakers, but i'm not sure that it is really usefull. they sound well with all kind of music, and that at any volume. I own a technics 50 watts amplifier which is sufficient i think at the moment, thought ... The dm 220 i bought have been manufactured in 1984, september.

Similar Products Used:

second pair of speakers i bought so far. First pair was technics "SB EX-3" which are piece of s# in comparrison ...

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 06, 2002]
Sant
AudioPhile

Strength:

exceptional sound

Weakness:

none

I had bought my pair of DM220i in 1986 because were B&W speaker. I don''t remember how much exactly I had paid for this pair. I play them now in my home theatre with my YAMAHA ''s DSP-A1GL amplifiar. The sound is hard to match whether it is just a plain music or movie sound track. I would never loose this pair

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 31, 2002]
Kees Podt
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very nice balanced (neutral) definition. Exceptionally clear in high frequencies.

Weakness:

None, that is, if you use a balanced (powerful) amplifier and good set of wiring. Tip: Due to the nature of (DVD) home movie entertainment this setup can use some extra power for the really low frequencies. Just add a good subwoofer and you''ll be amazed with the results.

Just to give you a lite reference: As a semi professional bass player and as a ''music lover'' I have had the oportunity to listen to many sound systems. Over the years I have learned to trust my ears over everything. (If all things being equal, just close your eyes and listen). When we bought our house in Leidschenveen, we received the first set of DM 220 as a present! Because we wanted to experiment with (DVD) home movie entertainment we needed another set of speakers and a centre speaker. At the time we used a set of Tannoy (Puma) speakers as the primary speakers and the B&W DM 220 as the secondary ones. We used a small Sony centre speaker (which was placed on top of the television). All speakers (except the centre one) have been placed directly to the solid (wooden) floor. The result of listening to music on this speaker set-up was very nice indeed. Unfortunately because of the size and ''looks'' of the Tannoy (Puma) we needed other speakers to replace that set. By total coincidence a friend who also owned a set of B&W DM 220 wanted to buy new (active) speakers and agreed to sell his set for a very friendly price of 50 Euro! It was just a symbolic amount really. For this price he also included the gold-plated connectors and many meters of thick, special wiring. At this moment (april 2002) we still use these four identical speakers because they just sound so amazingly good.

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 03, 2001]
Dimitri
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Excellent speakers, especially when you own a very good amplfier

Excellent speakers, especially when you own a very good amplfier. I was very lucky to buy them for only $15 each (secondhand ofcourse). The speakers are suitable for all kinds of music!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 05, 2001]
Robert Turchick
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very accurate sound for their age, good for almost any listening material. Can be played soft or loud with very little sonic anomolies.

Weakness:

Hard to find.(I guess people don't readily give them up!!)
Sound very dependent on amplifier feeding them.

If you haven't heard these, find someone who has a pair and beg to purchase them or hire a hitman! I am a recording engineer by trade and have heard many speakers costing MUCH MUCH more. I use Genelec studio monitors on a day to day basis. These are industry leading speakers and cost an awful lot of money. For my home stereo I wanted something that matched the sound but didn't cost as much! Here's the kick, I was GIVEN these speakers as payment for a sound system install! I immediately took them to the studio and played them with a Perreaux 6000B power amp. WOW!! I brought them home to my trusted old Sony reciever and was completely dissappointed. I tried then on a couple of other receivers and discovered they like only higher quality amps. I ran into a deal on a much nicer receiver and WOW! Now they sound great again!! When I found out what the price point was on these I began looking for a second pair!!

Similar Products Used:

Genelec, Tannoy, JBL, Infinity, Polk

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 01, 2000]
Anthony Green
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Good midrange and high frequencies

Weakness:

Bass tends to fuzziness

An older speaker which is still found second hand and is well worth spending a couple of hundred on if you need a second system for the family room, the kids, etc.

I've owned the same pair for 14 years (REALLY well run in by now!). Other speakers have come and gone in that time, but I've always hung on to the old dependable 220s as backups. The sound of these speakers is very transparent to good amplification. Mine have been used on average electronics for most of their lives, but for the last couple of years on custom built MOSFET monoblocks (75W per channel).

The sound was OK but not fantastic so recently I decided to upgrade the system. The front end is reasonable (Thorens/Rega/Grado analogue source ; Marantz CD67 digital source ; Forte 40 preamp) but I wanted to replace either the MOSFET power amps or the speakers. To help assess the system I borrowed a Classe DR-8 power amp from a friend, and the difference was immediate and staggering. What I had thought of as old, tired speakers were just gasping for a good power amp. Everything clicked into place - soundstage, imaging, detail, clarity - you name it. My lady (not an audiophile, but a professional concert musician) and I spent a very enjoyable 2 days going through the CD & vinyl collection rediscovering our music and finding detail we had never known existed in the recordings. Result? The old speakers will stay, backed up by a new power amp, until I hear something much better.

The absolute sound quality of these speakers is 4 star in their class, and if you can grab a pair second hand they represent immense value .

Still recommended after all these years.

Similar Products Used:

Recent B & W, KEF, Celestion, Rogers

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 11-20 of 28  

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