# question for any B&W experts



## midnite8791

I know there are quite a few who know about speakers here, but if theres somewhere better this should be then let me know.
 Anyways I bought this pair of B&W Matrix 3 speakers about a year and half ago and have never really been able to identify exactly what model they are and havent found a whole lot of extra info about them. I have found a couple manuals from B&W's site but they describe how these can be bi wired but unless im missing something it doesnt appear that they can... Maybe That was an option the original owner decided not to get but im not sure. I got them from some guy who had them in a storage unit so they are a bit scratched up but still sound amazing.


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## Hermitt

That is the Matrix 3 series 2. When the Matrix series was introduced, there was the the original Matrix 801. then the series 2 came out with the Matrix 1 series 2, the Matrix 2 series 2 and the Matrix 3 series 2. shortly after, they introduced the Matrix DM1600 and the DM1800. I have a bunch of original B&W brochures form when I bought my DM1800s in the 80's. I also have a really cool pamphlet with 20 years of B&W legacy. I would never part with these, but I may be able to try and photograph the pages of the one covering the MAtrix series 2 loudspeakers if you are interested.


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## skeeder

Series 2. I noticed that, Series 3 they did some changes across the board of their speaker line up. I think the matrix's are no longer made.


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## midnite8791

thanks you guys! You can kind of see the tested Jan 1987 sticker in there but barely.

 Hermitt I would be interested in those pictures. I actually found these speakers on craigslist, and the guy had them in a storage unit in Forestville.


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## nelamvr6

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *midnite8791* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_thanks you guys! You can kind of see the tested Jan 1987 sticker in there but barely.

 Hermitt I would be interested in those pictures. I actually found these speakers on craigslist, and the guy had them in a storage unit in Forestville._

 

Yeah for sure post those pics! I'd love to see them too!


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## Hermitt

wow.. it's tougher than i thought to take pics of glossy brochures 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 This is the Matrix 1, 2 and 3 Series 2. My DM1800s are refined Matrix 2 Series 2 in walnut, but my stands are from the 500 series. I will probably never part with them because they sound so holographic when they are properly placed. I remember when I was buying them, there were 2 sets of the 801s in the showroom for $5k a pair. I sooo wanted those 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 That pair of M3S2 that you got from forestville, I bet was purchased from the same store where I bought mine 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Cover





 Pg 1





 Pg 2





 Pg 3





 Pg 4





 Pg 5


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## Hermitt

heh... I also remember the sales guy when I was looking at the B&Ws, the display DM1800s had a cast iron hammer sitting on top of it and the sales guy would bang on the cabinet anywhere you wanted him to, to show that there was no box colorations due to cabinet vibrations. It sounded like a solid chunk of wood


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## nelamvr6

Thanks for the pics. I always find brochures like that very interesting.


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## Hermitt

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *nelamvr6* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Thanks for the pics. I always find brochures like that very interesting._

 

Heh, that's why I still have brochures and litutature for a bunch of B&Ws, Nakamichi, Tandberg, Threshold and Carver


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## midnite8791

thanks for the pics! Yeah the guy i bought them from had a bunch of old carver amps and other audio stuff in various states of being taken apart. He said he was a tinkerer but didnt have much time for the B&W's. I bought them with one tweeter missing and had Audio Video Showroom in Santa Rosa replace it and test them. I got them for quite cheap


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## Hermitt

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *midnite8791* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_thanks for the pics! Yeah the guy i bought them from had a bunch of old carver amps and other audio stuff in various states of being taken apart. He said he was a tinkerer but didnt have much time for the B&W's. I bought them with one tweeter missing and had Audio Video Showroom in Santa Rosa replace it and test them. I got them for quite cheap 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


_

 

Audio and Video showroom used to be called Sonoma Soundmasters and was started by the 2 guys that ran Catania Sound in Santa Rosa. Bill and Craig were who I bought all my home gear from when they were still at Catania. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 On a side note, their servive was second to none. One time while playing tubular bells, i could hear a very faint rattling in one of my woofers. I brought the speaker back to Bill, and he shipped it to B&W in NY. Well, the B&Ws are shipped with a computer printout of the actual frequency response of the drivers and then drivers are matched and serial numbered. NY couldn't find a replacement driver to match the spec of my driver, so they sent it back to Worthing, England and the B&W factory re-wound the driver to specs. All covered under warranty...


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## nelamvr6

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Hermitt* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Audio and Video showroom used to be called Sonoma Soundmasters and was started by the 2 guys that ran Catania Sound in Santa Rosa. Bill and Craig were who I bought all my home gear from when they were still at Catania. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 On a side note, their servive was second to none. One time while playing tubular bells, i could hear a very faint rattling in one of my woofers. I brought the speaker back to Bill, and he shipped it to B&W in NY. Well, the B&Ws are shipped with a computer printout of the actual frequency response of the drivers and then drivers are matched and serial numbered. NY couldn't find a replacement driver to match the spec of my driver, so they sent it back to Worthing, England and the B&W factory re-wound the driver to specs. All covered under warranty... 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


_

 

I bought my B&W's used, so I don't think I'm eligible for warranty service, but I'm hoping I'll never need it. These things are built like tanks, and the sound is simply out of this world! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 I've always had a huge amount of respect for B&W, they've always been one of the marques that I dreamed of owning. It's just such a thrill every time I listen to mine to hear the great sound and remember when I would sit and dream!


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## classicalguy

While we're going down memory lane, how about my B&W 801 series 80s, which I purchased used in 1994 for the princely sum of $1,200 (wow, 13 years ago!). I believe they were made in the mid 1980s. All original. They still sound fantastic. They image like mini monitors, and the bass is clean and tight - an acoustic string bass sounds like a real string bass. Note that these were acoustic suspension woofers, not bass reflex. I've always been a fan of acoustic suspension. I have never heard the more modern 801s (well, I heard the sea-shell-looking model at a stereo show, but it was such a big room I couldn't tell what it really sounded like). It would be very interesting to compare the later models in a similar acoustic space. I know they go a lot lower, and the matrix system was supposed to be great at preventing box resonances, but these sound awefully good to me.

 I can't figure out how to post my pictures. Do I have to upload them to another site and link?

 If anyone knows more history, I'd be very interested.


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## midnite8791

im still kind of confused why mine has a single set of speaker inputs, where on all the literature it appears that they should have 4 in order to be biamped/biwired. Maybe it was an option?


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## classicalguy

Midnight: where is the crossover that you are photographing? I'm just curious.


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## Hermitt

I bet those are Matrix 3 Series 1 http://www.bwspeakers.com/downloadFi...atrix_3_S1.pdf


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## Hermitt

Here is a link to their back cataloge -> http://www.bwspeakers.com/index.cfm/....backcatalogue


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## ALBPM

Wow....This brings back memories...

 I started with 605 S2's....
http://www.bwspeakers.com/downloadFi...fo_DM605S2.pdf


 And traded up over the years to the 803's:
http://www.bwspeakers.com/downloadFi...autilus803.pdf


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## Hermitt

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *ALBPM* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Wow....This brings back memories...

 I started with 605 S2's....
http://www.bwspeakers.com/downloadFi...fo_DM605S2.pdf


 And traded up over the years to the 803's:
http://www.bwspeakers.com/downloadFi...autilus803.pdf_

 

very nice 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 I love the sound from my DM1800s, maybe someday... 800Ds *dream...dream* with a Conrad Johnson rig


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## nelamvr6

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Hermitt* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Here is a link to their back cataloge -> http://www.bwspeakers.com/index.cfm/....backcatalogue_

 

Thanks! Excellent link! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 This is gonna be hours of fun!


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## ooheadsoo

Can you guys see the foam inside the matrix cabs? Do they have problems rotting over time, like many other foams from 20 yrs back?


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## midnite8791

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *classicalguy* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Midnight: where is the crossover that you are photographing? I'm just curious._

 

on the bottom of the speaker. you flip it upside down and unscrew a panel that the speaker usually rests on.


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## classicalguy

I have some foam on the top of my B&W speakers (the mid/tweeter unit sits on a big piece of foam), and it's getting pretty funky. Probably still performs acoustically as new, but it looks lumpy and deteriorated. I suspect the material used for the matrix system is entirely different - a hard expanded styrene or something?


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## denzelsnipes

I just purchased a pair of b&w dm1800's off eBay for $300...all of the pics I've seen of these speakers don't show them with a front firing port & the mid bass woofer surround is different, have I been duped?


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## Glenmiller

midnite8791 said:


> im still kind of confused why mine has a single set of speaker inputs, where on all the literature it appears that they should have 4 in order to be biamped/biwired. Maybe it was an option?


 
 I have DM 1800' s .they are single wire..I Think this Bi Wire stuff is a sales gimmick...If the crossover is of good enogh quality that is all thats needed...Audio range is only hearable to around 9khz.. As long as the extra headroom is not pushed into distortion by the amp things should be ok...


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