I have not heard the 802d3 but heard the 802d2 and the 803d3. If feel the low bass was much stronger on the 802d2 for what it is worth. Not a same room or system but heard both many times in different systems and my opinion of the bass has not changed. If you have the cash and don’t want to run subs (or even if you do want subs) bigger is almost always better until you sit too close for the drivers to integrate right.
Other thoughts:
It is all about how far you sit from the speakers and how many seats you want to cover. Small rooms suck no matter what. A 20-30z wave at 85db is the same no matter what size driver it came from so having a large room is a good thing to a point.
You could take the speakers outside and set them 9’ from each other and sit 9’ away and they would sound fine. Now you would lose your room gain in the bass. That is where the problem is, none of these speakers produce flat low bass without room gain and it is hard to predict how smooth that room gain will be.
I have a 650sq/ft listening room and subs with an active crossover will make life better. You can get it just right very easily with active crossovers or dial it to preference. I can’t recommend active subs/crossovers enough for large rooms. The 803d3 with a pair of good subs hooked to a JL CR-1 crossover would be amazing, verging on a super system assuming the upper mids of those B&W don’t bother you. Just keep the subs out of the corner.
Other thoughts:
It is all about how far you sit from the speakers and how many seats you want to cover. Small rooms suck no matter what. A 20-30z wave at 85db is the same no matter what size driver it came from so having a large room is a good thing to a point.
You could take the speakers outside and set them 9’ from each other and sit 9’ away and they would sound fine. Now you would lose your room gain in the bass. That is where the problem is, none of these speakers produce flat low bass without room gain and it is hard to predict how smooth that room gain will be.
I have a 650sq/ft listening room and subs with an active crossover will make life better. You can get it just right very easily with active crossovers or dial it to preference. I can’t recommend active subs/crossovers enough for large rooms. The 803d3 with a pair of good subs hooked to a JL CR-1 crossover would be amazing, verging on a super system assuming the upper mids of those B&W don’t bother you. Just keep the subs out of the corner.