B&W 802 Nautilius really the best?

I have owned B&W's for 20 years, & thought I wanted the 802's. To be sure, I spent months listening & comparing. I selected Martin Logan SL-3's over the higher priced offerings from B&W, ProAc and others. In my very large room, with my components, the SL-3's are far more "live" than the competition. Sorry, B&W, I demoted my old pair to the home theater room.

Recently purchased new speakers. Listened extensively to the JM Labs, Hales 5, Maggies (various models, something really special in the right larger room with great electronics), Thiels 2.3 & 6's, Dunlavy, Sonus Fabers and Avalon. While by far not the least expensive, the Avalon Eclispe do some magic in the mid range, the Hales in the upper registers and the B&W's overall balance is very coherent, however, for my taste and listening room size, the Avalon was the speaker of choice. Now, it's time to upgrade other components to get the most they have to offer. The B&W is also an excellent choice.

Listen to the Artemis Eos (with matching subs) before you decide.

I had the 802 Matrix it's a good choice for someone who loves sweet sound. After i had the Thiel 2.5 and now for three years i have the B&W Siver Signature and i like them alot. So i can tell you forget the brightness of Thiels or Avalons with a pair of B&W , their treble "roll off" is well known. I recomend Tubes on the S.S and transistor for the others.

I have owned a pair of N802's for a little over a year. With all CJ Premier tube's on the front end and amp, a first class analog and CD setup, and cables such as JPS labs or Tice, that are not soft sounding, the N802's are great speakers at a resonable size. I have listened to a lot of speakers lately and have not heard better.