B&W 802D vs Wilson WATT Puppy

Hi Dgad,

I did not know the Wilson speaker grilles were suppose to be left on. All reviews never mentioned this. Some have even ordered the speakers without the surrounding velcro. I'll check with WAS.

BTW I like the look of the Sophia & WP!*>)

Jungsan -

I've seen the Sophias in a metallic-blue color that looks stunning and would be my first choice at this point. It might be the sebring blue on their website. The cosmetics of Wilson speakers were an aquired taste for me. They seem strange at first, but def. grew on me.

Anyone compare the Sofias with the 802D's with rock music? What were your conclusions on the bass, mid range and highs?

Thanks,
Dave

Spent 4 hours with the Sophias and 802D's today at a great audiophile store. Brought and used my own electronics for the demos, which included a Classe CA200 power amp, Classe CA-50 and a high-end Sony ES CD player. MIT interconnects and speaker wire. These are old electronics, but are still fine.

For me, the B&W's were the clear winners. I played mostly rock (melodic acoustic and guitar rock), some blues, jazz, piano and big orchestral music.

To me, the highs on the B&W were more beautiful with more sparkle, without loss of detail. I found both speakers to be very close in openness and sense of air, until we listened to this sensational jazz track (salesman had me put it in), which revealed to me that the B&W's won out in this category also for my ears (and his).

For some tracks, it was harder to tell which one I liked better.

I could not say which clearly had a better soundstage & imaging. Both were great and it varied.

As far as heavy guitar rock, the Wilsons did not sound as well rounded, balanced and punchy as the B&W's. But the Wilsons sounded great.

I don't know if you would call it slight colorization or complete accuracy, but whatever you call it, it was really clear to me that the B&W's were better for my taste. The best way to describe what made the B&W's better for me was that is sounded "more musical" to my ears.

It sounds like I did not like the Wilsons, which is not at all the case, they were great. But compared to the B&W's, it was clear which one worked best for my taste and electronics. So I bought them (ouch!!)

No matter which speaker you pick, it's a win/win situation except for your bank account. :-)

Dave

I currently own a pair of B&W 802Ds. I decided to go out last week and audition the Ayre C-5xe universal stereo player for my system.

The dealer had the Ayre C-5xe set up with an Ayre amplifier and an Ayre Preamp and the amplifier was connected to a pair of Wilson Watt Puppy 7s.

I had heard my 802Ds and 800Ds, both on great Classe gear, as well as with Halcro Amps, Bryston amps, and dCS stacks as source equipment. I also recently listened to the 800Ds through the Halcro and dCS stack today just to check on my subjective experience last week, because what happened when I listened to those Ayre components through the Wilson Watt Puppy 7s not only inspired me to buy the Ayre C-5xe, but to go about rebuilding/reorganizing my whole system. I also tested out some Avant-garde duos on BAT equipment today as a recommendation from the B&W dealer as being better than the Watt Puppy 7s (I certainly didn't think so at all after doing my demo today...).

I was so blown away by the organic sound of the Ayre system matched with the Wilson speakers. Not only did the music sound live and in front of where I sat, each element of music, each instrument, each vocal, had a distinct air around it. The instruments were audibly separate and did not blend/mix together, but still fit together cohesively within the piece of music. Not only were they distinguishable, they actually sat in their areas of the recording space and the recording space was clearly definable/recognizable, i.e. not only were the instrument acoustics clearly defined, but the acoustics of the space itself were clearly defined as well, I was in a room within a room when listening to the music. One of the final things that struck me as awe-inspiring was how every element of the music (instruments, vocals, etc) retained complete control of their dynamics. Nothing was absorbed by anything else; nothing became diffuse by the strength of nearby elements’ power, or likewise, nothing absorbed anything with less sound power nearby. Each individual entity within the musical recordings retained its unique character, easily definable and natural.

I knew I had to go listen to the B&W 800Ds again, and if they didn't elicit the same experience, at least something close, I would not bother upgrading from the 802Ds to the 800Ds, but would be compelled to do whatever it took (within legal means) to purchase the Watt Puppy speakers with the exact Ayre gear I had demo-ed or perhaps one step up from the Ayre 150 WPC amp to the 200 WPC amp.

The 800Ds and the Avantgarde Duos did not come close to competing with the Watt Puppy 7s and the Ayre components together. So, I am now trying everything and anything to trade in, or sell my 802D towards the Watt Puppy 7s. Sadly, I have only had the 802Ds for around 2 months, but this is really a great thing, truly a blessing in disguise. I discovered the perfect system for my particular listening pleasure, and even though I may lose a little on the price of my 802Ds, I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. I wish I could go out and buy everything immediately, but it will take around 6-8 months to save up, but worth it IMO.