B&W 803d vs. B&W 804s - Fast Input

Ihave a very large listening room (12H x 18W X 25L) with N804 & ASW800 sub. I am very pleased witht he audio. Fro me to upgrade to 803D would be a major outlay. I might consider used if local pickup allowed. In the end your ears will tell you which is right.

I don't have direct input for you on either speaker but as a guy that's second guessing his 703 purchase what I recommend you do is spend at least an hour if not more listening to each speaker and bring a lot of different material to listen to.

What I'm finding in my case is that my speakers become unpleasing to listen to after about 4-5 songs.

I own a pair of 803D; have had them for about 1.5 years. Installed in a large room, about 20X25 with 13 foot ceilings. Great sound at any level but must be matched with a good amp as they are a very difficult speaker to drive. I would recommend at minimum a good SS amp 200 plus watts. Best I have heard these sound is on Classe 400 watt monoblocks.

Thank all for swift input. I have to have the primary seating in this room against the back wall. Planning to hang D8Ss on the sides. Too much stuff around to use montiors on stands. Trying to avoid not having enough sound from surrounds. Make sense?

I have a pair of 803D for my mains and the HTM3S (essentially a 803S) for my center, DS8S for the surrounds and CCM-65 in ceiling for my rear backs.

For me there is a mjor difference in the diamond tweeters and the aluminum ones in the 803S and 804S. Theya sre simply sweeter and should be for the $1079 cost of each one vs. the $300 cost of the alumnimum ones. Yes, the 803D has more bass and they are perfect for my listening/HT room which is quite large with high ceilings.

Given the right cable, the aluminum tweeters can be not as forward as they are. For any of them, bi-wiring and a lot of good clean power can dramtically improve the sound of any of the 800 series speakers.

The DS8S also have alumnium tweeter which are better sounding than the 700 series and below metal tweeters.

I agree with one of the other posters that mentioned the best bang for the buck is he 803S but I'm glad I spent the money on the 803Ds for both the sweeter and more detailed tweeter and the extra bass at least in my listening area.

I'd forget about the 804S unless you have a small listening area. There is a major difference in bass between the 803S and 804S.