b&w suggestions

One of my friends has N802's in the front and N804's for rear. He has the B&W center channel, not sure of the model plus a REL Stentor sub. All of the electronics are the top of the line Linn components. The system sounds great as you should expect.

There is a huge difference in performance between the N804 and the N802. I can't imagine being disappointed with upgrading the fronts to N802's. Simply put, the N802 will go louder with more clarity and with more bottom end weight.

When I purchased my N802's, I walked into the store with the intent of buying N804's. I listened to them and next up the N803. The N802 was so superior to those models it was no contest. I spent way more at the time than I wanted to. But, on the bright side I still have them and enjoy them so it was money well spent.

My audition was in a two channel system without subwoofer. The electronics were Mark Levinson and were kept the same for all three speaker model auditions.

In my friends system, the speakers are run full range and augmented by the REL. It would be difficult to estimate the differences when using an external crossover. I think it is important to consider the midrange driver and enclosure from the N802 is completely different and more sophisticated than that found in the 804/803.

If one were to have that much confidence in the subwoofers, would you not be able to get by with four 805's and not worry about floor standers? But since you already have the 804's, you should either stand pat or upgrade the fronts to the N802's if you can justify it financially. I do believe it would be a sonic upgrade.

Four furniture sliders under the N802's and I move them between rooms all by myself. No problem at all. The right tools for the job make all the difference.