Bowers and Wilkerson B&W 802 D3: an impolite Brit?

Ok, so I sold my 802D2's and picked up a pair of Krell Resolution 2 speakers on the used market.  I had heard them when they first came out and was very impressed but not in an environment conducive to a large floor stander.  After having owned Wilson WP6's and Sophia's as well as the B&W's I can say that the Krell Res 2's are simply better at conveying music.  They may be bested in certain measurements albeit marginally so, but for listening to complex classical music where you have various natural instruments being reproduced, they sound absolutely authentic to the tone, voice and dynamics involved with all the overtones and acoustic intact!  Everything sounds stunningly realistic and accurate at any volume level and they can go very loud and clean.  For $3300 they are comparable to with speakers in the &15k to $25k range.

Mates what are y'all talking about. I can only comment on the 802 D2, as it is the only B&W i have heard correctly setup. (By the way they always sound appalling in the dealer show rooms paired with MacIntosh and Classe.) They are not harsh and edgy at all, full bodied and heaps of correct tonality of instruments. They go deep, very deep, my only criticism is that I seem to have just a tad too much bass.
It is a Sh** load of speaker for the money, and this comes from economies of scale. Unfortunately in the high end business unless the component is rare or virtually unobtainable it does not rate. Anything common has to be trash, especially if it is not grossly overpriced. To guarantee a rave review there has to be an outrageous price tag? I would rate the 802D2 above the Magico S5 for instance. I use Ayre MXR/KXR, Audiaflight Phono, Atlas, Kuzma 4 point, Clearaudio, just to put my opinion in context. 
I just love the B&W bashing threads, because it allowed me to get mine at half price:) and if you are interested my milk stays fresh for at least 2 weeks!!
Keep up the good work

I have heard the 804 d3 with 4  different amps sounded great with 3 of  them. A little bright with the arcam avr 850 and i would think be a little fatiguing with extended listening time.
I  Wound up buying the 804d3, i love the look and the sound.  The new midrange driver is the star of the show. Also purchased the  HTM2 d3 and is way better than any center I have heard from B&W.
I Couldn't fit the 802 or 803 in my space so didn't even audition them at length. The 804d3 are roughly the same size and weight as the 802s3 matrix I replaced....
  Very happy with the my choice , i listened to Wilson Sophia's, aerial 6t and 7t, PCM and sonus Faber.  The 804 and aerial 7t were the 2 finalists. Liked both but went with name, resale and smaller size for my space. Kept the last B&W for 19 years, don't plan on getting rid of them but always a nice option to have a 2ndary market

I have a newly acquired pair of 802D3's, which I upgraded (at full value) from my 804D2's , and I have to say I absolutely love them!  I'm driving them with a new Bryston 4 cubed, and they match the speakers beautiful.  They made a huge difference to the 804's, also, but when I got the 802's in, and as they're breaking in now, everything is getting really smooth and even.  I do need to get some sound panels for my rear and side walls, but I'm immensely happy with these speakers, never get tired of them.  One of the things I love about them is how well they sound at lower volumes, but crank them up, and they sound incredible!  The midrange is very well balanced with the high end, and the bass is nice and deep, but not overpowering.

Be careful when you audition....very slight anoyances can quickly make the component an ad on audiogon in very short order.  I had a B&W 802D ....bought it much too fast after my wife passed....needed a present I guess.....got rid of the speakers quickly.

The 800 D3 is out now. I’ve now had the 802 D3’s for about a month and they’re pretty well on the way to being fully broken in. I absolutely love them. The entire sound stage is magnificent. I play a lot of different kinds of music through them, and everything just shines on them. It’s interesting to see that the 800 D3’s look to be essentially the same as the 802’s, but for bigger woofers. They spec out very similarly, even in weight!

After reading all the posts here I'll put in my 2 cents worth regarding B&W 803D2's. In April of this year I had the opportunity to compare them with my favorite speaker (heavily modded per manufacturers recommendations) and awe inspiring, The result was actually surprising to me after reading any number of negative reviews on the B&W. This comparison occurred in my real home environment with my own equipment (Krell Preamp, Krell Amp, Musical Fidelity CD, etc all of it high end) and cabling. After extensive listening for days (using an Adcom Speaker selector for quick references) I found that the B&W was certainly up to par with my "go to speaker" and in some instances exceeded them. Just to make this short I now own a pair of BW 803D2 and the more I listen to them the more I can tell/hear the subtle nuances (vocals, instruments, delicacies) they reproduce in a recording. Granted they sound different than what I was used to but not in a bad way. I do not get the harsh uppers that some here are mentioning and the lows are also better defined. The more I listen at any level the more I appreciate the quality. I must say I love the sound but it took some time to get me to admit that they were "better" than my go to speaker, and I loved my go to's. B&W is now my "go to". The only real complaint I have is that they reproduce exactly what is recorded and mastered, good and bad. Crap in / Crap out. Excellent recordings are awesome and Lousy recordings are really lousy.

👍

Just an update, about another month's worth of being played, the 802 D3's are absolutely wonderful.  Can't find anything to complain about, the entire range of sound has evened out, top to bottom.  Crystal clear, well defined, beautifully deep soundstage.  I give them a bit thumbs up, for certain.  They do take a bit of time to fully break in, but once there, solid sound.

Anybody have first hand knowledge of what I may find if I "upgrade" from the top line 800 D2 to the "one down" 802 D3.
Thanks

I think you won’t be missing much but your midrange tightens up and rounds out a bit better. I didn’t have the 800d2 but had the 802d2 and heard the 802d2 side by side to the 802d3. I think bass impact is what you just might lose.

i have heard the 800d2 approximately a dozen times though.

I almost got out of audio due to the harshness of my system. As I got older, I became more sensitive to it and pretty much thought  it was that. My system was comprised of B&W 804 N, Anthem and Bryston 3B. So I thought it has to be me, because that is pretty decent equipment. Then a friend of mine picked up a pair of 805 D2 and a Musical Fidelity 30 watt class A integrated. The system blew mine away and no harshness. It looks like it was my components. My dealer was carrying the Classe CP-800 that was getting rave reviews. Tried it and what a difference. At the time I was running a Parasound A21 amp. Generally there was no listener fatigue, but the next day I would have ringing in my ears if I had extended or loud listening sessions. I tried a pair of Parasound JC1's and all problems were solved. Absolutely no listener fatigue or ringing ears, no matter how long or loud I listened. I don't normally listen very loud, but a friend was over one night for about 4 hours of listening and it got pretty spirited at times. Nothing. Now I have a pair of B&W 803 D2's and my friend with the 805's said it is the best system he has heard. It is not the best I have heard, but I am very happy with it. In my case, the B&W's were not the issue.

jcoa,

Would you mind going into a bit more detail about the sound of the Parasound A21 with your B&W 804Ns? 

I've pretty much decided on the A21 for my B&W 683 S2s but I have not been able to here the A21 with B&W speakers. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

Cheers,

Scott

I am running a pair of 803Ns with an A21, and they sound excellent on all material. Clear, well balanced, never harsh, absolutely solid bass. I had previously used a McCormack DNA-0.5 and an Adcom GFA-555, and the Parasound beats both hands down, most notably for clarity and subtlety of voicing. A friend's Pass X150.5 was the only thing I've heard that's comparably good. I don't think you need to worry.

Anyone compare older 800d2 to newer current 802D3?

Lots of discussion on whether or not a speaker is producing the right low end. Unless the listening room was effectively treated with high quality bass trapping, the discussion is not credible. 

While I do not own a pair of 802 D3, but my demo experience next to the 803 D3 was a vast difference.   The  802 D3  would be an improvement from what I have currently, but the 803 D3's had more open midrange, and highs were amazing.