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

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.   

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. 

Anyone compare older 800d2 to newer current 802D3?

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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.

👍

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.
I am concerned about losing impact moving from the 800 that had dual 10" woofers to the newer/smaller dual 8" woofers. As an FYI in my medium sized room, the 800D2 outperformed the 802D2 in every way, and had LESS/NO boom issue, whereas oddly the older 802D2 had some midbass hump (or something) that caused me problems. Thoughts on what to expect in the D3 line, and yes I realize the 800D3 isn't quite out yet....any advice appreciated.

This might have been a meaningful thread if the author had asked for input from those who have actually heard the new product. Instead, he only succeeds in rallying those who share his negative bias.

Similiar as in they were both speakers..right? Yeah, that's what I thought you meant😜

"I had Grand Slamms next to a set of Meadowlark Nightingales, they were very similar in sound but $60,000 different in price. Wilson Watts were similar to the Meadowlark Audio Blue Heron 2's and I used the Wilson's to prove it using the same exact reference system."

Wilson sounds very similar to Meadowlark? You may want to get your hearing checked.

10-22-15: Aintitgr8
I had just posted and made the point that the ruthlessly accurate speakers like Wilson Audio are system and wire dependent. If you can't figure out the neutral wire needed you aren't going to like this kind of studio monitor quality, you want politely altered presentations.

what a load of rubbish!! strongly disagree.
you are trying to fix the speaker's distortion issue by spending a disproportionate amount to time & money on cables. Two wrongs do not make one right (but apparently in your books it does!). It's a bad way to build a system....

I've had WATTS and Grand Slamms, there are a lot of ways to tame the ruthless nature of reference monitor caliber speakers. Tubes are one, a smooth quality source is another. One thing I will say is that six or seven years ago I had personally extensively tried all the major cable lines from their entry to statement products. I am totally out of touch with the products that have come onto the market in the last seven years or so, so I can't comment on an array of specific newer products. I had Grand Slamms next to a set of Meadowlark Nightingales, they were very similar in sound but $60,000 different in price. Wilson Watts were similar to the Meadowlark Audio Blue Heron 2's and I used the Wilson's to prove it using the same exact reference system.

"10-22-15: Aintitgr8
No....
Either not fully broken in or wire in the system that is not a neutral wire."

"10-22-15: Aintitgr8
I had just posted and made the point that the ruthlessly accurate speakers like Wilson Audio are system and wire dependent. If you can't figure out the neutral wire needed you aren't going to like this kind of studio monitor quality, you want politely altered presentations."

You don't know your ass from your elbow. I can sit you down in front of my Wilson's and prove you wrong in about 10 seconds.

I had just posted and made the point that the ruthlessly accurate speakers like Wilson Audio are system and wire dependent. If you can't figure out the neutral wire needed you aren't going to like this kind of studio monitor quality, you want politely altered presentations.

No....
Either not fully broken in or wire in the system that is not a neutral wire.

Years ago as a dealer for Meadowlark I got a lot of inquiries about the Herons and Blue Herons from guys with the 802, 801, and 800S, their main complaint being that they made their ears bleed.

My first question was did they have at least 700 hours on them, if not that is a problem. Second question was what interconnects and speaker wires were they using? It was an easy sale to get them to try 800 interconnects and $1100 bi-wire speaker cables, problem fixed and very happy campers.

B&W has the same reputation for being ruthless as any monitor caliber accurate speaker like Wilson Audio, because the Watts are 25,000+ those buyers tend to be willing to spend more on cables, in fact they are told upfront by most dealers that they are going to have to.

Mid range cables by the big mainstream culprits have made more people's ears bleed on these speakers than they would like to acknowledge. Many dealers attribute it to needing better cables or higher end electronics, they want to sell components

Forgive me being non-technical, but isn't it just a matter of taste? I had some 801 s3, I didn't like them because to me they sounded good on just a few CDs. I told the buyer I didn't like them and played several average CDs for him and he loved them. Then I played a cd that sounded great. He is still listening to them after 7-8 years.

I agree with the audition them yourself camp, the saddest situation I can think of is buying something for any reason other than YOU liking and enjoying them. However, I do appreciate opinions, but in the end I do what I want.

Going to see Jackson Browne tonight. I'll let you know how the crowd surfing goes. Hope I don't tear my sweater vest..,

"The fact of the matter is that it's unlikely that the sound you hear while demoing a pair of speakers at the typical high end dealer will be anything like how it will sound in your own home so one needs to take what they hear with a grain of salt in either demo room."

I wouldn't say that is a fact. There's a lot you tell about a speaker by listening to it, even if its not in your system. Also, I don't follow your logic because you go on to say this.

"I can't knock them for a minute for wanting to take advantage of putting their gear in the face of the average Joe who shops at Best Buy who probably doesn't even know what a high end speaker is supposed to sound like."

If your first statement is true, then I don't see how this one can be either. If there is not going to be any consistency, then there is no reason to expect a B&W speaker to be any better than a less expensive alternative.

"It seems logical to me to think that if ones chooses a B&W 800 as their speaker of choice and listens to a track created by some of the big name studios who use the same 800 series as their reference then at least they can rest easy knowing that what they are hearing was close enough for the recording engineer who made it."

Again, I can't follow the logic. If you can't expect the B&W 800 to sound in your home anything like it does at the dealer, then why would it sound the same as the ones in the recording studio? All 3 setup's should sound completely different.

+1Jimmy and Eniac. Well said - why indeed if you have a history like B&W would you not put your speakers in a "commercial" environment to allow potentials coming into a shrinking industry the experience of high end. There is always the danger someone might buy them! Yikes!

I live in a metro area and have several brick and mortars near me and I never feel comfortable going in unless I plan on a purchase and I have made many from them all and still feel like I am getting a TSA evaluation when I walk in.....not intending to open a new can of worms or high jack the thread. But at Magnolia as a consumer I feel the ball is in my court for a change.

Back to B&W I have always admired from afar and liked what I have heard demo wise. I am a 20 year Thiel user so I can appreciate the robust discussion and different opinions.

"And, if you don't like them, fine! But I don't think that you're going to love something else better if they are also extremely transparent and revealing."

You most certainly can. There's plenty of speakers that have a lot of detail like the B&W but sound completely different.

Also, things like sibilance and harshness, are not indicators that a speaker is transparent. Its just the opposite. The more transparent a system is, the closer to the actual event it gets you. Harsh highs move you in the opposite direction because in most situations, these qualities are not natural.

I forgot to add that I am talking about b&w for the last 20 years or so - they have not always been "mass market" (available at Magnolia/Best Buy). Before that you had to seek them out at the brick and mortar stores. Also, the brands I compared them to were all American. So I should comment that other American brands that hold excellent value and compete with the Brits is Joseph and Devore, and to an extent Martin Logan.

I had the last 804D2 model and enjoyed them very much. Same for the 802 Matrix I had in the 90s. I have not heard the new series. That said, it always piques my interest when people criticize b&w. They have always commanded high resale (used) prices compared to other brands, and are relatively ubiquitous among audiophiles. Why does that matter? Because over time the 'truth' would emerge - people would not pay for something that is not good. Highly regarded brands like Wilson, Avalon,Revel, etc. sell for 40-60% of original price but b&w sell for 50-70%. The only other brands that meet or exceed this are Harbeth and Proac (both British, interestingly...somehow Spendor gets left out). My experience with b&w is they need lots of good power. I don't know why, but when provided with good amplification I think they are a fantastic brand.

I'm not so sure it's such a bad thing to be a "Comercial Brand" as you say. I don't know about you but I would like nothing more then to be able to go to my local big name store and listen to a high end speaker if for nothing else but convenience alone.

I can't imagine being the only person who thnks this would be a plus in anyone's book. The fact of the matter is that it's unlikely that the sound you hear while demoing a pair of speakers at the typical high end dealer will be anything like how it will sound in your own home so one needs to take what they hear with a grain of salt in either demo room.

The beauty of the B&W brand is that they are big enough and well known enough to have there gear placed in any dealer they wish. I can't knock them for a minute for wanting to take advantage of putting their gear in the face of the average Joe who shops at Best Buy who probably doesn't even know what a high end speaker is supposed to sound like. The sad thing is that most people don't even know this stuff even exists.

Again I ask the question, what are the flame throwers using as their gauge of what the "proper" sound is of a given recording? How do they know that what they are using is presenting them with the sound the artist intended?

It seems logical to me to think that if ones chooses a B&W 800 as their speaker of choice and listens to a track created by some of the big name studios who use the same 800 series as their reference then at least they can rest easy knowing that what they are hearing was close enough for the recording engineer who made it.

I think the dealer that had the demo was David Weinhart. He has carried more speakers than carter has pills. I'm really surprised he carries B&W. I have always looked at Bowers and Wilkins to be more of a commercial brand. (Best buy, Magnolia) I know he used to carry Ariel Acoustics, Mbl, Dali and Magico. For some reason he doesn't seem to carry the lines for to long.

Well, I have not yet heard the 802D3 but did hear the 803D3 recently and came away from the demo so impressed that I am strongly considering trading in my current 803D2 for its big brother the new 802D3.

I would be very curious to hear what gear was used during the demo of the new 802D3 and as a point of reference what speakers are being used today by those who are flaming the sound they hear coming out of the B&W 800 lineup in their tests?

Knowing what gear the flame throwers are using as their reference will help put some perspective around what they think is "proper sound" as compared to what B&W 800 fans think is proper sound.

Personaly I can't say I have experienced any of the issues being mentioned here in this thread when listening to my 803D2's.

My gear used to drive the B&W's I own consists of Classe CP-800 Pre, Meitner MA1 DAC and lots of Hypex NCore amplification per channel.

Well said fries!

remember the Louis Lipnik review of the B&W 801 in Stereophile many years back?
He described them as the audio end of the road. The disclaimer was that if you fed them less-than-pristine sound, then you got poor results due to their accuracy- since they were originally used as studio monitors.
I had a pair of 801's, and the treble was a bit "hashy" and forward. So were Watt-Puppies at the time. along with Thiels, and several other high-end designs. Guess
what? when CD's started sounding better, so did my speakers. the last time i heard them, my friend who i sold them to had Pass Aleph amplifiers (1.2 mono blocks). the speakers now sounded smooth and relaxed, especially listening to Blue Note jazz recordings. I had NEVER heard them sound like that before. Could it be that what Louis L. stated in his review was the key to understanding the sound they were making?
B&W makes GREAT speakers and they try to meet a lot of budget levels.
If the newest versions are set up with the proper electronics in a decent room
they should sound darn good. How many dealers are up to the task of controlling these important variables? If you can get an in-home audition, that's the place to start, especially if you're interested in buying their premier line of speakers.
And, if you don't like them, fine! But I don't think that you're going to love something else better if they are also extremely transparent and revealing. It take an OPEN mind and a lot of comparative listening experience to determine if it's the speakers (even though they are the most important component overall), or something else that's screwing up the sound.

Distortion? No. Sibilance? No. Boomy? No. What kind of crap setups did you audition a speaker like B&W's 800 series in? I've owned Maggie's to Wilson's and have had terrific results with all of them...even though I could always find some moron here who had no clue and would blame the speaker for their scrap cables or gear! Up through the D2's there is exquisite musicality. As for the D3's? I have to audition them, although I am skeptical myself based on the drastically increased bass response...smacks of home theatre!!

@Zd542: I agree with you, but that's the situation happen, especially come to so called high end sound, there is no high end sound that can satisfy every customers so to speak, rich for the rich, poor for the poor and most probably you will just need mid for the mid. Mastering of music in future and art of the ancient voice could be more well worth than high end gears.

"Jkalman, the sibilance is a phase distortion issue & it won't go away with toe-in (like Zd542 wrote). I bet that whatever you try you will not be able to get rid of it. It's inherent in the speaker design & the 4th order x-over. The boomy bass is due to the poor port design. B&W cannot get this right & didn't get it right even in my DM604S2 nor in my friend's 803D. Port design is hard to start with - you have to start & stop a slug of air at a moment's notice given the fact that the bass from the port is 180 degrees out-of-phase with the bass cone driver. If you don't design this correctly, you get bass overhang or what you call boomy bass - the previous bass notes hung around too long & interfere with the next bass notes (from the next bit of music) & smear it.
Play some tracks from Diana Krall's Love Scenes - sibilance city if you will. Let us know at point in time you walked out of the room!"

Hello Bombaywalla,

My understanding is that they don't use a 4th order crossover in the 803 D3s (and haven't in their high end diamond speakers for some time). They use a first order crossover.

In any case, playing around with the room placement and toe-in some more eliminated the issues I was having with the sound. I never said there was problems in the bass frequencies. It was a bit of booming in the mid-range, mostly in the lower register of voices, which don't come close to the bass ranges. The excessive sibilance was from having the tweeters pointed in too much. Sibilance is natural in the human voice, especially in the female voice. Finding the point at which it sounds natural is the goal, not eliminating it completely.

Actually, acoustically speaking, the smearing of notes will happen more because you haver the speaker to close to a wall than anything else. When there is not enough time delay between the direct sound from the speakers and the sound from the first point reflections, then the sounds become smeared, otherwise it becomes ambience. Though, too much ambience can color the sound with the character of the room, and that isn't good either (thus, the need to properly treat first reflection points). The port on the back shouldn't be an issue unless you are already making the mistake of bad speaker placement.

The other issue is placing the speaker too far into the room, at which point locality of sound becomes too diffuse. That is problematic as well.

BTW, I bought them, and it looks like I will be the first person in the USA, or possibly the world to own a pair of the 803 D3s! :D

"10-14-15: Wim1983
It seem I got a pair of Wharfedale Jade 3, that sound problem exactly what you all have discussed here. Bright, sibilant, difficult gear matching, room and placement adjustment, and very unforgiving in presenting music. Hmm, is this what the high end sound to begin with? That's a whole lot of time and money need to spend on these B&W speakers I believe, nevertheless the craftsmanship is amazing. High end speakers is designed for rich people with lots of gold and time to furthermore investment in fine tuning sound, and expand their imaginations, how sad! I need to get rid of my Jade 3, though it's not so easy..."

Please don't take this the wrong way because I'm not trying to be mean or negative in any way. But if you want to get into this hobby and be successful, you need to take responsibility for your own actions. No one put a gun to your head and forced you to buy the speakers you don't like. There's a good reason why some of us sound like a broken record and insist you need to demo everything before you buy it. Audio is a very hands on activity. If you want good sound, it takes some work. And don't think I know better and am trying to lecture you. I know from experience. I've made more costly, jackass mistakes than any audiophile I know.

"Bright, sibilant, difficult gear matching, room and placement adjustment, and very unforgiving in presenting music. Hmm, is this what the high end sound to begin with?"

Not every speaker sounds like a B&W or the Jade 3's you just bought.

It seem I got a pair of Wharfedale Jade 3, that sound problem exactly what you all have discussed here. Bright, sibilant, difficult gear matching, room and placement adjustment, and very unforgiving in presenting music. Hmm, is this what the high end sound to begin with? That's a whole lot of time and money need to spend on these B&W speakers I believe, nevertheless the craftsmanship is amazing. High end speakers is designed for rich people with lots of gold and time to furthermore investment in fine tuning sound, and expand their imaginations, how sad! I need to get rid of my Jade 3, though it's not so easy...

Perhaps my careful consideration of component matching, speaker positioning and mains quality paid dividends!
Mark_nz

this is precisely the issue - anytime you have to 'carefully' match components so that the system sounds just right, you have a problem with one or more components in that chain. In this thread, it's all about speakers so let's concentrate on speakers. If a speaker is time-coherent (which B&W are not even by a long shot) then component matching becomes a non-issue. Time-coherent speakers sound good with almost any electronics & on any genre of music. Of course, the better the electronics & the better the recording, the better the output sonics.
I wager that if you would have changed one item in your then-system that had the B&Ws your system would have collapsed performance-wise. That would not have been good.

Jkalman, the sibilance is a phase distortion issue & it won't go away with toe-in (like Zd542 wrote). I bet that whatever you try you will not be able to get rid of it. It's inherent in the speaker design & the 4th order x-over. The boomy bass is due to the poor port design. B&W cannot get this right & didn't get it right even in my DM604S2 nor in my friend's 803D. Port design is hard to start with - you have to start & stop a slug of air at a moment's notice given the fact that the bass from the port is 180 degrees out-of-phase with the bass cone driver. If you don't design this correctly, you get bass overhang or what you call boomy bass - the previous bass notes hung around too long & interfere with the next bass notes (from the next bit of music) & smear it.
Play some tracks from Diana Krall's Love Scenes - sibilance city if you will. Let us know at point in time you walked out of the room!

Also, like I did with my DM604S2, play some Diana Krall & careful note where the soundstage is & where DK is in the soundstage. Then, immediately next play some Frank Sinatra. Once again note where the soundstage is & where FS is in that soundstage. Any difference between the 2 soundstages?

It is disappointing to see sweeping comments about B&W speakers as "bright", "edgy", "fatiguing", "never had bass" etc without identification of the speaker model and system components.

I have owned the CDM1, CDM2SE, CDM1NT, CM1, 804S, 803D, 803Diamond, 800Diamond.

The only speaker out of that list that I found a bit "edgy" and "bright" was the CDM1NT. With the same system components at that time (Sony CD player and Plinius amplifier) the CDM1 and CDM2SE were warm and easy to listen.

The 80xDiamond series as compared to the 80xD series do have tweeters that are measurably more sensitive. So the 80xDiamond they can sound bright if auditioned with bright components. However with suitable matched components, I found the speakers compelling, easy to listen, transparent, and have superb bass for size of speaker.

I lived with the 803D and then 803Diamond for about 5 years. I listened almost every day for on average a few hours without any fatigue and or sense of significant tonal imbalance.

Perhaps my careful consideration of component matching, speaker positioning and mains quality paid dividends!

"Tomorrow I hope to see if the sibilance can be eliminated with less toe-in, while also trying to decrease the lower voice frequency boominess by moving further off one of the walls."

Its not likely that toe in will get rid of sibilance. That's an equipment matching issue.

Jkalman,

I have followed your threads over the years and I am curious what you are running now.

I have a love hate relationship with B&W. fatigue has always been my issue and why I have not bought a pair over the years. Do the upper mids seem smother on the D3?