Comments on new B&W 800 D3

I'm with you tympani and I think a big part of the reason is the tapered head design
for tweeter and midrange. A most elegant and simple design to remove early reflections. It's hard for me to imagine anything better. I agree as well about room placement being a big problem. Distance to walls is often silly even with very expensive setups. Obviously the client doesn't know good sound (or doesn't care).

Actually, what I like about the 800 diamonds is that they create an accurate sound stage without exaggerating it like many other speakers do.

On recordings that are produced with 3D effects the 3D effects are all there exactly as intended, and likewise, recordings without much depth or width are presented as such without any false depth or width.

From my own experience though, the listening room itself imposes the greatest limit to faithful stage reproduction and from the many pics of people’s systems that I’ve seen there are very few who have their speakers far enough from room boundaries to create a 3D sound stage.

The individual focus of instruments and voices of the D2 series is sharper than the D3 series. I also think the D2 are better looking.

The D3 is less coloured, but sounds more clinical.They  both can create not a lot of stage depth and width like the best can.

A holographic 3 dimensional stage makes listening to music soooo addictive and fun. This level you will never reach with B&W. This was the main reason why I decided in 2006 not to buy the 800D1 anymore.

When you own a 3 dimensional holographic stage you never will go back to a more 2 dimensional stage. You will use your set much more and even longer in 1 time when you gor from 2d to 3D.

In 7 years of time I brought many people from 2D to 3D. Their words says it all: they often talk about an addictive level of sound.

I thought you were a BW D2 fan Bo?  You've had many postings stating such

Fair enough Bo, despite their shortcomings I enjoy them anyway...

I played and owned the best B&W speakers. I bought the 802N new in 1999 and later the 800 S. 

Stage depth and width is d.n.a. of brands. With Classe it will be about the same. Esoteric is able to create a deep and wide stage. Not as deep and wide like Pass labs. Classe ( I sold it for over 6 years of time) is about the same level of stage depth as Esoteric. I will let you know.......

Crossovers and stage depth and width never have been strong points of B&W. And still is not that great. 

In 2006 I hoped the 800D1 would solve it. I was planning to buy them, But the stage depth and width was not what I was looking for. So I stopped with B&W.

Bo, are you at all afraid of what might happen if the soundstage turns out to be bigger than the one metre you are guaranteeing?  What if it turns out to be 1.3 metres...and you end up feeling like Jodie Foster in "Contact", when she traveled through a worm hole and came back but James Woods didn't believe her, and it turns out Matthew McConaughey was really in love with her but couldn't admit it?   What if the presentation turns out to not even be 2D, but 1D, and it causes everything in the room to become 1D and you turn sideways but nobody can see you anymore because you're the width of a human hair?   I'm being serious...

Maybe it's not the speakers that are 2D but the combination chosen.  I have 1st Gen 800D and they are holographic and spatial accurate given a decent recording wether analog or digital. IME most gear can be very good given proper matching it also can be total disaster with the wrong choices. 

The room of the 800D3 used acoustic pannels worth a lot of money. Always people blame the room. We often hear the same bullshit!

All the other demos with the new 800D3 series where all 2D. When this is 3D for you you are lost.

Soon we will hear the 800D3 with Classe. I can garnatee you that the stage will be one metre agian. I will inform you after we audtioned it.

We like things to be clear and open......

hilarious post bcgator!! :-D

I'm with you bcgator........

Maybe you shouldn't have listened to them in a broom closet, bo.   And let me emphasize that I have nothing against broom closets - they're an excellent place to keep brooms and other cleaning supplies. 

My personal opinion is that speakers should create a 5D presentation - the stage should have length, width, height, it should be able to warp time so you can go back and relive good times, and it should be able to bend space such that you create a worm hole in  your living room through which you can pass back and forth to other membranes of interplanetary existence just in case other universes have better pizza or ice cream or something.   If a speaker can't transport me to far away places - literally - I won't own it.

I auditioned them last weekend. The stage is about 1 metre in depth. This means it is still a 2 dimensional speaker. The demo was done with the most expensive Esoteric monos en pre amp. They are able to create a deep stage. All the tests with the D1 and D2 both had about 1 metre of stage depth. When audio has no parameters you can name everything highend. My personal opinion is that a holographic 3D stage is an essential part of highend. Without it always will miss an big part in emotion.

No one has the 800D3 yet.  

I don't believe 800D3 is out yet.