HELP B&W 802D or Revel Ultima Salon2

Nab, are you going to sell the 802 diamonds?

P59, glad you are enjoying the Revels. I've heard them and think they are great. May wind up getting a used pair of them myself soon (checking out a few different options, including Genesis 5.3). Anyway, As when this thread originally appeared, I still dont understand why the comparison is with the 802D and not the 800D? The 802D lines up pricewise with the Revel Studio2, not the Salon2. If one is looking at the Sasha and the Salon2, then the 800D is the natural competition (and actually cheaper than the Sasha). As good as the 802D is, I would certainly expect that it couldn't really compete with good speakers 50% more expensive. Why didnt you listen to the 800D?

A contrarian viewpoint to the consensus here. So I am a B&W fanboy, but as I stated earlier in this thread, I was really impressed with the Salon 2 in several reasonably long dealer sessions.

Well, lo and behold, a good deal came up on a used pair and I jumped on it impulsively. Have had them in my house for 3 weeks and...I don't really care for them.

Although I readily admit that the neutrality, accuracy, and coherence is there in spades, and the imaging and distinction btwn instruments is absolutely amazing, they don't move me. Vocals are ever so slightly recessed, and there is no "life" to them. They are quite unforgiving of even average recordings (forget poor ones), which greatly limits listening options. The bass is really good only on good recordings, but they can't seem to pull out the lower mids and bass on average CDs.

The most interesting but frustrating part of the experience is that they seem to sometimes deconstruct a song into it's musical parts: vocals, distinct instruments, leaving an uninvolving collection of distinct sounds (clear and neutral as they can be). While sometimes I am absolutely amazed at the imaging or clarity, I more often find that I'm easily distracted instead of immersed and toe tapping.

I have come to the conclusion that, great as they are, I may just prefer a fuller, warmer more forward sound. Maybe that means I like a more colored sound or the "BBC midbass hump", which I know is audiophile heresy, but so be it. It's what I like. Just my two cents.

Going to take a good hard listen to the 802Di and the Sonus Faber Elipsa.

Nab, I see your point on the 802 vs 800 if we are talking used. As for your in home audition, did you have the 802D or new 802 Diamond? New Diamond is supposed to be significantly better than previous 802D. I too am a B&W fanboy, but the Salon2 is one of the best I've ever heard, and certainly better than the 802D. No argument there.

Irv, thanls for the recommendation. I think thats a good investment and I will try it. I have listened with grills on and off. The adjustments simply increase/decrease tweeter and decrease bass for close to wall placement. My issue is low bass and midrange among other issues I mentioned in my previous post.

Sfstereo, with all due respect, I was simply offering my perspective here, and all suggestions and comments are welcome, even if similar suggestions were made elsewhere. Having said that, you are not wrong, I would prefer something more plug and play and not have to mess around so much with placement, room, etc. However, there may be no such animal if I want to play on this level. I appreciate Irv's suggestion, as the Dayton OmniMic is something I can buy to see if indeed these is a suckout issue, and then decide if/how I want to deal with it. For what it's worth, I have moved them around and improved the bass response significantly, but still have recessed vocals on some CDs (just listened again to Clapton Unplugged Layla cut and his voice was quite recessed), as well as the "deconstruct" issue I raised above.

Thanks Irv. Interesting how it played out for you. I got the Salon2 as a full range answer (and sold my JL F112 assuming it would be, ugh). If it's not, I'm happy to go the sub route, but probably don't need the Salon 2 as IMO it becomes overkill at that point (financial overkill as well,lol).

I did pick up the Velodyne Optimum 12 and played Adele's Rolling in the Deep, both with and without sub, and since the recording is goosed in the bass and boosted/close mic'ed on vocal, it sounded great without the sub and not much better with. It was after that that I decided to try the Clapton Unplugged recording and was once again disappointed with the recessed vocal. It's like a roller coaster, good song, bad song. I have no problem admitting I may like the "lesser" 802Di or even drop down to an 803Di and go back to a high-end sub or pair of subs.

I do look forward to playing with the OmniMic just to see what's going on.

Which Legacy Focus did you have: 20/20, HD, SE? I was really interested in both the Focus SE and the Whisper XD but nowhere to hear them. How did you like to Focus and how did it compare to others (even the salon)?

gandme, if you are in NYC/LI area, feel free to listen to my Salon 2's (and buy them if you'd like :)