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How much room do B&W 802s need?

I've been thinking about a pair of B&W 802s to go along with my McIntosh 402 amp and C2200 pre amp. I had the chance to hear this combination at a local dealer the other day, and I was stunned by the way the 802s performed. I have actually heard them quite a few times before, but they never sounded so good! I don't think that I have ever heard them image so well, or produce such musical bass.

The issue is that my listening space is not that large - about 15' long and 12' wide. I have always set up the speakers on the long wall - current speakers (Totem Mani2 Sigs) are about 7' apart, and about 3' from the rear wall. My listening position is about 6' or so from the speakers. If i were to get a pair of 802s, the rear of the speaker would probably only be 18" to 24" from the wall.

Does anyone have experience with 802s set up in a similar size space? The considerable size of the speaker makes an at home audition impractical, so I am turning to you for your advice / experience. Let me know what you think. There are some pretty good deals out there on 802s right now, I would like to make up my mind in the next week or two. FYI - my musical tastes are varied, but I don't usually listen at loud volume levels. I listen to a lot of pop, rock, electronic, reggae, dub, jazz and down tempo music. No classical or country.

It might be helpful for you to take a look at my virtual system here on the 'gon, so you can see a little bit of what my set up looks like.

Thanks!
skuras
5 responses Add your response
tlday
137 posts
 
I have a room that is living room into dining room. If the living room ended at the dining room, my room dimensions would be similar to yours. I also have a doorway on the long wall at about 2 oclock. My 802s are on that ling wall. They are about 18 inches from the front wall and about 6 feet apart (all due to room limitations). I sit about 7 feet away.

I used to own 803s but upgraded a couple years ago because of the much larger sound stage of the 802s (and better midrange detail). I have not found the 802s to be very fussy about placement. Because of their large sound stage, they seem to be pretty flexible as to placement.
thorman
1,262 posts
 
I helped a freind buy a used system which consisted in a Krell intergated amp a Rega cd player and a pair of B&W 802/3 Matrix speakers in a room aprox 230 sq.ft.. Not a big room but average size for a listening room .. The system sounds very nice and doesn't seem to have any boundery problems..
They are set up very close to your parameters also about 2 feet from the rear wall... My guess is this should work fine......Have fun
bryanhod
211 posts
 
I have my N802 with M201 Roland in a room 12' deep by 18' wide. They are great speakers but I bet if my room size was 3' deeper they would really shine. I think you will be very happy with them even in this size room so I would not worry about that. I sit on my leather couch that is 6' away and there is great soundstage to them. And one of the best thing about these speakers is they have a great resale value. If you are going to buy them as demos, I would not pay more than $6500. Going resale is $5200 to $5500. The desireability is the dark cherry, then natural cherry, then black.
silvmoon
8 posts
 
You might want to send an email to B&W technical support. When I asked them, they recommended a minimum of 18' by 18' room. Since many other factors affect the sound (e.g. furnitures), this is by no means a defnite requirement, but I think you'll have to do extra work to control sound if you start off with a small room. Controlling base may be especially difficult if the room size is too small.
steveaudio
331 posts
 
I've had M802 S3's in my 12x16 ft. LR for several years now, & have really enjoyed them. I have them on the "short wall" however, about 2 ft. out from the wall, & 3 ft. apart. I've found using very high quality components with the 802's, & feeding them as much power as possible, to be critical, more than room size.
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