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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.