No bass on B&W 800D2

@mgrif104 thanks for your reply. Yes, I’ve run them individually and confirmed they are in phase. The drivers all work. Speakers are cosmetically and mechanically in like new condition. 
 

they’re in the same spot as the 802s and since the cabinet geometry and location of the bass port are so similar I’m surprised the difference is so big. They just sound anemic in the main listening position without subs. 
 

while I partially made up for it by crossing my subs higher and dialing them up, they only fill in below 80 and I’m also noticing some lack of authority in the lower octaves of voices and instruments above 80hz that I cannot compensate for with subs. 
 

I think the amp is fine, it’s faired very well in reviews. They produce bass and are cleaner than the 802s, but sound pressure wise it feels like half of the bass output the 802s produced. Unfortunately I had to sell them before the 800s arrived, so I could not A/B test. 

Thanks everybody for reading this post. 
 

@joey_v yes, they are producing bass. Just not very much of it compared to the 802s. 

It’s possible I’m sitting in a null, but I’ve had my set up this way for six years and the 802s were located in the exact same position so how would I all of a sudden be sitting in a null?

based on all the reviews, I’ve read the 802s have a slight peak in the mid bass around 100 Hz but the difference I’m hearing feels greater than that. 
 

That’s why I was hoping I could hear from an owner who has experienced both the 802s and 800 in the same room to see if they had the same experience.

thanks all

@curiousjim thank you for the suggestion, I am bi-wiring so can rule that out as an issue. 

Thank you, @joey_v. 
 

these were supposed to be my endgame speakers, so I’m hoping it’s the room and that they’ll sound different when I have a dedicated listening space. 
 

to the folks who suggested REW - I had everything dialed in perfectly with my 802s but I don’t have a measurement file to compare to with the 802s playing alone. I do still have the summed response of everything playing together. 
 

I’ll measure the 800 next week while my family is out of town and I’ll have time. 

Thanks @ap1, there isn’t. I don’t think B&W ever made foam plugs for these as they would need to be the size of a sofa cushion ☺️ the port is massive. 
 

An advantage of down firing to the plinth is that the distance is always constant and they should be a little less sensitive to room placement. Still not sure why my 802s had so much more bass. 

Thank you, @davetheoilguy !! Funny that you have yours paired with SVS subs as well. I liked the sound of them better than the B&W sub i had before. 
 

I have a measurement mic and will measure with REW this week. Will post graphs here. 
 

do the woofers on your 800 move noticeably under load? Mine barely move while my subs are going nuts. I’m not expecting the same level of excursion on the 800, but more than nothing. 
 

Since the speakers are in the same spot as the 802 I guess it’s pretty close to an A/B test and I still doubt I’d all of a sudden be sitting in a null. Subs are in the same spot too. I am crossing them over higher and dialed them up by a few db and I’m still not happy with the level of bass I have compared to what the 802s produced. 

First of all I’d like to say thanks to all of you for chiming in and trying to help, I really appreciate every response.

@audphile1 the same is generally said about the 802Ds I had before, and they sounded the same powered by my Denon 4520 as they did powered by the Classé.

I mostly listen around 75db and I sit in the near field, so I can’t imagine they’re drawing much more than 10W from the amp most of the time. The 802s had way more bass even when playing at very low levels so I really doubt it’s the amp. I’d surely love to test beefy mono amps, but I don’t have space in my room to add separates at the moment.

if I walk up to the room boundaries the 800 have plenty of bass, so it’s likely my MLP is inside a null - what I still don’t understand is how the 802s sounded so different in exactly the same speaker location given how similar their cabinets and overall geometry are.