Opinions on old B&W's

I guess your question begs a question...are you bargain hunting or are you looking to buy your last pair of speakers for a while? The pair of B&W 802's for $500 is a fairly good deal if cabinets and drivers are in good shape. Will the seller let you try them out for a week? If not, can you listen to them at his place with your electronics/cables? Do they have the original cartons in case you want to sell them on Audiogon and have to ship them?
If these are to be your last speaker purchase for quite a while, keep looking. You can find better for a little bit more. There's a pair of brand new NHT ST4's on Audiogon for $750 that I think would kill the old pre matrix B&W 802's.

I owned a pair of 802 series 80 for 10 years. I always loved those speakers! I miss them and wish I had never got rid of them. For $500 I think you would be silly not to buy. Just make sure your amp is a good match. I used tubes (Sonic Frontiers) and Solid state (B& K) and got good results. I think newer speakers are more revealing but not more musical. Good luck.

I have a pair of 802 Matrix Series 2 speakers and have enjoyed them for 15 years. They are bi amped and mono blocked with Threshold SA1's. They do need a sub and sound as good as anything new I have heard today.

I have a pair of B&W Matrix 803 series 2, and I just love them, even compared to newer stuff, and I've listened to alot. They have air, a beautiful midrange, very musical, not nearly as analytical or harsh as many newer speakers. Would say older B&Ws are a good bargain.

have a pair of 801 series 80.. ( after a pair of vandersteen 2ci which are awesome can't see how someone would think they are ' dark' or 'never liked them'...)  listened to the 801's a bunch and kept upgrading until somewhat satisfied... had to re-cone both 12 inch woofers before i was fully satisfied with a big smile.. all caps replaced with solen.. removed ALL of the apc: ALL OF IT!  removed the 1000uf cap, upgraded all speaker wire & removed all the crap plugs, used silver coated copper and silver soder, replaced post with cardas.  they are 'good' now, but maybe looking into a pair of snell c/v soon....   always in search of...

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