I own a B3 and compared it to the I think it was the q405. The B series is ported verses the Q series which is a closed box. They sounded very similar until you hit the lowest of notes and thats where the B3 came though better. The dealer had a song called skates that had some very very low notes on and yes the b3 did 'break up' in 2 parts of the passage but the other closed sub broke up 5 different places in the passage. I didnt compare it to the B1 but my dealer said the B1 would have handled it. I didnt have the cash for the B1 (actually I pushed my spending limit a couple of hundred over but not the 1000 difference).
My room is 22 X 12 with uneven ceilings too. I've read where bass notes are non-directional so you can put the sub anywhere but that is not totally true. I really wish I had 2 subs (maybe someday) but 3 for your room I would say is severe overkill. 2 in the front sound be great for your speakers. My speakers are Cyrus 782 monitors with a freq resp of 70 - 20khz +/- 1.5 db -6bd at 50hz so I really needed a sub. The REL does blend in very well when set up properly. It took me about 6 months to get it just right for my room. One thing I did fight for about 2 1/2 moths was cable length. The REL came with a 35' cable and my speaker cables are 10'. I cur the REL cable in half thinking it was only 30' but it still was not quite right. Then when I cut it to 10' everything sounded fantastic.
So like Pdreher mentioned the R series is more of a home theater sub where the B series is more musical. Personally I think the B series is better and should work as well in a HT setup. That way if you just want to listen to just music I think you would be happier. Most people when watching a movie are paying a lot more attention to the movie than the audio portion.
Last the B&W 802D's are great speakers and you may really may not even need a sub (unless you need the walls to shake). I would see if you could demo 1 B1 just to see if you can justify the cost of the sub(s). I would place the demo as close to the center speaker as possible as where mine is to the left of the left channel and I can hear slightly more bass from the left. I have no room in the center of the listening area but for me I think that would be more ideal and less expensive than 2 subs because bass is somewhat (not totally) omni directional.
My room is 22 X 12 with uneven ceilings too. I've read where bass notes are non-directional so you can put the sub anywhere but that is not totally true. I really wish I had 2 subs (maybe someday) but 3 for your room I would say is severe overkill. 2 in the front sound be great for your speakers. My speakers are Cyrus 782 monitors with a freq resp of 70 - 20khz +/- 1.5 db -6bd at 50hz so I really needed a sub. The REL does blend in very well when set up properly. It took me about 6 months to get it just right for my room. One thing I did fight for about 2 1/2 moths was cable length. The REL came with a 35' cable and my speaker cables are 10'. I cur the REL cable in half thinking it was only 30' but it still was not quite right. Then when I cut it to 10' everything sounded fantastic.
So like Pdreher mentioned the R series is more of a home theater sub where the B series is more musical. Personally I think the B series is better and should work as well in a HT setup. That way if you just want to listen to just music I think you would be happier. Most people when watching a movie are paying a lot more attention to the movie than the audio portion.
Last the B&W 802D's are great speakers and you may really may not even need a sub (unless you need the walls to shake). I would see if you could demo 1 B1 just to see if you can justify the cost of the sub(s). I would place the demo as close to the center speaker as possible as where mine is to the left of the left channel and I can hear slightly more bass from the left. I have no room in the center of the listening area but for me I think that would be more ideal and less expensive than 2 subs because bass is somewhat (not totally) omni directional.