I have lived with the B&W 303's for a long time now. At one time I actually owned three pair of them. (now down to 2) I bought them when my wife and I were in an apartment while waiting for our home to be built. At this time, I had heard my friend's B&W Nat. 805's mated with a Rel Strata III, and was intrigued by the sound. I never thought bookshelves with a sub could be so good, but his system really wowed me. Being that my budget was significantly more limited than his, I looked at the 303s and ultimately decided that for $300 I would take the plunge.
Out of the box they sound pretty sweet. Natural midrange, non-fatiguing highs, good imaging and decent low end for a speaker of this size. (100-150 hours of break-in helps things along)
My system at the time was both for two-channel and HT so I decided to ad a Rel Strata III to the mix and the 303's were even sweeter.
Since this time, I have moved into our home and set up a dedicated listening room that is strictly two-channel. Now, my first course of action when getting into the house was going to be the purchase of Vandersteen 2ce Sigs or 3A Sigs...but after landing a sweet deal on a pair of Rouge M-120 monoblocks and a Magnum 99 Pre, the 303's would have to stay even longer.
Obviously, the 303's are the "weak" link in my current system, but they in no way embarrass themselves. Job loss has forced me to delay my speaker upgrade for a while longer and it is honestly not that big of a deal for me. Once I do get my Steen's (hmmm...maybe Quattros now) the 303's will still be a part of my family as it moves into my bedroom system.
Oh, and most dealers will probably go down about $20-$30 on the price, making the 303's an even better deal.
