Old school shootout: Snell A/III vs. Original B&W 801

I owned the A- III’s & really enjoyed them. I had a VPI turntable, Souther Linear Arm, Adcom Cross Coil cartridge, PS Audio preamp & then an Audible Illusions pre amp, Amber power amps& then a Conrad Johnson Premier Four power amp.

Then one day my brother brought over his Proac  EBS speakers ( their top of the line at that time & about the same price as the Snells) & I learned what midrange  clarity, top end extension & detailed imaging was all about!  They were the next level in those areas, just as dynamic but “faster” although did sacrifice the last half or so octave of bass to the Snells. They had the still famous & excellent today, ATC dome midrange, a new back then & very good Scanspeak tweeter & and ATC 10” woofer in a ported cabinet. Both speakers were very good & a bit different. Good times!! 

I heard the A II’s playing in a distant listenening room at a hi- fi shop many years ago and swore it was a Pianist playing a grand piano in one of the rooms.....As I walked back to the room , down the hallway , to experience the "live" performance" ...there were the Snells playing a Bruce Hornsby album on vinyl.....Wow. I couldn’t believe it. Never heard a piano sound like a real piano coming thru a speaker. Went back to the store a week later to purchase them and was told that they were sold. I couldn’t get those speakers out of my mind for the next 2 years....Was reading the classifieds in the local paper and saw an ad . Someone was selling a pair of A II’s....I called him and told him my story. He said the pair he has is the pair that I heard. He’s the guy that bought them....That’s how I got the Snells......Then moved to FL. and took those Big Bad Boys with me......Met a Doctor who also loved Hi-Fi...he just moved to the US. and had him over to listen to them......He called me two days later and said that he just ordered a pair for himself he liked them so much....I went to hear them when they came in and I was surprised he had hardly no furniture in his new place ...but the Snell’s were set up and playing beautiful music. That seemed more important to him than furniture. That's how good they are.....

this is a great thread…. @crustycoot that must have been the coolest radio show… !

As a very young audiophile, these speakers did bring out problems I'd be challenged with for the rest of my life, which is having the money, space and amplifiers to do them justice.

These were big speakers, and the bass was truly amplifier sensitive.  Affording the speakers, amp and living room at the same time would take me a very long time.

Something to be said for affordable, small footprint speakers which are amp friendly.