B&W 801 2or 3

I've also noticed the used price of M801's--not that much more that M802's. My theory is their relative low price is due to their huge, heavy size, & how much power they need. And it must be very difficult to ship them, which limits their resale. And the looks--well, IMO, most people wouldn't call them "sexy", at least, they're not sleek looking like the Nautilus Series. But I think you're right in considering them a great speaker, & a bargain used, if you can deal with the size & need for big amps. Based on what I know about B&W speakers--they need lots of SS power to sound their best. Like.....Bryston 7BST's, the larger Krells, or the like. I'm thinking, hold out for SIII's, but then I've never heard the SII's. One of my first "high end" listening experiences was hearing M801SIII's at a dealer fed with the most expensive Krell gear they had. It was pretty amazing, wish I could remember the models of Krell CDP, pre, & power amps they were using. I own M802SIII's, & I keep thinking that they're a speaker that can "do just about anything", when fed with enough power, & matched with really high quality components upstream. Good luck; hopefully you'll hear from people who own M801's as well.

I was a B&W dealer (hobby type) for several years and found the MK 1s and 2s easy to drive and that they sounded good with about everything. That said, I would think a high current amp of considerable size would work well. Some of the older Krells are showing up at reasonable prices. I was a Krell dealer also but not at the same time. I would avoid the KMA 100s as my pair blew up twice. I would also not use the Classe DR 9 as I think it's deficiencies would aggravate those of the 801. Have not used their later models. I think you will not be disappointed ; I have thought about picking up a pair myself, notwithstanding the fact that I have more now than I can manage. I would get stands for them if possible. Drop me a line if I can be any help. Stan

Having listened to many high end speakers over the last 30 years driven by various quality electronics, my ears prefer the B&W 801 matrix s.3 speakers driven by Krell's most powerful class A amps. I love big orchestral music and nothing I've heard has reproduced the weight of that music as well as the B&W/Krell combo. One improvement to the factory M801s I've really enjoyed is the addition of Northcreek external crossovers.

Steve, The 802's are nice, aren't they? I am loving mine. It is amazing how much power they crave though. It was tough to imagine, considering their relatively small size. I ended up going with an Innersound ESL 300 to supply the juice. It was designed for electrostats, and I feel as though any less power for the 802's would leave me high and dry. What do you drive them with?

I had owned a pair of B&W 801 series 2 and have just recently traded in for B&W n802. The matrix 801 is a great speaker that I have used for about 10 years. I have to slightly disagree with the comment that the classe dr9 are not a good match. With a single dr9- about 100wpc the sound as I recalled was ok. But at that time I purchased a 2nd dr9 and bridged it. The sound jumped a quantum level in that it woke the speaker up. There was a sense of drive and excitment that was not there with just one dr9. I also found that biwiring the speaker help improve the sound. Also I puchased the anodyne bass aligment filter which also improved the sound. If you have any other question please feel free to e-mail me. Albert