802D review will be in Stereophile-Soon

[js24]

Kal Rubinson acknowledged that he is auditioning a pair of 802D for a review right NOW
I guess it'll be out in a couple of months..

it'll be a very interesting bathroom reading :B

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5504707

look for the posts dated on April 20th

[EAmin]

Thanks for the post. Will be an interesting read, for sure. Especially interested to hear the differences between the 802D and his Revel Studios. Hopefully, it'll be out soon.

Question: Why is it that none of the magazine reviewers use B&W speakers in their reference systems? E.g., Kal using the Revels. Widescreen Review shows it's reference systems in the beginning pages of the magazine --- again no B&Ws. Many others. Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this.

[greggz]

My first guess would be that B&W doesnt cut them a good deal. :W I've seen a quite a few reviews of the 801's and 800's end with "...boy I really wish I could have kept the sample pair." Magazine journalist are no different than any other working stiff. Dropping $10,000 to $20,000 on a pair of speakers ain't pocket change.

Kal actually reviewed the Sig800s against his Revel's back in 2002. Though he described the Sig800's as a "better" choice for him as a reviewer (due to revealing transparencey, tonal-neutrality, and huge dynamic range) in the end he still preferred the warmth of the Revels. I think that really hits the nail on the head. Some want the most accurate reproduction possible and some want a speaker who's character matches how they like to hear music reproduced.

One last observation. Though B&W speakers may not be that prevalent among reviewers, my non-scientific observation is that B&W speakers seem to be quite popular among professional classical musicians.

[RebelMan]

Question: Why is it that none of the magazine reviewers use B&W speakers in their reference systems? ... Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this.

Actually, magazine reviewers do use B&W reference systems. Sound and Vision published an article in July 1999 about their new ($100,000) reference system that was using B&W's recently released Nautilus 800 series speakers. It included 2x803's (L/R), an HTM1 (C), 2x805's (LB/RB stand mounted) and an ASW3000 (LFE). They choose these speakers because of their impressive abilities when used with two-channel and multi-channel sources.

I recently ran across this article and just a few days after I bought my system, which is very similar. Needless to say, I was pretty happy to see that "my" speakers were used as the standard by which others would be judged. 8)