Good deal on new 800 series

[caleb]

My local retailer is making the following offer: -

Trade in a pair of 800 series speakers and get 50% off the price of the new serioes equivalent.

This means that the new 802D selling for R97,000 - give him your old 802's and pay R48,500.

I have decided to upgrade to 800D and the deal is New 800D selling for R156,000, trade in my old 802 and pay in R98,000.

It means that my old 802's are being traded in at R58,000.

How can you say no to that deal?

I am however intrigued as to why they are making such a good offer - are B&W having difficulty selling the new series on sufficient volumes??

Anyone care to give their opinion?

[PavelL]

I believe dollar is so weak now that a pair of Naut. 802 speakers that sold for 8500$ in 1999 should retail for a bit more than that in the year 2005. So B&W did not just raise the pricetag - they did make different drivers / and hence had to make changes to the crossover / and dropped the old very very successfull line altogether. If it was not purely for marketing reasons then WHY drop the old successfull line???? And the freq. response is now ±3dB on reference axis /original Naut. line was ±2dB/ Speaking of your dealer's offer - why not ask for a discount of 10-15 % and try to sell your speakers for almost their full retail price? Someone might be LOOKING for those speakers now that the new line is that much more expensive!

[jlee]

I believe dollar is so weak now that a pair of Naut. 802 speakers that sold for 8500$ in 1999 should retail for a bit more than that in the year 2005. So B&W did not just raise the pricetag - they did make different drivers / and hence had to make changes to the crossover / and dropped the old very very successfull line altogether. If it was not purely for marketing reasons then WHY drop the old successfull line???? And the freq. response is now ±3dB on reference axis /original Naut. line was ±2dB/ Speaking of your dealer's offer - why not ask for a discount of 10-15 % and try to sell your speakers for almost their full retail price? Someone might be LOOKING for those speakers now that the new line is that much more expensive!

You misunderstand the new specs. The new specs are +/- 3dB but go to the old -3dB points for most of the speakers (thereby remaining relatively unchanged). I suspect they still maintain the same or possibly better +/- 2dB specs as the old line, but for whatever reason, B&W chose to spec the new speakers using 3dB.... this is perhaps because the typical consumer doesn't understand how to properly interpret these specs and since most speaker manufacturers use a 3dB spec, it's possible B&W thought they would lose some sales to misinformed consumers thinking B&W speakers don't go as low into the bass as some cheaper brands.

[PavelL]

You misunderstand the new specs. The new specs are +/- 3dB but go to the old -3dB points for most of the speakers (thereby remaining relatively unchanged). I suspect they still maintain the same or possibly better +/- 2dB specs as the old line, but for whatever reason, B&W chose to spec the new speakers using 3dB.... this is perhaps because the typical consumer doesn't understand how to properly interpret these specs and since most speaker manufacturers use a 3dB spec, it's possible B&W thought they would lose some sales to misinformed consumers thinking B&W speakers don't go as low into the bass as some cheaper brands.

Hmm. I understand the specs of 25Hz - 20kHz ± 0.5dB of their reference "snail" Nautilus just fine. We are talking MARKETING once again. Speaking of other manufacturers's specs they sometimes ignore this figure altogether and simply say something like 40-20000 regardless of wether their 40 hz is audible or not. So lack of full information in most cases is misleading. You must have seen Revel Salon specs, have you not? As consumers we are often mislead into believing in whatever we ourselves choose to. You believe the new line is possibly better... Possibly not some would say... There is NO way of saying if it is true judging by the specs provided. I've read the new line's development paper and think that the new speakers must be slightly better. IMHO

[jlee]

Hmm. I understand the specs of 25Hz - 20kHz ± 0.5dB of their reference "snail" Nautilus just fine. We are talking MARKETING once again. Speaking of other manufacturers's specs they sometimes ignore this figure altogether and simply say something like 40-20000 regardless of wether their 40 hz is audible or not. So lack of full information in most cases is misleading. You must have seen Revel Salon specs, have you not? As consumers we are often mislead into believing in whatever we ourselves choose to. You believe the new line is possibly better... Possibly not some would say... There is NO way of saying if it is true judging by the specs provided. I've read the new line's development paper and think that the new speakers must be slightly better. IMHO

Just based on the specs alone, there is no way to tell, but given that the cabinet specs are more or less the same (except for heavier internal bracing) and the drivers are only slightly different, I would think that the freq. resp. would still be within the 2dB spec throughout the range as per the old line and for whatever reason B&W has just chosen to use the 3dB spec instead of the 2dB spec with a -3dB and -6dB rolloff spec. The main differences seem to be a bit higher roll off of the high freq. due to the better tweeter and slightly diff. harmonic distortion specs (some slightly better, some actually worse, but overall better) for the bass.

[misterdoggy]

Caleb,

Bravo on the upgrade. I would jump at the opportunity if I was you. I just got the 802D's and they are great !!!

The New 800 series have nothing to do at all with the old 800 series. They are even saying that the changes are so much that the new 802D's sound better than the old N800's. I have read 'several' reviews who agree on this point.

So 800D, forgetting the statistics, you are going to be one happy camper :T