B & W 801 Prices

[Murf44]

Hello everyone, I have just discovered this forum. I am in Australia and am shattered by the Australian price for B&W 801s. Over A$30,000! That's US$22,000. Can anyone tell me if they are cheaper elsewhere - USA? Thanks.

[JürgenW]

Please specify; which 801's do you mean? From which serie?

[Murf44]

801 Nautilus 800 series. I realise that the latest is 801D. Either would be OK.

[misterdoggy]

Murf,

Check out http://www.audiogon.com for used and new B&W prices. They are cheaper in the USA, but the shipping.......

[RNKC]

Audiogon is a great place to get used high-end stuff. I've purchased a few items there and never had any problems. I agree with misterdoggy though - shipping to Oz could be breathtaking. Still you can always surf into FedEx.com / ups.com and figure out the shipping to see if it's within reasonable reach.

[Loner]

Hello everyone, I have just discovered this forum. I am in Australia and am shattered by the Australian price for B&W 801s. Over A$30,000! That's US$22,000. Can anyone tell me if they are cheaper elsewhere - USA? Thanks.

I believe the 801D's are $16,000 (new) for one pair here in the US.

[Jmac]

Greetings

I too am in Australia, and I'm equally dismayed by the prices being asked for the 800 series. Even allowing for the bad exchange rate between the Australian dollar and the English pound, like most UK sourced kit, the prices by the time they reach here with shipping, import duty (10%), luxury goods tax (21%), GST (10%), plus the wholesalers and dealer markups, and you're looking at VERY expensive goods.

If you look on the B&W website/Australia, and note the prices, I nearly fell of my chair to note that the latest 802D's are AU$44,000.00, and the 801D's AU$60,000.00!!!!. Yes, not a typo, but sixty thousand dollars for a pair! Eeek!

OK, heheh, putting the money aside, yes, I'd love a pair, but those prices are pretty much in millionaire territory IMHO, for folks on an otherwise good income.

I'm very keen on re-entering the B&W fold again with some matching speakers all round for my digital amp, for a combined multi-channel/2 channel music/HT system, but am hoping I will be happy soundwise with 703s - at $5,600.00 a pair.

It is a jump to $10,000.00 a pair for 805s, and $16,000.00 a pair for 804s; so even the 'entry' level 800 series are already right up at the top level of what most folks on a good income and love of HiFi/music would be prepared to pay IMHO. Excellent they may be, but why 800 Series B&W speakers are relatively so much more expensive than in other markets is beyond me. Maybe just the small volumes being sold? Any other Australians here who may have some 'inside' knowledge? Aussie Geoff?

Best Regards

John...

[Murf44]

John,

I understood that the 805 speakers were/are A$4,500 a pair in Australia. I bought mine about 18 months ago when I was living in Hong Kong for the equivalent of A$2,900. The shipping cost by sea was not very much through a professional shipper but air freight would be staggering, especially for large speakers. I recently priced a pair if 800s (new from B&W dealer)by phone from HK at A$32,000. I thought it was a lot but now I know it is cheap, er, cheapish. There is a great B&W dealer in HK (Central)who has all of the top range speakers on display for test. uses the best amps and cables also. Very helpful and does the standard maximum discount of 15%. Also delivers locally free. Search B&W Hong Kong and look for the dealer in Central. Speaks excellent English.

[Jmac]

Greetings.

Today, was Christmas!

I have to correct my earlier comments re pricing, not because I was in error per se, but for whatever unknown reason, when one goes to bwspeakers.com, and then links to the australian 'site', and goes through the models, where prices are clearly stated as per item, i.e. not a pair, it appears the site is in error, as a visit today to my B&W 800 series dealer, Tivoli HiFi revealed the B&W website mistake, with an online visit to the wholesaler, plus of course the retailers price list, and the prices are for PAIRS! Yippee!

This means my favourite speaker brand, and now model range (800 Series) are within range. Prices quoted were A$5k for the 805, A$8k for the 804s, A$11k for the 803s, A$15k for the 803D, and A$22k for the 802D!

Well, I'm in no position (yet!) to go that far up the line, but at least 804s, or perhaps 803s look a possibility.

Heheh, just had to post the correction; best HiFi news I've had in quite a while!

Best Regards

John.. :T