N801's????

[drakeyb]

Its upgrade time again!!! And as I have narrowed my speaker choices down to N802's and MartinLogan Prodigys, I was wondering....in this forum most people talk about the 800d and the 802d's.

There is very little mention of the 801's. I think I read hear that the 801's were the least selling speakers of the B&W brand. Seems to me when 802 owners look to upgrade, they jump to the 800d model with no mention of the 801's. I ask because I'm buying both speakers used and I found a pair of the 801's for about 800 bucks more than the n802's. Havent heard them either so I am looking for some input from anyone who has heard them side by side. All the speakers are in different locations so I cannot a/b them.
I like a lot of thump in my music. I listen to mostly Jazz..Patricia Barber, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke etc. Actually, I love my Kef 107's but as my taste in music progressed, my speakers didnt.

I know that I'm missing something.My system doesn't give me the same pleasure it used to. Sounds very thin and lifeless sometimes. I have a Sunfire 600x2 amp and Sunfire pre-amp. I also read somewhere that speakers make the biggest difference in a hi-fi system, so since I never changed speakers, this time I will.

To go off track a bit here...I changed amps and pre-amps twice..I went from carver to adcom to my Sunfire, and as far as I'm concerned they were lateral moves..didn't really hear any difference in sound. Speakers stayed the same. I also understand this equipment is mid-fi stuff. But I also thought at one time I couldn't improve my Cerwin-vegas either,and when I bought the kefs home..I thought. yup, big difference.


So I'm ready for another leap in sound like that one. I almost bought into the Krell hype of having deep controlled bass..but as I read the thread on amps having no sound... I think I will stay with my Sunfire, and since I cannot plug them into my system and test them against my Sunfire...dont want to spend 6g's(used) and prove myself right. Anyway, the Prodigys (Five for Fighting's the Riddle sounds wonderful on these) have a different sound than the B&w's. I could live with either. In a perfect world I wish I could listen to them all side by side but I do not have that luxury so any help would be greatly appreciated...Thanks....

[RNKC]

First off, paragraph breaks are free. Please! Use the "enter" key a bit and put a few line breaks in.

Having said that, if you can buy N801 for only $800 more than N802, I'd recommend the 801 assuming your room has enough volume for the larger speakers.

You also mention amps in your post, but I'm afraid that without the line breaks I found it too hard to read so I didn't bother. Having said that, the 801 will suck more power than the 802 so keep this in mind as you make your decision.

Good luck! Keep us posted on your choice!

[drakeyb]

done...

[DM3000 Owner]

done...

I don't know the price range that you are in but I will assume $5,000 for pre-owned N's, so we are talking about a 20% bump for the N801's. Probably not worth it, depends on the size of your room. I love my N801's and never regret buying them. I have a large room.

Many do hot like the looks of the 801's, so consider that if you are thinking of resale in the future.

Have you listened to both?

[chinets]

Listen to both, to make up your mind. I personally prefer the N801 over the N802 if you have a large room.
When it comes to the Diamond series ,I personally prefer the 802D over the 801D, but in the Nautilus series I would stick with the N801 for the money, and the fact that it will fill the room with a large stage sound, if you have that big room to enjoy it in!!
Good Luck!!
Cheers

LISTEN TO BOTH AND HAVE YOUR EARS DECIDE!!!!!!

[drakeyb]

The problem is I can't a/b them together as they are in seperate places, and my memory does not offer a fair comparison. They both sound great, as do the Prodigy's. My room size is about 20x17. I think I can get the 802's for about $5100 used and the 801's for $5700...I heard the 802's with Levinson gear and the 801's with Krell..don't know how fair the comparisons are but the 802's seem to have just as much bass and depth as the 801's.Same music but different room and different cdp, so there are a lot of variables, as with most things I guess. But I don't want to penny pinch and rob myself of and oppurtunity to own a great speaker...Thanks!!!!

[RNKC]

I can't comment directly on N801. My experience is N802 (mine) versus Matrix 801 (Dad's). Every time I go home, I'm always surprised (plesantly) by how good those old Matrix 801 still sound. Of course Nautilus is better and I'm sure Diamond is better still, but those old 801s do sound nice.

One thing I always notice is how much more bass the 801 seem to have. It's such a nice, controlled sound - just what one would expect from B&W. The mids and upper freqs are good too but not as good as Nautilus.

I would expect that N801 will sound subtly better than N802 particularly in the bass. The difference is probably not huge, but I would think it to be noticeable. For only $600, I'd go for it personally. Your room seems big enough to support N801.

I think it's fair to put it this way - you will not regret buying N801. But if you "settle" for N802, you'll get a very fine set of speakers but from time to time you will wonder about what might have been if you had just spent that extra $600 ...