803S...Wow!

[worldys]

Just hooked up a pair of 803S as fronts in my home theater. I got them used so they were already broken in and wow do they sound good. I usually don't get too excited about the home theater because music is really what gets me going and I listen to that in my much better 2 channel system downstairs. But I caught myself going through some of my favorite CDs upstairs this time. The 803S really sound super for their size and price. What an excellent value.

[Guy]

Just hooked up a pair of 803S as fronts in my home theater. I got them used so they were already broken in and wow do they sound good. I usually don't get too excited about the home theater because music is really what gets me going and I listen to that in my much better 2 channel system downstairs. But I caught myself going through some of my favorite CDs upstairs this time. The 803S really sound super for their size and price. What an excellent value.

What does your 2 channel system consist of?

[jack667]

Yeah, I was just about to ask the same..

[Briz vegas]

One of the great unanswered questions of our time !

[worldys]

don't mean to offend anyone since this is a b&w forum but no b&w downstairs, i had n802s for a while and auditioned a pair of 802D but ended up getting wilson w.p. 7 instead (it is funny how things are relative, my wife used to groan about the n802 in our living room but with the ugly wp here, she keeps asking me to go back to the nautilus), other gear is a krell AVS pre-amp (so i can use the on-board dac with my 400 disk transport for convenience, and 2 krell fpb-200 that i use biamped, for sit down listening i use a krell kav300 cdp

it is definitely a bright system (especially since i don't have good room treatment) but i like bright and don't play loud so listener fatique is rarely an issue

i am not saying i like the 803S over my system downstairs, just that they sound really good for being small pretty speakers that are relatively affordable, and i was surprised to find myself grinning like a fool, lounging on my sofa upstairs yesterday listening to music on the 803s

cheers

[Briz vegas]

We had an audio club meet a month or two ago where the house system was WP7s on Plinius amplification and an Ayre universal. I went home to my relatively modest 804s and still found plenty to like - and that was before I stepped up to the CJ CA200 (I was using CJ's PV14Ls2 pre and on old old Nakamichi for power). Just as there are more than one great venue and different pianos guitars etc etc, I think there is room for many different flavours to hifi that can be equally fun to listen, sometimes for different reasons.

You are in the fortunate position of being able to choose between more than one great system. Enjoy :T

[Mbathi]

B & W 803s

Hi

My B & W 803s are hooked up via a Vincent biwire cable to a Valve Audio Predator, which is in turn sourcing signal from a lyngdorf cd.1 using a van den hul the orchid.

I love the detail and spaciousness of the the sound - it is also all enveloping, as if there are speakers everywhere. I suppose this is the joy of stereo.

But does anyone think I could improve on this system and if so how? :M

[Briz vegas]

Hi

My B & W 803s are hooked up via a Vincent biwire cable to a Valve Audio Predator, which is in turn sourcing signal from a lyngdorf cd.1 using a van den hul the orchid.

I love the detail and spaciousness of the the sound - it is also all enveloping, as if there are speakers everywhere. I suppose this is the joy of stereo.

But does anyone think I could improve on this system and if so how? :M

Nup! Sounds like you are in audio nirvana - just buy some more music :T

[eljr]

don't mean to offend anyone since this is a b&w forum but no b&w downstairs, i had n802s for a while and auditioned a pair of 802D but ended up getting wilson w.p. 7 instead (it is funny how things are relative, my wife used to groan about the n802 in our living room but with the ugly wp here, she keeps asking me to go back to the nautilus), other gear is a krell AVS pre-amp (so i can use the on-board dac with my 400 disk transport for convenience, and 2 krell fpb-200 that i use biamped, for sit down listening i use a krell kav300 cdp

it is definitely a bright system (especially since i don't have good room treatment) but i like bright and don't play loud so listener fatique is rarely an issue

i am not saying i like the 803S over my system downstairs, just that they sound really good for being small pretty speakers that are relatively affordable, and i was surprised to find myself grinning like a fool, lounging on my sofa upstairs yesterday listening to music on the 803s

cheers

The Watt Puppies are twice the price of the 802d's. That being said I am curious as to why the jump? The Sophia would seem to have been the Wilson counter. Any info you can share about your decision would be appreciated as I am strongly considering an upgrade from either the B&W or Wilson family. Thanks in advance, eljr.

[worldys]

The Watt Puppies are twice the price of the 802d's. That being said I am curious as to why the jump? The Sophia would seem to have been the Wilson counter. Any info you can share about your decision would be appreciated as I am strongly considering an upgrade from either the B&W or Wilson family. Thanks in advance, eljr.

i went for the WP7 from the 802 because the wilson's sounded cleaner and more accurate to me with lower, tighter bass (the 802 were a bit muddy in my room although i loved their midrange), i have gone back to B&W though, mostly because my wife preferred the looks, plus i have high hopes for the 800D which are being delivered in January

[eljr]

i went for the WP7 from the 802 because the wilson's sounded cleaner and more accurate to me with lower, tighter bass (the 802 were a bit muddy in my room although i loved their midrange), i have gone back to B&W though, mostly because my wife preferred the looks, plus i have high hopes for the 800D which are being delivered in January

Please post your review of the 800d's when you have a chance. What will power them? I understand they do not require as much power as the 803d's for example.Never considered the Sophia's? Thanks

[Pedro]

hey Eljr, now you got me curious: You consider that the 803D's need more power then 800D's??

[RebelMan]

i went for the WP7 from the 802 because the wilson's sounded cleaner and more accurate to me with lower, tighter bass (the 802 were a bit muddy in my room although i loved their midrange), i have gone back to B&W though, mostly because my wife preferred the looks, plus i have high hopes for the 800D which are being delivered in January

The WP7/8's strength is in its bass. The 800D will compare very favorably to the WP7/8 in this regard (much better than the 802D) plus you will get slightly more air and palpability in the midrange with the 800D than you did with the 802D. I am not a fan of Wilson Audio's aggressive presentation but of all their speakers that I have heard from the Grand Slamm on down I appreciated the WP7/8 the most and the 800D is more than a match for it IMO. I think you will be pleased with your decision when you take delivery of them in January. :T

[eljr]

hey Eljr, now you got me curious: You consider that the 803D's need more power then 800D's??

I am not a tech guy but from what I was told the 802 and 3 has low base issues which the the bass alignment and driver of the 800D does not. Hence easier to drive.

[DM3000 Owner]

The WP7/8's strength is in its bass. The 800D will compare very favorably to the WP7/8 in this regard (much better than the 802D) plus you will get slightly more air and palpability in the midrange with the 800D than you did with the 802D. I am not a fan of Wilson Audio's aggressive presentation but of all their speakers that I have heard from the Grand Slamm on down I appreciated the WP7/8 the most and the 800D is more than a match for it IMO. I think you will be pleased with your decision when you take delivery of them in January. :T

I'm glad to hear this. I have toyed with the idea of trying a paid of Wilsons but giving up my N801's is difficult. They just do so much so right and seem to get better the longer that I hav ethem. The only speaker that I have really seriously considered is the Signature 800 or maybe an N800. The 800D's are out of my price range.

[DM3000 Owner]

i went for the WP7 from the 802 because the wilson's sounded cleaner and more accurate to me with lower, tighter bass (the 802 were a bit muddy in my room although i loved their midrange), i have gone back to B&W though, mostly because my wife preferred the looks, plus i have high hopes for the 800D which are being delivered in January

Did you ever get the 800D's? We want a comparison to the WATT Puppy 7's. I'm still on the fence about WATT Puppy 7's or N800/Signature 800's.

[dan87951]

I had a set of N803's and always felt there were one of the sweet spots in B&W's lineup as long as you didn't have a huge room to fill. Very acurate tight sounding speakers. The 803S's are even better, the bass is so much more improved over the Nautilus series.

[worldys]

800d arrived! had only a few hours sleep last night getting a talk together, will post review of 800d once i catch up on some sleep, some cool photos for your pleasure until then

cheers

[ShadowZA]

Congratulations!

Beautiful! Look forward to your review.

Enjoy! :T

[dan87951]

Don't you flip B&W speakers on ebay all the time?

[DM3000 Owner]

800d arrived! had only a few hours sleep last night getting a talk together, will post review of 800d once i catch up on some sleep, some cool photos for your pleasure until then

cheers

Please review when you have time.

I currently have N801's that I am very satisfied with, especially after going to CES (although conditions there are always compromised).

I have an offer on my speakers and am considering upgrading. I probably shouldn't because I love the N801's, but you know how it goes.

I am considering the N800's, Sig 800's or Watt Puppy 6 or 7's. Any way that I go it will be an expensive upgrade.

I recently put my DM3000's into my main system. They actually sound amazing. They completely disappear and image very well. Pretty impressive for older speakers. I would say that they can be described as more "musical" than the N801's to the extent that they do not reveal the microdetails but still sound so good.

Here is the big difference, the N801's allow you to hear the space around each instrument, you can tell when a mic is turned on, or if a singer is in a separate booth. I really enjoy these details and am looking at the 800's or Wilsons for that reason. I have not heard the 7's but did hear the 8's at CES for short time. They sounded great but I don't know if they are worth the upgrade (and I cannot evaluate a speaker in such a short time). I should note that I use a DEQ2496 for room correction so minor differences in tonal balance will not be noticed.