802d first impressions

[Ligald]

Hi,

I made a first listening test of the 802d (never heard before) powered by a Parasound amp (A21). The dealer told me that the specs of the amp match perfectly thee needs of the 802d and it is - in his opinion - a excellent combo.

I was impressed by the stereophonic capabilities of this setup; I really had the feeling that the sound comes from the center of the room, so impressed that I had to control by myself that there was no hidden central speaker activated .

The precision of the upper and midrange is amazing. The sound is clear, with a lot of details. It is very smooth and never aggressive; I never had any listening fatigue even after the 90 min intensive tests.

However I sometimes had the feeling that the sound "could not really escape" from the speakers and was lacking of life - especially for the basses The whole response was flat and I expected more dynamics. I don't think this is due to the Parasound A21 which is well known for its vivacity and capabilities to provide clean and powerful basses.

Unfortunately the dealer did not had other amps or speakers to make a comparison.This is may be due to my former home listening habits (I have a separated powered subwoofer to support my 2-way speakers and I used to accentuate the treebles)? My current home system becomes also less alive if the sound settings are bypassed!

Any comment about this?

[William]

...However I sometimes had the feeling that the sound "could not really escape" from the speakers and was lacking of life - especially for the basses The whole response was flat and I expected more dynamics. I don't think this is due to the Parasound A21 which is well known for its vivacity and capabilities to provide clean and powerful basses...

Could be attributed to room acoustics and/or comb filtering.

[sg2]

Hi William,

Youhave pinpointed the two main and amazing qualities of the 80xD :

- they create an amazing volume (in the geometric sense) of stereophonic sound, way larger and more coherent than most other speakers I've listened to,

- the midrange and highs are crystal clear, giving a feeling of high accuracy yet without fatigue.

Those speakers can be criticized for lack of some low mids (or upper bass), while they do have some bottom.

I'm speaking as the owner of 802D's (who auditioned all members of the family in various contexts).

Regards,
--
Stéphane

[dknightd]

Hi,
My current home system becomes also less alive if the sound settings are bypassed!

It could be the "sound settings" you are used to using change the sound somehow that makes music sound more dynamic?.

[beden1]

Need some more information, like what was the music source player and what pre-amp? I have extensively auditioned the 802Ds and the 800Ds at two different dealers during the past couple of years. One of the listening rooms is very flat, and really too dampened. In this room, the 800D Series speakers sounded lifeless. In the other dealer's listening room, they sounded wonderful on all counts - highs, mids and lows.

[KyaDawn]

Sounds like you are used to listening to music with a subwoofer, and like the added dynamic range on the bottom end. Perhaps you can see if the dealer can hook up one of the 800 series subs along with the 802Ds and see if you prefer this sound and if it adds "life" to the sound.

[Ligald]

Hi,

Thanks for your feedback. It is really interesting.

The pre-amp was also a Parsound from the Classic line and the CD player from Denon (all connected via unbalanced cables). In my final setup, I intend to skip the pre-amp and connect my audio source (Slimedevices Transporter) directly into the amp via balanced cables. The A21 provides variable input gain which will allow a good matching.

Stéphane you perfectly summarized my first impressions. However I heard many audiophiles saying that the first listening is sometimes not the most impressive and SHOULD NOT be impressive. The objective is not to have full power in the ears, but in contrary to be able to hear the finest details and the spatialization capabilities with a smooth and neutral rendering.

That exactly the feeling I had and I will, for sure, give the 802d another try. Because I love the look of these speakers and I dreamed of them and I cannot imagine buying other ones.

This makes a big change wrt my current configuration which is not well equilibrated and may seems more alive due to specific treeble and bass adjustments (and which results in some listening fatigue).

What kind of amp do you associate to the 802d? Has anyone some experience or feedback about the matching Parasound + 802d?

Thanks. Ligald

[sg2]

Hi William,

Don't listen to audiophiles

Joke aside, what I put up in my first post is not a first impression of any sort, I've been living with (and listening to) 80xD's since 2006.

Regards,
--
Stéphane

[William]

Hi William,

Don't listen to audiophiles ...

I don't, I listen to my ears. :lol:

[beden1]

Joke aside, what I put up in my first post is not a first impression of any sort, I've been living with (and listening to) 80xD's since 2006.

Regards,
--
Stéphane

I guess my comment with regards to why you felt this "joke" was worth posting in the first place is A.) You're 12 years old or under B.) you're French C.) All of the Above

Enjoy your 80xDs.