What is a reasonable discount to expect?

[mpauline]

Yes I have done a search. Just looking for some updated info. Plus is there generally a higher or lower discount on the higher end speakers like the 802Di? I want to be fair to whatever dealer I choose but also want a decent price on a 802Di and HTM2Di combo.

Thanks,
Mark

[stuofsci02]

Going big time!!!! Awesome!!

[mpauline]

Going big time!!!! Awesome!!

Well that is not settled yet. Going to see John tomorrow with my 14 year old violinist daughter to blind test 804, 803 and 802Di's. She has perfect pitch so will be interesting to see which one she picks. We will have John switch them out and not knowing which is playing we will give them run of everything from Mozart to Pearl Jam :B

Will of course also listen to some movie tracks given that is what their primary purpose will be.

[Rod#S]

Yes I have done a search. Just looking for some updated info. Plus is there generally a higher or lower discount on the higher end speakers like the 802Di? I want to be fair to whatever dealer I choose but also want a decent price on a 802Di and HTM2Di combo.

Thanks,
Mark

If your relationship with your dealer is good I would say something along the lines of 10%-15% would be reasonable. When I got my 802 Diamonds and HTM2 Diamond this year there was no additional discount by getting say the 802's over the 803's and the 800's came with the same discount as everything else. Also getting 3 speakers and not just the pair of 802's didn't yield any further discount but I guess each person's relationship with their dealer is unique.

Out of curiosity, what is the size of your room and do you use a projector or a tv? The reason I ask if if your layout and room can accomodate it along wth your pocket book you should definitely consider 3 802's. If I didn't have a tv I would have went that route. I think the HTM2 Diamond is a great speaker but with the former HTM1D not being updated I think we lost the ideal center speaker for the 802 and 800.

It will be interesting to find out what your daughter hears between the 3 towers.

[mpauline]

If your relationship with your dealer is good I would say something along the lines of 10%-15% would be reasonable. When I got my 802 Diamonds and HTM2 Diamond this year there was no additional discount by getting say the 802's over the 803's and the 800's came with the same discount as everything else. Also getting 3 speakers and not just the pair of 802's didn't yield any further discount but I guess each person's relationship with their dealer is unique.

Out of curiosity, what is the size of your room and do you use a projector or a tv? The reason I ask if if your layout and room can accomodate it along wth your pocket book you should definitely consider 3 802's. If I didn't have a tv I would have went that route. I think the HTM2 Diamond is a great speaker but with the former HTM1D not being updated I think we lost the ideal center speaker for the 802 and 800.

It will be interesting to find out what your daughter hears between the 3 towers.

Room is narrow i.e. 11 feet. Room is a dedicated room in the basement so height is less than 8 feet. I am running a projector but would not be able to place another 802 in the middle. Plus if I go the 802 route I am going to have spent my maximum budget for speakers.

Definitely will be interesting to see which tower my daughter liked the most and if it matches my pick.

Thanks on the feedback about discount.

[Rod#S]

Room is narrow i.e. 11 feet. Room is a dedicated room in the basement so height is less than 8 feet. I am running a projector but would not be able to place another 802 in the middle. Plus if I go the 802 route I am going to have spent my maximum budget for speakers.

Definitely will be interesting to see which tower my daughter liked the most and if it matches my pick.

Thanks on the feedback about discount.

Yeah at 11 feet and less than 8 feet high with a projector in the room going for the HTM2 Diamond would be the right choice. These Diamond speakers are expensive no question. If you are financially prepared for the 802/HTM2 combo and say you and your daughter end up preferring the 803 for example then that's more or less the equivalent of the price of the HTM2 in savings

[dukester]

Well that is not settled yet. Going to see John tomorrow with my 14 year old violinist daughter to blind test 804, 803 and 802Di's. She has perfect pitch so will be interesting to see which one she picks. We will have John switch them out and not knowing which is playing we will give them run of everything from Mozart to Pearl Jam :B

Will of course also listen to some movie tracks given that is what their primary purpose will be.

I too am very interested to hear which she prefers...update soonest!

[wettou]

Well that is not settled yet. Going to see John tomorrow with my 14 year old violinist daughter to blind test 804, 803 and 802Di's. She has perfect pitch so will be interesting to see which one she picks. We will have John switch them out and not knowing which is playing we will give them run of everything from Mozart to Pearl Jam :B

Will of course also listen to some movie tracks given that is what their primary purpose will be.

Let us know what she prefers, I did the same with my son, piano and violin player 800Di won

[mpauline]

Let us know what she prefers, I did the same with my son, piano and violin player 800Di won

Will make sure she does not hear the 800Di :E

[madmac]

Well that is not settled yet. Going to see John tomorrow with my 14 year old violinist daughter to blind test 804, 803 and 802Di's. She has perfect pitch so will be interesting to see which one she picks. We will have John switch them out and not knowing which is playing we will give them run of everything from Mozart to Pearl Jam :B

Will of course also listen to some movie tracks given that is what their primary purpose will be.

I wouldn't listen to movie tracks to test speakers (A sub maybe!!). Simple, detailed, airy music like a good jazz recording should tell you what speaker you prefer. If a speaker sounds good with music......trust me, it's gonna' sound good with movies too!!. One amazing Jazz vocal CD I have that consistently impresses me every time I hear it is Patrica barber's "Nightclub". It's so well recorded she sounds like she's in the room with me!!. An absolute excellent recording!! :T

[scanido]

I used Adele, my wife's favorite Artist at the moment, and she was absolutely blown away and speechless listening to her songs on a pair of 804 Diamonds. This was when i was in the market to replace my 803S. We left that day with the 802 Diamonds ordered and to this day love them to death!

At the time there was a slight waiting list so we only got a modest 10% discount. Up here in Toronto, saving the tax is quite the discount already.

[stuofsci02]

Well that is not settled yet. Going to see John tomorrow with my 14 year old violinist daughter to blind test 804, 803 and 802Di's. She has perfect pitch so will be interesting to see which one she picks. We will have John switch them out and not knowing which is playing we will give them run of everything from Mozart to Pearl Jam :B

Will of course also listen to some movie tracks given that is what their primary purpose will be.

Mark,

In John's listening room there is no doubt in my mind that the 802Di will come out on top. I believe that room is 16' wide by 24' long with 10+ ft ceilings and is very well damped.

Good luck!

Stuart

[Skyblue]

I would be very sceptical if the 802s didnt win by a solid margin. Let us know what she thought!

[mpauline]

Very interesting and even more surprising end result. We both liked the 803Di more than the 802Di. While I would say that the 802Di has a more complex and detailed soundstage I found it not as forward a speaker as the 803Di. I actually prefer the somewhat more forward soundstage offered by the 803Di. It does not have the wonderful detail in the midrange offered by the 802Di but for me who will listen to more movie soundtracks than two channel it was a better decision. I could not really justify the extra cost. Would have been worth it to me if I listened to two channel even 50% of the time. The bass on the 803di is very tight and very fast responding when listening to rock music. The 802 was really impressive in the richness and colour of the bass. When listening to Diana Krall I thought she was in the room when listening to the 802Di's. However budget and application came into the picture for me and I am very happy to purchase the 803Di's. My daughter actually did not really like the high end of the 802Di's. I wonder if it was not because of the violin recordings that we listened to and the fact that the 802Di totally projected what was given to it?

[htsteve]

mpauline,

You did it the right way and came away with the answer. I have no doubt that they will work well for you.

What amp will you drive the 803Di's with? A powerful multichannel amp will work. A powerful stereo amp will definitely kick it up a notch.


Congratulations!

[mpauline]

mpauline,

You did it the right way and came away with the answer. I have no doubt that they will work well for you.

What amp will you drive the 803Di's with? A powerful multichannel amp will work. A powerful stereo amp will definitely kick it up a notch.


Congratulations!

Thank you. I really appreciated all the suggestions made by the members on this forum.

At this point I will drive them with a Rotel 1080 two channel amp. I realize that they will perform better if I change this however this will just have to wait until I have saved up some more money.

Definitely one thing that I have been convinced about is that the 802Di and 803Di reveal what you feed them whether it is really good or very bad. I listened to one Deutsche Gramophone recording yesterday which I have listened to many times on my past speakers and in my car. Wow could you ever tell the age of the recording when listening to it on the B&W's. Comparing it to the modern recording of Ann Sophie Mutter playing Mozart it was like night and day.

One other thing I found was that the 802Di's were about a draw for me when listening to violin music, were better than the 803Di's when listening to piano and female acoustic, and were not as good as the 803Di's when listening to rock like Pearl Jam. By logical extension I would presume that the 802Di's would also be better with jazz recordings.

[madmac]

Correct!! A really good speaker will shine and display everything that is good about a good recording. It will also however display everything that is bad about a bad one too!!.

[Rod#S]

Very interesting and even more surprising end result. We both liked the 803Di more than the 802Di. While I would say that the 802Di has a more complex and detailed soundstage I found it not as forward a speaker as the 803Di. I actually prefer the somewhat more forward soundstage offered by the 803Di. It does not have the wonderful detail in the midrange offered by the 802Di but for me who will listen to more movie soundtracks than two channel it was a better decision. I could not really justify the extra cost. Would have been worth it to me if I listened to two channel even 50% of the time. The bass on the 803di is very tight and very fast responding when listening to rock music. The 802 was really impressive in the richness and colour of the bass. When listening to Diana Krall I thought she was in the room when listening to the 802Di's. However budget and application came into the picture for me and I am very happy to purchase the 803Di's. My daughter actually did not really like the high end of the 802Di's. I wonder if it was not because of the violin recordings that we listened to and the fact that the 802Di totally projected what was given to it?

Sounds like you had a good time and it's always great when you can actually listen to all of the spekaers you are considering in the same room with the same equipment. I'm sure you will be even more blown away once you get them all home.

[RedWolf]

I would expect at least 20%. Play the shipping game to save the tax on top of that. Don't let a dealer tell you 10% is all they can do. Show you are willing to walk away and don't negotiate in front of other customers.

[Rod#S]

I would expect at least 20%. Play the shipping game to save the tax on top of that. Don't let a dealer tell you 10% is all they can do. Show you are willing to walk away and don't negotiate in front of other customers.

20%+, whoa, I would say that is an exception, most dealers in my area would laugh and say there's the door or come back when you find another local dealer that would either do that or come close and they would "consider" taking more off knowing you aren't going to find anyone. Maybe that's just the problem of living in a very small market with little competition where I am but that's the reality. For me I know I could probably get a better deal buying from a dealer in say Ontario or out West where the market is larger and more competitive for example but I also have to consider shipping and insurance across the country and that adds up quickly offsetting the lower price and all of the local dealers know this. Again, the problem of being in a small market.

The problem with showing you are willing to walk is be prepared to then go without the speakers you want or look like an idiot when you come crawling back and agree to their original price. Also in my area no one seems willing to give you a discount of say 10%-15% and then say yeah they'll also cover the tax, it would be a one or the other type thing unless there is some kind of store wide sale going on which I do see happen on occasion such as no taxes for the month of xxx etc. If the tax is being paid by the dealer then only a very small discount on top of that can be negoiated from my experience. I actually bought my Pioneer Kuro under such a store tax free sale back in '07.

I'll say this, if you live in an area where you continually get 20%+ on all of your HT purchases you are one fortunate individual and I am very envious ;x(

[Skyblue]

I'll say this, if you live in an area where you continually get 20%+ on all of your HT purchases you are one fortunate individual and I am very envious ;x(

I was under the impression that B&W disallows discounts alltogether. My dealer told me they could revoke his dealership if he did. That doesnt mean you cant get discounts on other products to make a fair combined discount, but the speakers were off limits...

[KRC]

I was in the same position when I bought my 703's in a large dealership in Toronto. No chance of any sort of discount, they did play with a few bucks to even out the numbers. Like Skyblue mentioned, they almost gave away speaker cables, interconnects and some other items to form a discount of sorts. But I am sure in the big picture, there was such a huge discount with the cable manufacturer that the dealer did not hurt on the transaction. Then I suppose it comes down to the individual salesman (maybe more senior and time with the store and given a little more leaway with loyal customers). Or maybe there is an art to finalizing the transaction! As mentioned above you can only play the "take it or leave it or I walk card" so often when dealers will just say "see ya". There are so many dealers in a given area, even a large city, that carry 15k plus speakers.

Kevin

[beden1]

I have purchased sets of B&W XT2, 703, 803D and 804D, an HTM2D, HTM4D and a couple of B&W subs, as well as Classe equipment from B&W dealers. The minimum discount before the recession starting in 2008 was 10% (12% the norm). After the recession started, I got a 20% discount if I traded in any used speakers or electronics.

There are numerous dealers doing this in different regions of the US (those of whom I will not name to protect the innocent.) I actually think these participating dealers got permission from the B&W Group to offer this discount program when B&W started selling some of their speakers through Best Buy. It was B&W's way of providing a peace offering to their long standing dealers.

[Skyblue]

I have purchased sets of B&W XT2, 703, 803D and 804D, an HTM2D, HTM4D and a couple of B&W subs, as well as Classe equipment from B&W dealers. The minimum discount before the recession starting in 2008 was 10% (12% the norm). After the recession started, I got a 20% discount if I traded in any used speakers or electronics.

There are numerous dealers doing this in different regions of the US (those of whom I will not name to protect the innocent.) I actually think these participating dealers got permission from the B&W Group to offer this discount program when B&W started selling some of their speakers through Best Buy. It was B&W's way of providing a peace offering to their long standing dealers.

Well, as far as I know, they have not extended that courtesy to Europe :/

[dan87951]

In all my years as a B&W customer I have never heard of anyone getting a 20% discount! Max was always 10% maybe 15% but never higher.

[madmac]

I find that the higher you go up the totem poll price wise in audio, video and musical instruments , the less room there is for negotiation. I believe in many cases that this policy is mandated by the manufacturers. They do not want their products to be perceived as 'cheapened' in any way. The retail price is mandated and it is what it is in most cases!. If the store breaks this rule, they can potentially lose the franchise for their products if caught.

In most cases, the best you can get is some cables and accessories thrown in!!.

[John22614]

I got my 804's and HTM4 new at a 20 percent discount a couple years ago from my local retailer and felt extremely fortunate to do so. Funny thing was.....I didn't even have to bargain....he just offered them at that price.

That was because the new diamond series was coming out, and they wanted to move the older S series. I was surprised to get such a deal because I felt the S series was becoming something of a rarity that would maintain its retail value in view of the huge price increase for the new diamond series. Anyway, I am extremely happy with the sweet, clear, life like sound and plan to keep them for a long, long time.

I haven't heard of any discounts for the new diamond series, but in today's economy ten percent wouldn't surprise me.