So to conclude the saga as many have asked me either through the forum, private messaging, or via text or phone calls.
I will preface by stating that the 800D3 is great speaker, definitely a head above the 802D3. When you compare the 2 in a/b fashion at the dealer, the 800D3 beats the 802D3 in several parameters:
1. Bass
2. Midrange Clarity
3. Imaging
That said, sometimes we forget to take into account that there are other factors to the sound - your room 1st and foremost. 2nd, your sonic preferences.
So let's address the elephant in the room....
THE ROOM:
The room has to be either large or significantly bass treated to survive the onslaught that is the 800D3. There is just no way around it. Those 10" woofers x4 is just thunderous. I've not had my chest thumped on the way the 800D3 did in my room with songs I am familiar with. Without bass treatment, the bass will overwhelm all but the largest rooms. I had thought my room was well treated, but when I brought in the 800D3, I noted that I had unruly bass response, it was as if the soundstage was devoid of form as the bass was just wiping out the sonic images.
Aside from bass control, the other issue is room lenght. The drivers on the 800D3 is more spread out vertically than on the 802/803D3, so while you might be able to get away with a 9.5ft distance to the speaker on the 802D3, I did not find that the case with the 800D3. The 800D3 requires further placement to coherently present the images. I could definitely tell an improvement in the images the further I sat back. This issue negated any imaging improvement I noted on the 800D3 at the dealer demos, without being able to sit further back to take advantage of it, this advantage was a moot point.
This was a double edged sword. The bass response of the 800D3 required it to be placed further INTO the room, while the spread out drivers required you to sit further OUT OF the room!
Basically, bottomline, you need a larger and longer room, in my experience.
SONIC PREFERENCE:
I learned, yet again, sonic preference may play a significant role in the compromises that plague all our sound systems, no matter how high end or ultra high end they might be. For me, I realized it was that I like listening at various volume levels but prefer to listen at realistic levels and LOW levels because of the other members of my family (wife and kids). If it's late at night, I listen low, low enough that no one would be bothered, but I still want the full sound stage to bloom and present itself in front of me. If it's in the daytime, I like to push the system, but at the same time, I don't want my wife knocking on the door asking me to turn it down because the bass is too loud.
Well... I found out the hard way.... the 800D3 with its copius bass reproduction was NEITHER of those. Yes, low level listening was present, but the bass was everpresent (not just in the room, but in the whole house). At mid-normal level listening, it was a nonstarter. The wife would let me know I'm listening too loud and bothering her.
That was the deal killer for me.
2nd, the midrange of the 800D3 is more transparent than then 802D3. No question, the dealer demos showed this to be true. Transparent can mean "brighter"... I was afraid of this when I heard this brightness show up during my dealer demos, but I was assured that since my equipment was better than the dealer's, that I would be safe at home.
Yes, that may be true, but you have to understand I was listening to the 802D3 at home for a year..... the 800D3 that came to my house to take over were still brighter (though not as bright as what I heard at the dealer). My fault for not putting 2 and 2 together.... if it's brighter than the 802D3 at the dealer, it will STILL be brighter than my accustomed 802D3 at my house. Duh.
SAGA CONCLUSION:
In the end, as good as the 800D3 was, as good as it was technically and as good as it wiped the floow with the 802D3 on my dealer auditions back to back and side to side... it was not the loudspeaker for me.
The 800D3 was taken back by my dealer and I got a brand new pair of 802D3 (they had sold my former 802D3 to another customer). The 802D3 have been delivered last week, it is nearly done breaking in for the past 5 days straight...
.... and I am back to being a happy camper. I have a warmer sound, I have plenty of bass without bothering my family, and I have stellar imaging.
You don't mess with perfection. Lesson learned.
Thanks for following my progress. It was a fun few months.