802D2 vs 802D3... a lucky comparo

[joey_v]

I walked into one of the local shops and they actually had both the 802D3 and the 802D2 on the same wall, on the same amps.

So this required an impromptu comparison.

You may recall that I was able to compare the 803D3 to the 802D2 a while back and I posted my detailed thoughts in that thread.

This time, I was able to compare apples to apples.

Basically, without going into detail - I honestly thought the 802D3 is nearly the ideal transducer. The 802D2 has some fuzz/hash while the 802D3 sounded quite audibly more natural and more "analog" if that makes sense.

The palpability was better, the staging was better, things just popped out of the background.

Now, the 802D2 still sounded good, don't get me wrong.... but the 802D3 is truly a step up.

I did notice one thing... the 802D3 is about 2 inches taller... which puts the tweeter well above the ear height of average 37"... do you think this is partially why the new 802D3 sounds less bright and more natural??

[Pio]

Originally Posted by joey_v

Now, the 802D2 still sounded good, don't get me wrong.... but the 802D3 is truly a step up.

I did notice one thing... the 802D3 is about 2 inches taller... which puts the tweeter well above the ear height of average 37"... do you think this is partially why the new 802D3 sounds less bright and more natural??

The problem with the 802D2 is they are so dependent on being positioned perfectly. Thankfully the B&W spikes are great at angle adjustment, mine are angled perfectly to ear level and sound pretty good! When they were on the rollers the tweeters were too high for my listening seat and the balance was off.

Happy to see that B&W has made the spike system easier to use on the D3, to make it easier for the position to be properly dialed in.

[Lassej]

Originally Posted by Pio

The problem with the 802D2 is they are so dependent on being positioned perfectly. Thankfully the B&W spikes are great at angle adjustment, mine are angled perfectly to ear level and sound pretty good! When they were on the rollers the tweeters were too high for my listening seat and the balance was off.

Happy to see that B&W has made the spike system easier to use on the D3, to make it easier for the position to be properly dialed in.

I can only agree with you. I have the same experience with my 802 D2.
I am very interesting of the new D3 version but didn't have time to listen to them yet. And, I am not happy with the big increase of the prices for the new D3 series. For this kind of money there are lot of good competitors and I believe that if I am gonna upgrade my speakers it will not be B&W. I think that that price increase don't make sense.

[Pio]

Went and listened again to the 802D3, confirmed my previous impressions; they sound very good! To my ears the biggest difference is the bass. More slam and power vs the D2 but not bass heavy or muddy. Just incredibly strong and well balanced bass. Reminds me of when I was running dual subs with my 802's. It took me some time but I dialed them in nicely with an outboard crossover with a 24db / octave slope with a 65hz crossover sweet spot. The D3 sounds as strong and impactful but obviously with no subs

The bass of the D3 is reminiscent of Wilson Audio in terms of impact and articulation. That's a compliment, because I really dig how Wilson does bass - strong and powerful without going over the top.


I didn't hear a huge difference in the mid / highs. When B&W went from the N802 to the 802D the difference was much more noticeable. The previous Nautilus tweeter was too bright for my taste and made the speaker sound mega-phone-ish. After living with the N802 for some time, I was ready to move on but then the new Diamond tweeter version came on the scene and really made them sound sweet and detailed. With the D3, its nowhere near as dramatic. At least not to me.


Going back to the bass - I know everything below 300hz or so is highly dependent on the room, but some speakers just don't get it right period. On both occasions that I've heard the D3, they get it right. And then some.

Oh, and they are much better looking in person than in pictures.

[joey_v]

Originally Posted by Pio

Went and listened again to the 802D3, confirmed my previous impressions; they sound very good! To my ears the biggest difference is the bass. More slam and power vs the D2 but not bass heavy or muddy. Just incredibly strong and well balanced bass. Reminds me of when I was running dual subs with my 802's. It took me some time but I dialed them in nicely with an outboard crossover with a 24db / octave slope with a 65hz crossover sweet spot. The D3 sounds as strong and impactful but obviously with no subs

The bass of the D3 is reminiscent of Wilson Audio in terms of impact and articulation. That's a compliment, because I really dig how Wilson does bass - strong and powerful without going over the top.


I didn't hear a huge difference in the mid / highs. When B&W went from the N802 to the 802D the difference was much more noticeable. The previous Nautilus tweeter was too bright for my taste and made the speaker sound mega-phone-ish. After living with the N802 for some time, I was ready to move on but then the new Diamond tweeter version came on the scene and really made them sound sweet and detailed. With the D3, its nowhere near as dramatic. At least not to me.


Going back to the bass - I know everything below 300hz or so is highly dependent on the room, but some speakers just don't get it right period. On both occasions that I've heard the D3, they get it right. And then some.

Oh, and they are much better looking in person than in pictures.

Listen again, the highs and mids are more natural and less hashy on the D3. No comparison to our D2

Voicing is similar but the D2 are rougher and less cohesive. Etchy even

[Pio]

Originally Posted by joey_v

Listen again, the highs and mids are more natural and less hashy on the D3. No comparison to our D2

Voicing is similar but the D2 are rougher and less cohesive. Etchy even

Joey_v

I listened for that, but I just couldn't hear it or couldn't say "wow, big difference from the D2".

You were lucky to hear both versions side by side, same room, same amp, etc. So, integration and lack of edge would be a lot more apparent.

The store was empty last night, and the gent that assisted us was extremely nice and even left the room on several prolonged occasions, so I was able to spend close to an hour doing my best Robert Harley. So, I got a really good feel for the new versions sound.

I agree with your impression, the D3 is a step up. BUT, for me it's more apparent in the bass.

[rghanbari]

For me, the new continuum mids in the d3 were the unheralded star in my 802d2 vs 802d3 comparison. It felt like the continuum was doing more heavy lifting, letting the bass be more focused and precise. I found the overall balance between lows to mids to highs to be significantly better with the d3.

After a bit of reflection and inspection, I gave the credit to the new continuum driver and enclosure. What opened my eyes to it though was hearing the subtle difference between the 802d3 and 803d3. 802 has slightly bigger mid range, but the overall impact on balance was noticible. Once I hear that, I could really pinpoint the d2 vs d3 differences.

(Top shelf problem for B&W that the discussion is about which part of the new gen is most improved....congratulations to the engineers for a job very well done )

[Pio]

I wonder if the a lot of the differences in our impressions has to do with equipment and rooms.

Maybe I have had the luck in that the rooms I've listened have been on the smaller side, so the bass has been more prominent.

The D3's I heard last night were driven by McIntosh (think the guy said 350 w/chnl) dont know enough about Mac gear, but think it might be tube driven?

The previous (and very quick) 1st impression I had the D3s where driven by Classe gear.

[SMC23]

Besides the deeper and punchier bass, what was mentioned about the better mids is certainly true. I've had 802d2 since they came out for +5yrs and compared to the new 802d3, with the same equipment and room, the mids are indeed more detailed and offer more impact. It's not a night and day difference but noticeable if one were to listen back to back.

After more hours with my 802d3 the bass is what was a pleasant surprise.

[Art Vandelay]

Having now heard the 802D3 I'm of the view that 50% of the improvement in the mids (at least) is due to factor other than the continuum driver.

The bass is definitely cleaner and it sounds to me as though there's less harmonic distortion, so there's less veiling of the mids from the woofers themselves. In my view, the d2 series suffers from a very slight thickness in the lower mids which reduces the mid band resolution slightly.

The mid - treble balance is also better in the D3's, and the end effect is to allow the mids to be more expressive in the overall presentation.

The bass is definitely slightly cleaner than what I hear from my 800D2's too, although there's slightly less authority as you would expect with the smaller drivers and enclosure.