Still loving the 800D's

[musique]

Hi guys
I plan to buy a pair of B&W 800D or 800 Diamond for future home theatre. I currently have Marantz Ma9s2 + Sc7s2 to start with. Anyone can advise me 800D or 800 Diamond should i go with? What is actually difference between 800D and 800 diamond?
thks

[chessman]

musique, welcome aboard!

[Still-One]

musique
Welcome to AA

When B&W went from the D to the Diamond Series they made some significant changes to the crossover network and I think some small changes to drivers and connectors. I had a pair of 802D's at one time and enjoyed them very much. That said, I liked the newer 802 Series Diamonds better, but it wasn't night and day.

I would go for the Diamond Series if the cost is not an issue.

[allen_bh]

FWIW, I just sold a pair of Nautilus 802's to a Mastering Studio and the engineer I dealt with couldn't have said it better when I asked him why not just get the 802D's or Diamonds. He said, "...for twice as much, they just don't sound twice as good." I absolutely have to agree with him. Don't get me wrong, the new Diamonds sound better, but not twice as good. I'd save your money and get the D's or the N800's. If you've got money that's burning a hole in your pocket then consider changing your amps with the money you'll save.

[Rod#S]

I'll disagree with the last post, in my opinion you should get the best speakers you can afford then focus on the other stuff. I don't think he should be looking into the N series, choosing between the D1 and D2 should remain his focus as I'll assume he is considering those because he has heard diamond speakers from possibly both generations and liked what he heard. The N sries is going to be a different animal entirely so yes getting a 800N would save a chunk of money but it may not be the sound he is after.

Obviously if he goes with the 800D he is buying second hand so one can guess he would be just as open to a second hand 800 Diamond as well and the going price between the two on the used market is not all that much different really.

I think going with either of the diamond series over the older N series will make much more of an impact to the overall sound than any amp he could buy would. Just my opinion of course.

[skyblue]

I think the 800 diamonds are amazing. The end.

Of course I got a pair, and it took some time to get aqainted. But they just keep getting better and better. I can't say I have terribly much experience with other systems. I did hear a mcintosh system worh around $20.000 which I though sounded terrible. That being said, the b&w have sounded alot better at home than at the dealer. The mcintosh might too.

[allen_bh]

The 800's are awesome; I've heard the entire lineup from the N800's to the 800D's to the 800 Diamonds. I'm just saying that from what I heard, I didn't hear twice the performance for twice the money -- that's all.

That's the beauty of this forum, you'll get all kinds of viewpoints - but here's the one that matters the most: Your own.

[Masterlu]

musique... Welcome!

[redm]

Welcome Musique.

FWIW, the 800D's and the D2's, priced new and setting aside the resale market, weren't priced that far apart. I thought the D2's has some internal cabinet changes too.

Also, when your getting into higher end speakers, I think a linear increase in performance as opposed to cost is an unrealistic goal. If you buy a 40k speaker as opposed to a 20k speaker, its not going to sound 'twice as good'. A $20 speaker might sound 3x better then a $10 speaker though. Law of diminishing returns.

[skyblue]

Originally Posted by allen_bh

The 800's are awesome; I've heard the entire lineup from the N800's to the 800D's to the 800 Diamonds. I'm just saying that from what I heard, I didn't hear twice the performance for twice the money -- that's all.

That's the beauty of this forum, you'll get all kinds of viewpoints - but here's the one that matters the most: Your own.

Redm beat me to it. As he said, there are diminishing returns. The 800d2's arent 40% better than the 802d2's aven though they are priced as such. But they are better, and some people are prepared to pay for that.

A point in case, I see you have the Wilson Sashas. I have seen many people deciding whether they want the sashas or the 800s. I the US, they are priced similarly, but here in Denmark, the sashas are almost twice the price of the 800s. Are they twice as good? I doubt it. Different perhaps.

So pricing and other speakers are an underlying assumption as to whether one thinks of a speaker as good or bad. If it sounds good and costs $10.000, then its good. But if you can get a better speaker at $2.000 then its bad. The speaker hasn't changed. Just the comparison. Which may make the 800s a bargain here, and the sasha a bargain in the US. ?

I have not heard the 800N's sufficiently to tell the difference between those and the new ones. But they were pretty popular back then, so if you say that the new ones are not twice as good, well, then I'll take your word for it.