Has anyone made the leap from 802D3 to 800D3?

[ariess]

Originally Posted by joey_v

Good points. Question - how's the ref10 on the BW?

Unbelievably good. Holographic. More there than there.

[joey_v]

My friend has the 5se so I'm going to listen and compare and see what's up, maybe it'll give me a flavor of the 6/10

[GregGale]

Originally Posted by ariess

I think this is a simple way to think of whether you should make the switch or not.

The change in the midrange we can agree is very small (as it must be, its the same drivers, just a small reduction in distortion in the woofers which lowers the distortion that crosses into the midrange), at the level you could produce with cable change. For the ~$10k difference you will pay, you'd be better served with a cable upgrade, a component upgrade, vibration mitigation or power conditioner improvement. So I'd argue, if the only change between 802D3 and 800D3 was the midrange, it wouldn't make sense to upgrade from an 802D3.

So its all about the bass

The bass change is what's meaningfully different and where B&W put the extra money. Its not a change you could mimic with cables, components, or anything else. And I could believe for many audiophiles (music type dependent) it could be a game changer--after all, many people add a subwoofer to full range speakers to get that last bottom octave.

But there is a catch to the bass change--depending on your room you may realize the benefit of deeper and more powerful bass or you may actually suffer a *downgrade* in bass quality if it overpowers your room (as I found). I'd argue, its unlikely to be a wash, its most likely to be really better or really worse. If your room is big and you have freedom of placement, I am confident its going to be better. If you have a small room and/or inflexible placement options, its going to be worse. But, if you are somewhere in the middle, I think an audition in your room is critical.

Ariess, I noticed you had Vivid Audio Giya G2's and am wondering how the new B&W802 D3 compares sound quality wise. In reviews that I read about the Giya's they had outstanding bass quality and driver coherence versus others in their price class. Maybe this question should be posted on a different thread, but was curious.

[joey_v]

Originally Posted by GregGale

Ariess, I noticed you had Vivid Audio Giya G2's and am wondering how the new B&W802 D3 compares sound quality wise. In reviews that I read about the Giya's they had outstanding bass quality and driver coherence versus others in their price class. Maybe this question should be posted on a different thread, but was curious.

I didn't know he had giyas... I'd be interested too

[GregGale]

Joey didn't you also have or still have the Rockport Aviors? That was also a speaker on my bucket list to hear based on very strong reviews and comments seen on the forums. How would you compare the 802D3 to the Aviors?

[ariess]

Originally Posted by joey_v

I didn't know he had giyas... I'd be interested too

No giyas. Had them for a little while. Couldn't get the bass to work in my room.

[joey_v]

Originally Posted by ariess

No giyas. Had them for a little while. Couldn't get the bass to work in my room.

Wait, did you have g2? How does it compare otherwise?

[joey_v]

Originally Posted by GregGale

Joey didn't you also have or still have the Rockport Aviors? That was also a speaker on my bucket list to hear based on very strong reviews and comments seen on the forums. How would you compare the 802D3 to the Aviors?

I enjoyed the Aviors very much, but I enjoy the 802d3 more. I value clarity and I feel like the 802d3 does it in spades. The weakness might be that the Aviors hit harder and play louder.

However, caveat... The d3 are more difficult to get right in the room. I think that the baffleless design really wreaks havoc to first reflections along side walls and ceilings... Pulling the image in many different directions.

[joey_v]

Still have not decided between the 2... I am enjoying my 802D3 as they are... I do feel like maybe I could use more bass. No real way to answer other than just going with my gut.