B&W 802D3 Owners Club

[SMC23]

Originally Posted by Patrick Butler

Hi Iostream,

802D3 and 803D3 converge at roughly the same distance, which is about 9'6". At that point and beyond, everything is converged.

Regards,

Patrick
B&W Group North America

Not sure what this means exactly, but should one's listening seat be at least 9'6" from the front baffle to achieve the ideal convergence of all drivers?

[Patrick Butler]

Hi SMC23,

Since there are multiple drive units spread out over the baffle, you need to be a certain distance away for all of the drivers to align/converge. 9'6" is the minimum distance for complete alignment (anything past that distance is fine.)

The reality is that you can listen a bit closer and will probably not notice any issues, and most customers psychologically get a bit uncomfortable listening much closer when you are staring at a larger speaker.

Best,

Patrick
B&W Group North America

Originally Posted by SMC23

Not sure what this means exactly, but should one's listening seat be at least 9'6" from the front baffle to achieve the ideal convergence of all drivers?

[crwilli]

Originally Posted by Patrick Butler

Hi SMC23, Since there are multiple drive units spread out over the baffle, you need to be a certain distance away for all of the drivers to align/converge. 9'6" is the minimum distance for complete alignment (anything past that distance is fine.) The reality is that you can listen a bit closer and will probably not notice any issues, and most customers psychologically get a bit uncomfortable listening much closer when you are staring at a larger speaker. Best, Patrick B&W Group North America

Curiosity - what dictates the 9' 6" distance?

[rghanbari]

I'm guessing it is related to the angular resolution of the human ear. Because the drivers are separated in space, how far away do you need to be for your ear to no longer distinguish them?

9.5'is roughly 10 degrees for drivers separated by 20" center to center. Human hearing localization is frequency dependent, but that is below most of what I've seen, so it would cover most everyone

Like all things audio, it is in the ear of the beholder. With a single speaker, close your eyes. Do you hear three different point sources (in space) or does the sound appear to be coming from a single point?

As soon as you're far enough away for it to sound like a single point, the drivers have converged (for you). There should be a lot of variation in this distance for different people. I wouldn't be measuring this distance to the millimeter.

Of source, stereo imaging (sound stage) it a LOT more precise. That is about phase coherence between the two speakers. Even small changes can have a big impact.

All that being said, I haven't taken any acoustic classes since college, so take with a grain of salt

[crwilli]

Thank you!

[SMC23]

Originally Posted by Patrick Butler

Hi SMC23,

Since there are multiple drive units spread out over the baffle, you need to be a certain distance away for all of the drivers to align/converge. 9'6" is the minimum distance for complete alignment (anything past that distance is fine.)

The reality is that you can listen a bit closer and will probably not notice any issues, and most customers psychologically get a bit uncomfortable listening much closer when you are staring at a larger speaker.

Best,

Patrick
B&W Group North America

Thanks for clarifying for me. When I eventually move the 802D3 to a dedicated room I will keep this in mind.

[BWLover]

So if the 803D3 is as good as the 802D2, is there any point in buying 803D3's?

Bowers & Wilkins 683 Speakers Rotel RB-1090 2 Channel Amp Rotel RC-1082 Stereo Pre Amp Rotel RCD-1072 CD Player Pro-Ject Debut Carbon w/ Ortofon 2M Red (sitting on a piece of slate supported by 3 "solid tech feet of silence" isolation feet) Rotel RLC-1040 Power Conditioner Shynyata Research SR-Z1 Power Outlet & Venom 3 Power Cords x 4 Tara Labs RSC Vector 1 Speaker Cables & Interconnects Primacoustic Room Treatments

[rghanbari]

Originally Posted by BWLover

So if the 803D3 is as good as the 802D2, is there any point in buying 803D3's?

I was on the fence between the 802 and 803. In the end, I went with the 802 because I was moving into a house with a larger room, and I wanted to make sure the speakers had the headroom for the new space. So far, the 802d3s have been an absolute joy (effortless)

I thought the aesthetics of the 803s were a tad bit nicer. In my head to head audition, the 802s had slightly better bass, and were a bit more effortless across the board. However, I was hard pressed to hear a notable difference except in the most demanding sequences.

I don't think you can go wrong with either

[BWLover]

Originally Posted by rghanbari

I was on the fence between the 802 and 803. In the end, I went with the 802 because I was moving into a house with a larger room, and I wanted to make sure the speakers had the headroom for the new space. So far, the 802d3s have been an absolute joy (effortless) I thought the aesthetics of the 803s were a tad bit nicer. In my head to head audition, the 802s had slightly better bass, and were a bit more effortless across the board. However, I was hard pressed to hear a notable difference except in the most demanding sequences. I don't think you can go wrong with either

Are you talking about the 802D2 or D3?

Bowers & Wilkins 683 Speakers Rotel RB-1090 2 Channel Amp Rotel RC-1082 Stereo Pre Amp Rotel RCD-1072 CD Player Pro-Ject Debut Carbon w/ Ortofon 2M Red (sitting on a piece of slate supported by 3 "solid tech feet of silence" isolation feet) Rotel RLC-1040 Power Conditioner Shynyata Research SR-Z1 Power Outlet & Venom 3 Power Cords x 4 Tara Labs RSC Vector 1 Speaker Cables & Interconnects Primacoustic Room Treatments

[rghanbari]

My apologies! I missed that you were asking about 803d3 vs 802d2. I was talking about 802d3 vs 803d3 (which I thought were damn close to each other...very subtle differences, and not clear to me why B&W had both in their lineup)

To your original question, I found the mids and bass much tighter and more natural in 803d3 (and 802d3) than the 802d2. I thought the 802d2 had deeper bass extension than the 803d3, but I preferred the musicality of the 803d3.

If I owned the 802d2s, I'm not sure the difference would be worth the price of the upgrade (always a tough decision at these price points), but for me, going 803d3 (or 802d3) new vs buying used or floor model 802d2s was a no brainer. Very very happy I went with the d3.