Any feedback on the new B&W 802D's

I auditioned the Wilson Sofia's and the B&W 802D's. At first I was very amazed by the Sofia's and was leaning toward buying them. However, the more I auditioned, and the more I compared the two, I came to the conclusion that the B&W is (IMHO) the better speaker. The Sofia's began to sound very bright...and sort of gimmicky. At first, I was lured into the bright sound of the Wilson's but after more and more listening they just didn't hold up (too bright). I had a chance to compare the B&W's side by side with the Sofia's at three different locations and with many types of music. In the end, I bought the B&W's and they are wonderful, especially with lots of clean power they love. To sum it up, the sofia's had a sound of their own (very bright and tight), the B&W's seem to simply reproduce exactly what was fed to them. They are great speakers and I am not sorry I chose them over the Sofia's...in fact, I feel I did my homework and worked my way through "initial" reactions and the political hype. You should buy what you like but give yourself time. A few years ago I would have bought the sofia's right away. I am glad that I spent the time and work to find, for me, what I believe is a speaker I can live with in my home for a good number of years.

I agree with Jppenn,

If I had taken my time and auditioned the Watt Puppy 7s more with other equipment, in particular Ayre equipment, I would have saved up and bought those instead of impulsively buying the 802Ds.

I love the 802D sound, it is very neutral and thus true to the recordings you play on them (also very revealing), but that same neutrality causes them to play a little flat and one dimensional, whereas the Wilson Audio Watt Puppy 7 has a deep 3 dimensional soundstage in comparison. The Watt puppy 7 is almost twice the price of the 802D though.

I did however look into trading the 802D up for a 800D, but I found I experienced the same problem with the 800D even though it had more detail and precision of image it still lacked dimensionality, and this was with it connected to an expensive Halcro amp and the expensive dCS stack. I have not tried the 802D or 800D connected to Ayre gear though, and perhaps that would make a difference, but I doubt it since Halcro is noted as having a very large 3 dimensional soundstage. This is why I am selling my 802D almost brand new and in mint condition, to put the money towards the Watt Pupp 7...

I have not tried the 802D or 800D connected to Ayre gear though...

If your going to purchase the Ayre gear no matter what, why not try them on the 802D's?