B&W N800, 800D, 802D for my room 16x17x8

I have N800's and 802's, and they never sound and I quote "Flabby/slow/bloated maybe but never tight". I guess that individuals experience is way different than mine and perhaps did not have a good room or setup.

I have driven these with Mark Levinson, Bryston and ASR's, and bass was great and tight, but for me a lowly 140watt monoamp with 4 KT88's per side gives me the musical experience that I have yet to hear in any system outside of my own. I know, bragging and all of that, but the truth is, my wife and I both agree that we have yet to hear anything sound so natural as our system.

Do yourself a favor and if you are interested in a particular speaker, try them at home and set them up correctly, then make your selection, otherwise you are going to get a bunch of opinions, some with more experience than others and some based on stereotypes from only one listen in less than ideal listening conditions. Your amp choices should be tried with the speakers so that you can verify for yourself if the amps will harmonize with the speakers and your room.

The 800 series are a great speaker and they have brought us many hours and years of musical listening pleasure.
Ciao,
Audioquest4life

My room is 14'(front)X24'(deep) and use N802's and a 108" screen, There is 7'6" between them and sit about 10' back to the front row seating. I play both music and movies with excellent results. I also use stereo B&W ASW800 subs up front for just a little extra definition and authority but blended very naturaly. They are not needed but icing on the cake with the N802's. Best of luck with your results.

802 for sure IMO and you will be fine with them. Just be sure to give them a soiid strong solid state amp IMO to be sure you get the dynamics and response they are capable of. These amps are voiced with the use of Classe Solid State amps from what I understand and think B&W does better with SS. Thats not to say that good sound can't be done with B&W and tube gear. I just think it will be better with SS. Also my opinion is that you need to get as close to B&W max power rating.

"Tight deep base is important" and B&W speakers..an oxymoron,IMO..Flabby/slow/bloated maybe but never tight..Look in another direction

I did see your updated dimensions and still believe the 16' width (where the screen is placed)will not allow for proper spacing of the 800's.

If your screen is on the 20' side, I would definitely do the 800's, but with the 16' side, I love the 802's for this setup.

Longhornguy and everyone, have you seen my edition?

I hate myself for putting wrong dimension on the title.

So again, the correct dimension is 20.5' deep x 16' x wide x 8' high = http://sites.google.com/site/avcave/

I actually looked(not in person) at Vandersteen 5A, and think it seems to be very good value full range piece, but never had chance to listen, and wanted to go safe.

I also like the look of 802D the most(even over 800), but don't want to lose any bottom side.

I'm wondering the ideal room sizes for 800D and 802D

Maybe I'll check with B&W, too.

Ok fella's, I need to mention that this thread has been officially derailed.

Let's keep the posts pertinent to the original question.

As for my opinion, I think the 802D's will do magically in your room. It doesn't look like there would be enough room to handle the seperation distance required for proper staging of speakers as large as the 800's.

Also, with the introduction of the new 802 Diamonds, I think the 802D's have dropped signifcantly in price on the used market.

Audiofeil, isn't it ignorant to expect that anything posted here is a "universally accepted definition"? The vast majority of 'goners are reasonably intelligent and can appreciate the subjective and opinion based nature of each others posts. In trying to help each other, we offer advice and opinion. The concept of "musical" in the context of this thread was intended to be and was indeed positively helpful - in case you didn't notice.

>>02-19-10: Stringreen
Eandylee...another thing about Vandersteen speakers is they are musical<<

That's incredibly dumb as there is no universally accepted definition as to what is "musical".

I would get the 803D! they look awesome with the FST driver and 3 additional front woofers.

http://www.hometheatermag.com/floorloudspeakers/1005bw/#

It may sound typical with B&W but I have been listening to them since mid 90's because they "rock" & simply play everything great.

I still say 802N or D and spend the extra saved $$$ on other area's. I don't think we have talked about what you are using in the rest of your system unless I missed it. What is the rest like or are you starting from scratch?

I have owned every B&W speaker mentioned and then some. asuming no new version that I am not aware of, the 800d's are by far the best of the group! My room is a simmalar size and demention and the 800d's will work great in your room. My wife loved them, thought they were the best looking of any speaker i have owned and there have been many. I believe B&W gives you the most for your money. hope this helps. everyone has an opinion but it is only yours that truely matters. p.kogan

Eandylee...another thing about Vandersteen speakers is they are musical...no matter what kind you are interested in.

I pretty much listen all kinds of music Rock, Pop, New Age Jazz, Classic exept country music and traditional rap.

Stringeen, I agree completely. Of course, nobody has asked the obvious amp and music style questions which could narrow down or open up a lot of excellent options.

Why don't you at least give a listen to a Vandersteen product. They are easy to set up, pleasant to listen to, can be tailored to your room, fairly priced, etc. The cheaper ones are a bit ugly, but the top models are nice looking.

shit.. how can I change the title...

Thanks for the responses guys and girls.
Ok I made stupid mistake. I don't know where I got 17 but just measured it again and it's

20.5' deep x 16' x wide x 8' high.

It looks like this: http://sites.google.com/site/avcave

I never had full-full-range before. I currently have JM Labs 926s with REL sub, and actually listening Trifield wih Meridian.

I build the system with Music and hometherater hybrid in mind. I enjoyed it pretty good(although didn't have much time as I wanted to so far), but I think it now makes more sense to separte Music system and HT system.

Others I was considering were Wilson Watt Puff 7, one of the JM Labs BEs, Sonus Faber Cremona/Amati.

I was able to listen, B&W N800 and Sonus Faber Cremona.
I liked them both, but leaning toward one of the B&Ws for this time.

On paper your room dimensions look very bad. What has been your previous experience with full range speakers in this room?

I use 802N's in a 13 X 24 room with 300 watts, they are still a great value here in the used market. Your the room size itself could pose more of a problem because the two walls are equal length. Make sure the sound accoustics are in place first because without proper treatment any speaker will not perform to it's capabilities.

The 802D would be perfect for your size room, though I think it can also handle the 800D. I don't have much experience with the Nautilus series, but my understanding is that the Diamond tweeters were a marked improvement from the previous models.

Have you looked outside the B&W domain?

I've had both N and D in and the N is somewhat harder to drive on the low end. As far as is it worth it to pay the extra, that is a matter of opinion and could you use that extra to better something else. If you're willing to buy new they have a new series coming out that I would have to hear before getting the old. I had the 804N then the 802D and now have switched to Wilson. I really worry that your room isn't big enough for either of the choices but I would say you have to go with 802 with that room size and spend the $$ on making sure you have 300 to 500 watts of good power to drive them, not for loudness but control and stage is better when you have the juice on these speakers.