is my room small for a pair of B&W 802's

Guinness,
You da man
thanks

It'll be fine. Mine are in a room 16 x 15 x 8 (drywall). It's carpeted and I use 4 Corner busters, 4 Echobusters, 2 pillows in each corner behind speakers and a big cloth couch. Powered by a MC402, it's amazing. I got by with just the Cornerbusters for 10 years and it sounded good.

The key is to be able to bring them out into the room. The backs are 3.5' from the wall and the outer sides 2.5' from the side walls.

From what I've read, the 501 monos are better than the 402. They'd give even greater control on the bass - which I can't imagine from how given how good the 402 sounds. I'd also recommend the HIFI Tuning fuses for the amp - a cheap beneficial tweak.

Relax, have a Lagunitas Kill Ugly Radio Ale and listen to some Hendrix...

Some competing speaker brands are Vandersteen, Magnapan, Wilson, Theil, Dynaudio...and also be on the lookout for used speakers.... you can save quite a lot and get excellent sound.

I think the room will be fine. My room is 15' wide, and the 802Ds do quite well in it.

BTW, I am running the 802Ds with Classe CA-M400s. The CA-M400s are a good blend of sweet highs and controlled bass.

The MACs will be warmer. The Pass Labs is a good choice too. A friend had the 350.5 hooked up to some 802Ds, and it sounded very nice.

All the amps suggested are good matches. It comes down to personal preference at this point.

Darrell

Srdan01
Thanks for the insights

I use to live in 16m2 listening room with N802. No problem with bas and better overall balance then my current 35m2 listening room. After four years I change N802 with 803D and make mistake. Found Pass X250.5 great with B&W.

Stringgreen,
Thanks for the insight any toughts on another set of speakers

If you haven't bought them, look at other speakers to compare cost to value. Our american dollar is worthless, and therefore British imports are VERY expensive for what you get. By all means, if the B&W's are your choice stick with it, however, be sure that competing brands have been auditioned and rejected. Don't worry about the room size. It sounds as though you have enough power. It will take careful setup and room treatment, but that should not be your issue at the moment. Be sure B&W is where you want to head.

Your room dimensions are sufficient to handle N-802's, perhaps a bit large if you are looking at the old matrix 802's. Classe mono 400's are probably overkill unless you like techno music at 100+ db.

You might need some EQ to flatton out the bass response with that size room.

The room is wood framed with sheet rock the ceiling is 9 1/2 feet tall

The room you mention is a tight squeeze for the 802D. If the room is treated properly you should be able to squeeze them in. They need power and lots of it to control the bass which is quite overwhelming to begin with. Personally I was very happy with Ayre amps with my old 803D but I know people using B&W 802D that are very happy with McIntosh and Krell.

However, given that you're moving to an even smaller room I would recommend you look elsewhere for speakers that are more comfortable in smaller enclosures. Of course, you'll have to treat that room as well.

Of what material is your room build? I think, not really sure about it, that wooden walls will give less problems then brick or concrete in small rooms.
I have a small room and my walls are made of very hard concrete and some lower frequencies tend to bounce all around my room.

My room is 13 by 23feet. I will be moving soon and in my new house the room will be even smaller and like now all the walls and floors and ceiling will be made of brick concrete. I think I will need some dampening in that room if the GAF allows it.