Thought I'd add my tuppence, there is so much B&W "hate" in this thread, I thought it needed some "love". It's the tall poppy syndrome. People love to hate the successful, and give the small guy a chance! B&W have economies of scale that others can only dream of. I currently own 805 signature and 802 diamonds, and after listening to other systems, never fail to come home and be enthralled by my sound. I have never heard 802D's sounding good with Macintosh or Classe amps (i.e.. at the dealership), but that might be my lazy dealer having permanent in wall wiring to distribution points!! and demonstrating in a compromised space.
My theory is get a good item that you believe in and then tweak with, cables, electronics and isolation etc. until you get the sound to your preference. There is no "best" hi-fi. There is, however, a most expensive, and all to often sound and price are equated. Ultimately you must get a sound that you like, and to hell with what everyone else thinks!!! and that's the hard part, we all want affirmation that we did good! There is also the gee wiz factor of having something no one has heard of or something rare, or expensive!
It's hard to evaluate a speaker in isolation, the sound will depend a great deal on what it is connected to, the room etc.etc. You are listening to the system not just the speakers. Unfortunately it is virtually impossible to have home demo's of all the potential speakers in a price range. I do not believe there are many bad speakers in the 10-30k mark, it really comes down to preference. Also beware of "Demo" music, it's designed to impress, listen to real music that you would normally want to listen to.
I think 802's are amazing value for money, and suite my taste perfectly. I am not limited to "audiophile" music, but can enjoy all genres. (very versatile) I like the B&W "house sound" as much as I like the Lyra's "house sound". In summary don't be intimidated by strongly held "opinions", feel free to choose for yourself. At the price, you won't go wrong with the 8 series.
