I had the oppurtunity to hear both speakers at Stereo Exchange,and while the N801s are beasts,they do sound much better in an open large area,but dont need as much power as the older 801s.They still need plenty of juice though.The N802s are easier to drive and to my opinion sound better,i have the 802 Matrix IIIs,and these were the speakers I enede up with after the Natilus 802s which at the time I couldnt afford.The N802s were being driven by a Bryston 120 WPC amp,while I heard the N801s being driven by the biggest MAC amp with 350 WPC,the N801s have plenty of bass,but like I said need a large area.The 802s do better in a more intimate area,like the way I have them setup.The are also asthetically pleasing to the eye with the excellent construction and finish in many different types of wood and laquer finishes.I currently use my 802 with the C.J. MOSFET amp with the PREMIER 3 preamp.I feel that these are some of the best sounding speakers,and the only other speakers that I like besides the B&Ws are the MARTIN LOGAN.Hope this helps CHEERS.