B&W 802D vs Wilson WATT Puppy

The used Grand Slamm X-1s was sold to someone who owned a pair of B&W 801 speakers (driven by Levinson 33 amps). I enquired as to the reason for the change and the Wilson dealer advised the main issue for this buyer was poor midrange performance of 801s. An experience I can relate to.

An additional thing to consider- B&Ws are not tube friendly- the 802 in particular will not reproduce bass properly with a tube amp due to the impedance relationship between the amp and speaker in the woofer region.

Wilson, OTOH, have no problem with using either tubes or transistors as far as interface is concerned, although :) they will show you how much better most tube amps are...

Atmasphere I very strongly disagree I listen to 802D's
on a CJ MV 60 & other tube amps it did a fine job there was no lack of bass. And 802D impedance is not difficult. I am disgusted
with all the false information people give on these fourms.

I have a friend who runs 802D's with a pair of Cary 805C's, Walker T.T. (Koetsu), Steelhead Pre., Revelation cabling throughout, sounds great, I thought it wouldn't work, go figure.

ok... you guys cannot compare the 802D against the grandslams, Nova utopias, or even W/P7s!
they are all much more expensive than the 802Ds!!!
W/P 7 should be compared to the 800D and the rest should be against the *shell* Nautilus (B&W doesn't really have a competition for the grand slamms!)

I just had a lenghty A/B session this weeked comparing the 803Ds and 802Ds
the 803D sounded a little colored in the mid and the bass lacked a little
but No way these were true for the 802D!

I've heard both sophias and the 7s.. they are all great speakers- comes down to the personal choice..
yet the wilson speakers never appealed to me that much.. not only aesthetically but also sonically (I agree with Michael on the "muddiness" of the wilsons -at least the 7 and sophia)