B&W 802D vs Wilson WATT Puppy

Atmasphere,
yup you're right again :-)
ain't nobody's gonna make me drive my b&Ws with tubes .. :)

krellm7
I think specs usually translate to actual performances...especially when it comes to mating a right amp...
- I'm not a speaker engineer by any means...

and last time I heard the live music? a month ago..:-)

i love classical music, and I've been to say .. 100+ live performances and I think B&W speakers are quite (not 100% of course) faithful when it comes to reproducing the realism I get from the lives :-)

btw... I love your system.. the original matrix 800... AWESOME!
good day, gentlemen

I owned both the Nautilus 801 using Krell FPB 600 w. upgraded mains & now the Watt Puppy 7s using the Krell & now VTL 750. It is an unfair comparisoin considering the price. But I will agree that the Watt Puppy 7s are a much better speaker. The 802D is a different question but I would guess that it will have the same problem as my 801s. The Kevlar midrange needs to be played loud to come alive. If it is played at low volumes it sounds muddy. In addition the Wilson is in an entire different league. The cabinet is sonically "dead" compared to the B&W. I love my 801s for years but am not sad to see them go. The bass on the Wilson is much more quick than on the 801s. I don't know if this problem extends to the 802D but the midrange is the same from what I am told & from the reviews. The midrange is incredibly musical at loud volumes. I hope this helps. I also found the Sophia to be an excellent speaker which sounded much better than a Nautilus 800 while listening at a Wilson & B&W dealer. I don't always trust dealers setups to demonstrate correctly the best of each speaker. Often it is too much work to move around equipment & optimize the system. Also, I have realized the you might hear an abused speaker or one that is not broken in. I was lucky to compare the speakers in my own house. It was no going back for me. I now just added the Watch Dog subwoofer. It wasn't a must but it definitely completes the package.

Dgad
though I totally agree with you that the WP7 is an excellent speaker

I recommend you go listen to the new 802D or any of the new lines (802 or up) just for fun
the new bass driver is sooo much better (faster!) and I think the improvement is there from top to bottom.. tell you the truth, the old N800 didn't imipress me that much either but the new 802D was simply Da Bomb!

I want to, and plan to, listen to the Ds but no matter what will be biased to the 7s. My home system is so "there" that very few dealer systems will ever come close unless they let me set up the room. By the way I am not a diamond tweeter fan. I find it great sounding but not necessarily better than some of the great "old fashioned" tweeters. I still think the Dynaudio Esotar & the Focal are superior in areas that other tweeters are not. I also feel the diamond is superior. I do not like ceramic tweeters and love a great ribbon or planar for wonderful highs. It just goes to say, more money is definitely more money but not necesaritly going to result in a better speaker.

Benfmd,

What are you going to get? And my favorite recommendation is to listen. Sometimes if you listen several times you will realize there are some attributes that will wear on you over time. Just think of it like going to a restaurant & your best friend recommending the restaurant. You eat there & are very unhappy. You find out you ordered the wrong item off of the menu & go back. You still don't like what you were recommended to order & realize that his taste in food isn't the same as yours. How can you accept a recommendation from anyone on a speaker unless you know their listening biases by going listening with them together & realizing you have similar taste. Good luck!

Hi Dgad,

I also might be interested in the WP 7 or 802D.

I read a few threads about WP7 lacking in bass detail compared to a ATC 150SL speaker. I'm pretty sure the 802D is good in this dept.

In your set up can to sense/hear the drum skin textures and the subsequent volume air that radiates into the acoustic venue on cd recordings with small drum kits?

Thanks!