B&W 801 vs 803s

The nice thing about audiogon is you can take a chance on speakers you may have never tried before. If you change your mind or just want to try something else you shouldn't lose much money at all.

I have purchased probably 10 or more pair of speakers over the past couple of years and have never lost much more than a ocuple of hundred dollars on any of them.

It can be a hassel loading up heavy speakers like the Wilsons or Egglestons but it is a lot of fun trying different speakers. Most of them sound good and its just a matter of opinion.

The wilsons, Merlins, Dalis Egglestons, Sonus etc all sounded good in their own way. I still have to say they all sounded way better than the B&W's i had, including 802n, 803n and a few matrix. Other speakers sound much better at the same price points.


I heard about Wilson, DAli etc from fellow audiogon members and I thank them for sharing their experiences with me. Before I owne any Wilson, Daqlis etc I was very happy with B&W because i didn't know other better speakers existed. Now I do.

Hi Palermo. I also have the 803s. They are powered by McIntosh; 200 per side. My room is 13x19 with 9 foot ceilings.

To answer your original question as best as possible, my opinion is that the 803s is even a bit over the top as far as my room size. They can literally bring down the house. That said, I never considered the 801.

I was originally considering 804s (!) but was talked up to the 803s.

I like the B&W so much that I never considered other brands. As for the Chevy/Porsche analogy, I can't try the Porsche because it is not within my budget so I best not try it lest I yearn for something I can't afford.

Also, the higher end brands are a bit esoteric so it might be a lot of trouble to service if ever needed .......... no matter how good they sound.

For five grand you can buy new Merlins, used Egglestons, Watt puppy and sophia. Used Dali ms5's, revels and Sonus as well as a host of others. Those are some of the models i have tried over the past few year and they all in my opinion sond better than 802's. The high end in all of those speakers is much clearer and more fun to listen to. You will here sounds you never heard before when playing the B&W.

I also would suggest the bass in most of the above mentioned speakers was much more powerful and tight. You can actualy here the sticks hitting the rim from time to time.

The vest way to compare is to get a side by side a b comparison. Find a dealer who sells B&W and other high end speakers and give it a try.

It cost nothing to shop and can be very fun eye opening experience!.

Man you were right mpit just herd some wilsons and egglestons man were they nice now have to find them here cant afford a new pair. now some more opinions needed, what to power them with ? gonna keep my 803s powered by audio reserch as my home theater system so need some help with what works well with the eggles and wilsons thanks in advance.

Two comments- 1. Not sure how much diff this makes with HT, unless you are playing music DVDs.
2. I have never been a big fan of B&W, but the D series w the right upstream equipment can be remarkable. Check out member dougdeacon's system. When he went from the 803 to the 803D, most of my complaints about the B&Ws went away. I think that they are very revealing and require VERY careful selection of source and amplification. That typically means $$$, but not always. Maybe that's irrelevant given the HT use.
Not dumping on HT, by IME, the video quality generally drives the subjective experience in HT, not the audio. I must admit that I have only once heard/seen an SOTA HT, and that was over 10 years ago.