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B&W 803 Diamond

I was out for a ride & stopped by the local dealer in Great Barrington, MA to check out some CD's. As always, I wandered back to their listening room to see what they have.

They had the new 803 diamond (replacement for original 803D) on the floor, connected to McIntosh CD + tube preamp + 402 power amp. I have heard the original 803D previously more than once & didn't like it - some coloration in the midrange drove me nuts.

Well this new one is a MAJOR improvement - actually the first time ever that B&W's have exceeded my expectations. The sound is now very open and coherent top to bottom, and very involving. No midrange issues and the treble is superb without calling attention to itself. If the whole new range is improved similarly, they are going to do VERY well.
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neilgundel OP
15 posts
 
I should mention that the showroom was not set up well to demonstrate the speakers, in case anyone is tempted to drive 100 miles to hear them there. (although they do have a demo pair of old model 800D's they are asking $14,000 for)

Like many dealers, the better rooms have given way to home theater, and all that is left is a small acoustically untreated room. Still, it was easy to hear the improvements.
krell1's avatar
krell1
250 posts
 
Here is what B&W says about the N803D's.............

"803 DiamondThe 803 Diamond might look almost as imposing as the 802 Diamond, but thanks to its smaller footprint and more traditional cabinet design, it will fit more comfortably into a home environment. With three massive 7” Rohacell® bass drivers, it delivers almost as much bass as the 802 Diamond, filling even the largest of domestic rooms with rich, stunningly lifelike sound."

They must sound totally freakin' awesome!
brianmgrarcom
1,317 posts
 
I have heard from another that also says the new line is very impressive. There was also a comment in one of the current mags, TAS or Stereophile, I forget which. The unfortunate thing, as it seems to me, is the prices.
krell1's avatar
krell1
250 posts
 
From what I have read B&W is only one of a few in the entire industry producing speakers with diamond tweeters and are the cheapest of them all. The material and process is very expensive so they offer the 800 "S" models with metal dome tweeters for that reason. I am seeing the N803D's used for around $6K so that is 40% off, a great deal.
brianmgrarcom
1,317 posts
 
Krell1, the 800 series has just been upgraded, there is no longer the S models in the 800 series. While I understand it is expensive to precess the diamond tweeters, at the same time $5k for the 805 Diamond is a lot of money, for example.
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