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Bowers and Wilkerson B&W 802 D3: an impolite Brit?

I heard the new Bowers and Wilkerson 802 D3 today, only the second time they have been heard in public, at an L.A. Audio society event. They have a very large soundstage, and are exceptionally dynamic. The bass is not as good as Magico for example, because of the ported design, but is nonetheless quite good. Detail is excellent, perhaps to a fault. What I don't like about them is that they are quite forward, an anomaly among British speakers. I was experiencing listening fatigue after an hour.I don't know if that is the diamond tweeter, or simply how the speaker/crossover is voiced. Tone of the speakers is not quite real. Being this forward and somewhat more detailed than real life, sells well, but does not please as years and decades go by in my opinion.
FWIW, my mom still has a series 802 that I still find pleasing, and neither too forward or polite, with sealed woofer and bextrene midrange.
Not too sound like sour grapes, it is fabulous pop/rock and home theater speaker, and worth its price given the economy of scale B & W possesses and 8 year redesign effort by a talented team with huge technical resources...but the tone thing is critical for jazz/classical/acoustic instrument lovers. I don't think it's the right choice for them. I am a high quality 2 way stand mount plus subwoofer kind of guy.
(Harbeth Compact 7 ES3 with REL Strata III sub)
Your thoughts?

Tom
tompoodie
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
10-22-15: Aintitgr8
I had just posted and made the point that the ruthlessly accurate speakers like Wilson Audio are system and wire dependent. If you can't figure out the neutral wire needed you aren't going to like this kind of studio monitor quality, you want politely altered presentations.
what a load of rubbish!! strongly disagree.
you are trying to fix the speaker's distortion issue by spending a disproportionate amount to time & money on cables. Two wrongs do not make one right (but apparently in your books it does!). It's a bad way to build a system....
holygrailaudio
94 posts
 
I've had WATTS and Grand Slamms, there are a lot of ways to tame the ruthless nature of reference monitor caliber speakers. Tubes are one, a smooth quality source is another. One thing I will say is that six or seven years ago I had personally extensively tried all the major cable lines from their entry to statement products. I am totally out of touch with the products that have come onto the market in the last seven years or so, so I can't comment on an array of specific newer products. I had Grand Slamms next to a set of Meadowlark Nightingales, they were very similar in sound but $60,000 different in price. Wilson Watts were similar to the Meadowlark Audio Blue Heron 2's and I used the Wilson's to prove it using the same exact reference system.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"I had Grand Slamms next to a set of Meadowlark Nightingales, they were very similar in sound but $60,000 different in price. Wilson Watts were similar to the Meadowlark Audio Blue Heron 2's and I used the Wilson's to prove it using the same exact reference system."

Wilson sounds very similar to Meadowlark? You may want to get your hearing checked.
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
Similiar as in they were both speakers..right? Yeah, that's what I thought you meant😜
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