HELP B&W 802D or Revel Ultima Salon2

I have the 802 Diamond. No doubt about it - it is a great speaker. Part of the issue is taste in speakers, B&W is hard to beat for midrange and high's, but I think it is because I like the coloration of the speakers in those ranges. Let me re-iterate something I think I said before: I think room configuration has a lot to do with which speaker shines.

IMO the Reveals are more accurate (particularly with bass) than the 802's and the high end is still great (B&W might beat 'em slightly in the midrange (but I think this is preference over accuracy) - I need more listening time, but had to take one pair down). When it comes to bass the B&W's have a bit of "boom" to them compared to the Revels.

Having said that I must add that I am now compelled to upgrade my amplification to drive the Revels better. The B&W's were happy, the Reveals are not (well they are satisfied, but could use a bit more excitement). Ahhh, I wish I were young again (but with money), now I'm old - with old ears and a fat wallet. Oh well . . . .

Fat wallet or young ears....that's a tradeoff.
There are other tradeoffs in life as well, for example buying what you want or what the decorator permits.

I did have a chance to audition the Salon2s and the bass is soooo tight.

Thanks for all the useful commentary

"Ahhh, I wish I were young again (but with money), now I'm old - with old ears and a fat wallet. Oh well . . . ."

Amen, brother. At least my ears are still acting young. Nonetheless, I decided to max out my audio system before my ears gave out. I know too many guys with hearing aids, and I doubt they can tell the difference between an 802D and a Salon 2.

It would also be nice if my gut was thinner and my wallet fatter by comparison. ;)

I also am a very happy owner of Revel Ultima Salon 2s. I use a Gamut D3i pre and D200i power amp to drive them and to me they sound phenomenal.

As a previous owner Dali Helicon 400 MkIIs and after a long audition of Dynaudio Sapphire's, I did not hesitate to purchase Salon 2s.

Haven't heard upper range B&Ws, but to me, for the money, Salon 2s are as good as it gets.

A contrarian viewpoint to the consensus here. So I am a B&W fanboy, but as I stated earlier in this thread, I was really impressed with the Salon 2 in several reasonably long dealer sessions.

Well, lo and behold, a good deal came up on a used pair and I jumped on it impulsively. Have had them in my house for 3 weeks and...I don't really care for them.

Although I readily admit that the neutrality, accuracy, and coherence is there in spades, and the imaging and distinction btwn instruments is absolutely amazing, they don't move me. Vocals are ever so slightly recessed, and there is no "life" to them. They are quite unforgiving of even average recordings (forget poor ones), which greatly limits listening options. The bass is really good only on good recordings, but they can't seem to pull out the lower mids and bass on average CDs.

The most interesting but frustrating part of the experience is that they seem to sometimes deconstruct a song into it's musical parts: vocals, distinct instruments, leaving an uninvolving collection of distinct sounds (clear and neutral as they can be). While sometimes I am absolutely amazed at the imaging or clarity, I more often find that I'm easily distracted instead of immersed and toe tapping.

I have come to the conclusion that, great as they are, I may just prefer a fuller, warmer more forward sound. Maybe that means I like a more colored sound or the "BBC midbass hump", which I know is audiophile heresy, but so be it. It's what I like. Just my two cents.

Going to take a good hard listen to the 802Di and the Sonus Faber Elipsa.