Are Bowers and Wilkins speakers overpriced?

B&W takes negative comments here for the same reason McIntosh does: they’re not esoteric enough.
People are in these forums because they enjoy the lesser known brands and enjoy discussing them. Similarly, people aren’t joining wine forums to discuss your standard grocery store wines. And there may be a few good bottles there!

Are they overpriced? Well, I would say they spend more on marketing and branding than other speaker companies do. That’s why their much more well known. So that marketing costs has to go somewhere. Though one could argue, their size allows them efficiencies to save on production or materials perhaps that they can use towards marketing. So debatable.

Can anyone really say Wilson speakers aren’t overpriced?

As others have commented, all these speakers are overpriced and the counter argument is someone is willing to purchase them so they’re not overpriced.

If they are under priced everyone would say they are cheap speakers but offer a great value. Add $500.00 more to the price tag and they will be a steal for the price. Is anyone following my logic?

I own and have owned many B&W speakers, including D, D2, D3, in-wall, and in-ceiling.  I am very pleased with the value and flexibility they offer.  That said, I find that they are very good for mixed duty (music, movies, tv, and multiroom).

As far as two-channel setups I have had the 803D, 804D2, and 805D3.  With each pair my observations have been similar.  They look great, sound great, and seem well built.  However, I found that I couldn't listen to them for long sessions due to fatigue; regardless of the gear that was behind them.

I recently built a pair of 3-way actives using RAAL, Accuton, and SBA.  I did a side-by-side using the 805D3.  Both were running on a Classe amp in an acoustically treated listening room.  The results weren't even close.  To my ears (and others') the RAAL/Accuton build out-performed the D3s in every respect, particularly the mids and highs.  The D3s look better, but ultimately got demoted to the living room.

After a short time my wife and I agreed that although we liked the D3s we would try the 705S2s in the living room using Rotel amplification.  We were blown away with the listenability of the 7's.  They sounded much fuller and more musical without the fatigue we experienced with the 8 series.  We pretty much listen to them every day and have no intention of replacing them.

A few things I have found that all of my B&Ws have in common are as follows.  First, the higher the model; the longer the break-in period.  I have been disappointed after unboxing and initial listening.  After a few weeks I was pleasantly surprised.  Second, toe-in is important.  After endless positioning in several different rooms I have found that only a slight toe-in gives my ears the best result.  Maybe 10-15% in from facing straight forward.  YMMV.

Wow, did some of you get up on the wrong side. Before you buy any hi end system, get a hearing test see what you can actually hear.

I think the biggest flaw in some B&W speakers is the fact that they seem to be staring at you. They may sound great...still...I want my privacy...