Saw the Stereophile review of the B&W 800 Diamond

Other than me, of course. ;-)

Kal

I've followed B&W for quite a few years ( about 15 ), since I had a pair of the Silver Signature's.

While I never gave the 802D's a serious listen, I did give the 803D's a number of auditions while I was looking to replace the Silver Signature's. It wasn't a contest to me and I didn't buy the 803D's to replace the Silver Signature's.

A few months ago I walked in to that same dealer's showroom hoping to hear the Magico line he just began carrying. I didn't get to hear the Magico's because he was breaking in a pair of 800 Diamond's in preparation for an upcoming B&W seminar he was having at the end of that week.

Those 800 Diamond's were easily the best sounding B&W speakers I've ever heard.

Chuck

"Those 800 Diamond's were easily the best sounding B&W speakers I've ever heard."

Krell man, while you thought they were the best B&W speakers yet how do they stack up to other speakers you have heard?

Goatwuss,

I did not hear the 800D but I have demoed the 802D at length a number of times (also owned 803s) and I demoed the 802diamond for a few hours.

I heard the 802D and 802Diamond in different rooms with different pre-amps (audio research, classe') but both demos used Classe' amps (and I used the same music). I felt the 802diamond had better impact on bass drums and a little less overhang. The initial hit of the bass drum seemed more dynamic. The mids had a little more detail (again different preamp...) but stayed true to the older 802D in the mids. The highs were better. They had more detail and better decay. This all added up to the 802Diamond being a little more transparent and dynamic than the older model.

I have read a number of places the midrange on the 800 diamond is clearer than the 802diamond. I read in a forum somewhere that the 800diamond uses higher quality crossover parts but I don't know if it is true or not. Keep in mind that the 802diamond has a very clear midrange already.