Which speakers... B&W 802D or Vandersteen 5A's?

Bob, I am going to regret this post because I may touch off another speaker war. We lost a lot of A'gon members at the last "Clash of the Titans" (pun intended). RIP guys. :( Btw, as an aside, there's a post currently running asking members to list their favorite speaker. There's more than 1300 posts!!

Ok, I am taking a deep breath and am ready to take cover. You mention that you currently own the Paradign S8, presumably version 1 (Go-Pal tweeter). Since that time, Paradigm has made numerous changes and improvements to the Signature line, probably the most significant being the beryllium tweeter. The new S8 (now version 3) has received rave reviews, e.g., Marc Mickelson, May 28, 2010, TAB.

Another point is that the S8s (v3) are considerably less money than the Vandy 5As, if purchased new. (I guess that means the Vandys and B&W speakers you list MUST be better than the S8s because they cost more.)

All I'm saying is that you may want to treat yourself to a listen. Having said what I did, perhaps another "speaker skirmish" can be avoided by saying that the other speakers you mention in the OP have great reputations and should be seriously considered.

Cheers

B&W is more like what you have. Go listen to both. The vandersteen it is a more accurate speaker and nicer to listen to for long hours. Also for your room the vandersteen base gets tuned which will help. The b&w is a little more of a gamble. On the down side the Vandersteen has a more involved set up and may have a slightly tigher sweet spot. Hope this helps a bit. I was in the same boat a couple of years ago and got the Vandersteen and have been happy since they grew with me, not to say the B&W would not of. In fact I just bought some new Vandersteens and Richard Vandersteen called me today to see how they where doing and if I liked them. Great customer service.

I owned Nautilus 800's for over four years and thought they sounded good, although they never sounded like they were cut from the same cloth. The easiest way to describe it was that from a nearby room they just sounded like average speakers. The midrange definition was good but it sounded but it sounded like the bass and treble were attached to it. About a year ago I picked up a pair of Vandersteen 5's. They have been a dramatic improvement across the board. There's a coherence that is almost hard to describe. Set up can be a little time consuming, it took me several months to get them dialed in, but it's definitely worth the effort. My vote is for the Vandersteens.

I have listened to the 802D several times and thought the bass and lower midrange was thick and colored, also they are known to be difficult to drive.

I am sure the Rogue 180 is beefy but I wonder if it would be enough to really light up the 802D.

Also I agree with above, the Vandy and it's bass correction feature, would be really nice.

my two cents...

On the Vandy 5A's, which would other users suggest...
Mac MC275 MK V, or a Burmester 956 MK II?
I hope it's ok to hijack the string, its been silent for about a month, LOL