Opportunity to buy Demo Magico M2?

@twoleftears 

+1 Well put.

The issue I’m having, is I find my speakers so much more comfortable and enjoyable to listen to than any of the top-tier speakers that I’ve been testing. I’ve come to realize that all I’m looking for is exactly the sound of my current 803 D2 speakers with a touch more detail and better imaging. To me the 802 D2’s seem to fit that bill. I hope! The opportunity to save money is actually just a secondary bonus.  Assuming the speakers work out that is.

My goal really is just to bring my speakers up to the level of the rest of my system, especially my Diablo 300.  I don’t really need spectacular performance to be happy with my system.  I do want spectacular musical engagement however!

OP,

Sounds like you are making progress. I have heard a lot of Magico and Wilson systems. I have always been very impressed… but also, I do not want that. At the highest level you get incredible detail… and natural sound,.. to a point… but you can get loose too much natural organic comfortable sound. I have carefully climbed to higher levels of components and speakers to have a wonderfully forgiving and natural sounding system that exactly appeals to my sensibilities.

It really sounds like you know what you like, have a very discerning ear, and are able to hear the speakers that fulfill that niche. I guess the only question is about the electronics driving the speakers you have heard. Do you know them well enough to be able to take them out of the equation (and the venue) when you hear the speakers. My guess from your descriptions is probably yes… but assume you swap Rowland amp (and preamp) with an Audio Research tube amp and the character of all the speakers will change considerably. You are comfortable knowing how this would change the character? To be honest… I have forgotten the electrons you own.

Just saying that over the last fifteen years my goals in sounds changed. Speakers were the first change I made, followed by swapping most of my other components to raise my system several levels.

I’m just talking to see if something strikes you as relevant. You have a very good concept of what you want… which can be the hardest part.

@nyev :

I’ve come to realize that all I’m looking for is exactly the sound of my current 803 D2 speakers with a touch more detail and better imaging. To me the 802 D2’s seem to fit that bill. I hope! 

Sometimes, grass is NOT greener on the other side. Also sometimes, what we have and like is the best for us. If not broken, why fix it.

You probably know this, but the D2 is two generations ago. Current version is D4, launched last year. And given the size of your room, the 802 or the 801 would work best.

Full disclosure, I am a bit biased, as I own the 803 D3s. Unless I will become rich some day (highly unlikely), the B&W are my speakers. If I were to upgrade, would be the 802 D4.

@thyname , I auditioned my Diablo 300 with the 802 D3 series, and found it to be very impressive. Definitely a highly sophisticated loudspeaker. Enough so that I bought my Diablo. However, it was barely meaty enough for my tastes, and I was VERY nervous pulling the trigger on my Diablo in 2019. I thought that my 803 D2’s at home would sound even leaner than the 802 D3’s did. I had conducted at-home tests of many separates, including McIntosh, and my 803’s all sounded harsh on a lot of material. My Gryphon dealer was in a different city and a home demo of the Diablo wasn’t possible, so I was, again, nervous. But when I first connected my new Diablo at home three years ago, to my surprise, I was greeted with a rich, room-filling, detailed and punchy sound that was what I was after.

This is why I now think I really want to upgrade within the two-generations old D2 series.

I recently tested the 801 D4’s with my Diablo 300, at the shop that I bought my Diablo, and the system sounded downright terrible - too much bass for a change, and mids and treble were the opposite of free-flowing. Uptight and ridged. Now I know the 801 is a highly regarded speaker and I’m not judging it. My amp is also highly regarded by most. So the only explanation is that it is a bad pairing, the room was way over dampened (it was), or my tastes are bonkers weird. The 801 D4’s were well broken in according to the sales guy.

When I explained what I liked about the sound of my 803 D2’s tone, he claimed the D2 series especially has a reputation for being more “rock and roll”, in that it was richer and fatter sounding with a more bottom-up tonal balance. He said some guys have a soft spot for D2 because that is the sound they are after. No idea if this is true, but it’s consistent with my limited experience with the 803D2.

So again that is really what I’m hoping for by sticking with the old D2 series! It’s a gamble but less so because it’s so much less money.
 

To be clear the D3 and D4 series are technically miles ahead of my current 803 D2 speakers, in terms of soundstaging, being able to disappear, etc.  But I just can’t listen to them - they stress me out!