Hmmm...I carefully auditioned 803N and 804N at home, and purchased neither. I had waited for B&W to ramp up production of the 804, as its size was ideal for my needs. Dealers explained that the 803N was a much better speaker, and that the 804N was developed following requests by the North American dealer network, to meet a $3500 price point. It was soon clear to me that it's sound was way too lightweight, and thus barely an improvement over the 805N. I soon found my reactions to the 803N to agree with those of a British reviewer I read last spring: the Nautilus floorstanders don't cohere in the nearfield, and require a good 12-15 feet before starting to sound integrated. As I sit in a 7.5' triangle it was obvious that I was hearing 3 different sets of drivers (the 400Hz lower crossover, as well the "hot" tweeter seem the culprits). Additionally I could not accept the extreme upper crossover/radiation pattern tonal shift accompanying listening above axis. The 803/804N do NOT pass stand-up/sit-down tests well at all! Although I didn't compare Matrix predecessors in my room, trusted friends who've owned Matrix802 were similarly surprised to find they too did NOT prefer the 802N in careful comparisons. (I also understand that DB Keele had a heck of a time setting up and measuring the 802N last year for his review, and found more than enough to be annoyed about, especially in the bass response...but that's 3rd-hand info) I REALLY wanted to love the 803N, as it was one of the few medium-sized 3-ways my wife would accept, but after trying Verity Audio speakers, the improvement, ESPECIALLY in coherence, midrange purity, and bass quickness and control, was overwhelming. But they did cost more.... Sorry to bend the thread. I've seen used 802Matrix for $1600/pr. Seems attractive, eh? Ernie.
