B&W 803 vs. 804

I did. Trouble was that the speakers were almost new. Nautilus speakers need to 'run in'. I heard deeper, fuller base on the 803s. Anyway I figured that you get what you pay for with B&W so I ante'd up for the 803s. I would have gone for the 802s - they're way better sounding than the 803s but more difficult to live with (the 'better half' said she'd end up speaking to them if she wasn't paying attention). By the way I've got the 803's hooked up via bi-wire cables to Pass Labs X5 power amp and that to the Bryston SP-1 Pre-amp/processor using balanced connections. I use the 'pass through' feature on the pre and so don't use the sub on two channel material and don't miss it with the 803s. I might have with the 804s.

Hope this helps.

I have owned the 803's and I listened to both the 803 and 804 extensively before making my decision. The 803 is not only fuller in the bass, it presents a better midrange as well. The 804 seemed brighter because of the comparative fullness that the 803 has in the midrange. The 803's are worth the extra $1500 or so depending on your dealer.

My sugestion to you is to listen to the ProAc 2.5 before committing to either B&W. A much easier speaker to listen to long term.

I respectfully disagree with the prior posts. I auditioned the 804s and 803s side by side. The N803 bass response was marginally better but certainly not worth an extra $1,500. Face it - the 803 has two 7" woofers while the 804 has two 6.5" woofers. So, you're talking an extra 1" of woofer for $1,500 bucks. Not worth it from a money OR sound perspective. I found the mids and highs to be virtually identical.

The 804s benefit from a good amp (over 200 wpc) and silver ICs. Mine have incredible bass response (amp is a 225 wpc Musical Fidelity A300cr) and amazing mids/top end due to the use of silver ICs (Musical Fidelity Nu-Vistas).