B&W 803 vs. 804

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).

I have owned both speakers for over a year before I moved on to a pair of WATT/puppy 5.1's. The 803's offer a significant improvement over the 804's in terms of bass response, depth, and soundstage. My listening room is fairly large -- 18'x22' -- and warrants the bigger sound of the 803's. Aside from cost, the only reason to consider the 804's is if they are being placed in a relatively small listening area where a small footprint is desired. Nonetheless, it was the 803's, NOT the 804's, that ultimately drew me back to the excitement of high-end audio.

I agree with R1b61, but it's important to point out that there is more of a difference between the two than just drivers. The 803 has quite a bit larger cabinet. So in all fairness to B&W the woofer change is not the only reason for an increase in price.

Rlb61, one of the main differences between the N804 and N803 is not only driver size but speaker cabinet volume and that plays a significant role in their sonic differences. The N804s can sound great in smaller rooms but can get lost in larger spaces. A very important determining factor between the two speakers is what size room they are going to be placed in. I am partly biased because I opted to go for the N803 because I felt they offered a $1500 improvement in terms of scale and realism over the N804, which I still feel are fantastic speakers.