B&W 801 vs 803s

The fact of the matter is it can be very hard to listen to most of the high end speakers we are talking about here, except for the B&W, before we purchase them.. Wilson, Eggleston, Thiel, Merlin etc are not that easy to find and one may have to travel hundreds of miles just to listen to them. Most of the speakers I have purchased over the past few years I had never heard until they were dropped off at my door step. I relied on reccomendations from fellow audiogoners. Reviews can be helpful but I have read good reveiws on many speakers that most people would agree sound like crap.

Are some reviewers on the take out there. Yes, reviewers are looking for favors. If you say something good about my speeakers I will give you a hell of a price on the pair you reveiwed. Also they may not say that many good things about a particular speaker but will avoid stating the obvious such as the speaker may suck! With the advertising budget of B&W a magazine has to be very careful what they print about that product.

Reviews from magazines can be a very bad place to find about about speakers. They tend to sugar coat what they say. Where one would hope fellow audiogoners would be truthfull about how they feel about a particular speaker.

Are some reviewers on the take out there. Yes, reviewers are looking for favors.

Yes - one should be well aware that reviewers get demo or discounts (at cost) for some review equipment which they can then use and then sell used, sometimes for a small profit. This is especially true for audio cables that may sell for factors of ten or more times their cost.

Mpit thats one of my problems i do not have the time to go listen to wilson's or jmlab speakers and there is not a local dealer even remotely close. i would like to thank everyone who voiced their opinion, because of this thread i will try and go demo a few different makes of speaker, thanks again to everyone.

The nice thing about audiogon is you can take a chance on speakers you may have never tried before. If you change your mind or just want to try something else you shouldn't lose much money at all.

I have purchased probably 10 or more pair of speakers over the past couple of years and have never lost much more than a ocuple of hundred dollars on any of them.

It can be a hassel loading up heavy speakers like the Wilsons or Egglestons but it is a lot of fun trying different speakers. Most of them sound good and its just a matter of opinion.

The wilsons, Merlins, Dalis Egglestons, Sonus etc all sounded good in their own way. I still have to say they all sounded way better than the B&W's i had, including 802n, 803n and a few matrix. Other speakers sound much better at the same price points.


I heard about Wilson, DAli etc from fellow audiogon members and I thank them for sharing their experiences with me. Before I owne any Wilson, Daqlis etc I was very happy with B&W because i didn't know other better speakers existed. Now I do.

Hi Palermo. I also have the 803s. They are powered by McIntosh; 200 per side. My room is 13x19 with 9 foot ceilings.

To answer your original question as best as possible, my opinion is that the 803s is even a bit over the top as far as my room size. They can literally bring down the house. That said, I never considered the 801.

I was originally considering 804s (!) but was talked up to the 803s.

I like the B&W so much that I never considered other brands. As for the Chevy/Porsche analogy, I can't try the Porsche because it is not within my budget so I best not try it lest I yearn for something I can't afford.

Also, the higher end brands are a bit esoteric so it might be a lot of trouble to service if ever needed .......... no matter how good they sound.