B&W Matrix 801 Series II

I own a pair of 801 S3. Had lots of speakers, picked mine up 2 years ago because I wanted to know if they were so great. The last time I heard a pair prior was in the 80's. So I needed to know.
I loved em. I think better than most speakers I heard before. In fact, I loved em so much I shelled out for the northcreeks 3 months ago. They are were worth every penny I spent on them. I was worried about wasting the bucks. I felt the improvement worth it. I drove em first with pass xa60.5 and then Cary slm200. Great on both. Currently running on my final amps before I retire arc ref250's. Traded the pass. The pass was something special but the ref 250 tubes are more real and satisfying to my ears. These are special amps and I enjoy the combination. I could have lived with either combination. Each is great in their own way. The pass was plenty of power, the needles never moved out of class a. Based on my observation of the power needles on my 250 and my experience with the Cary's in triode, I don't think less tube watts would have worked so well.
I don't think you will regret. They really are sound microscopes. I run em at 8 ohms, haven't tried 4 yet. Great sound.

So which is he better version? Series II or III? I don't believe there's a definite consensus. From what I remember, I believe there's more in favor of Series II. I'm not sure why, though.

I went to hear the speakers again today. They don't have stands or the bass alignment filter. My friend, who owns the shop, played a sample drum cd through them and it sounded like a drummer was playing in the room. I didn't have time to take them with me or have a a really good listen. What I heard I did like.

Linnlp12: Tell me why the new crossovers are so much better? Do the old ones drift or cross at different places? Why would I need new crossovers?

I have several amps but none large enough to properly power the speakers....another consideration. My friend at the stereo shop suggests at least 350 watts per side.

Wemfan,

W/out going into to much detail, in order to make the speakers more mobile, the crossovers where cramed to fit into bottom of the speakers. Because of this resulted in compromises in parts quality, inductor crosstalk, and rather small iron core coils that saturated too quickly, resulting in decreases in dynamics & bass quality.

The NC crossovers simply replicated B&W's specs, but w/ high grade parts, a more spacious layout, and a huge copper air coil. It also bypasses the overload circuit, which also compromised sound quality.

As I said before, I could live happily w/ the speakers as stock. The NC crossovers, and other mentioned tweaks make a great speaker that much better. As an aside, I powered these with a 150W amp for years before upgrading. The great thing w/ 1st class speakers is that as you upgrade whats in front of the chain, everything just sounds better.

Dave 72- I believe the S3 crossover simplified the topology, used better crossover coils, eliminated the Zobel network across the woofer, & eliminated the APOC protection. Also, I think the S3 tweeter was ferro-fluid filled, whereas the S2 tweeter was not. Am unsure whater the firbercrete mid-tweet unit remained removable or not.

Cheers!

Elee,

The northcreek crossovers are $2100 a pair. That was a surprise. There is a lesser way to go but it is still $799. That is a pretty sizable investment in a pair of $2000 speakers. How much did the crossovers improve your speakers? I am thinking of making an offer on them early next week.