# B&W 802 Diamond



## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I went to my local Hi-Fi shop yesterday for speaker wire and cables. They had a pair of 802 Diamonds on display in a 2 channel setup and they were beautiful! Some of the smoothest vocals I've ever heard come out of speakers and very impressive bass also. It was a treated room and some very high end gear powering them but it was impressive. I believe they were around $15,000 so well out of my price range but if any of you have an opportunity to give these a listen I'd do so.


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## 86eldel68-deactivated (Nov 30, 2010)

I remember hearing a pair - also in a treated room and powered by high-end ("audiophile") gear - when I was speaker shopping a few years back. (I was in the market for some inexpensive speakers for a casual-listening, two-channel set-up.) My buddy who was with me and I were both impressed by how good they sounded.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Oh for sure, B&Ws higher end offerings sound so good. When I first heard their 801s way back in the early 90s I was in awe of the sound they reproduced. If I had a budget I would own some B&Ws but When I bought my original Mission 765s that I still own and use in my livingroom they were hard to beat for the money.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

tonyvdb said:


> Oh for sure, B&Ws higher end offerings sound so good. When I first heard their 801s way back in the early 90s I was in awe of the sound they reproduced. If I had a budget I would own some B&Ws but When I bought my original Mission 765s that I still own and use in my livingroom they were hard to beat for the money.


 Yep, they were no doubt impressive. I can't imagine the total cost of the speakers and gear powering them. My wife didn't want to leave the room until he told her how much the speakers were.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

JBrax said:


> My wife didn't want to leave the room until he told her how much the speakers were.


LOL, well at lest she appreciated the sound


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## FlashJim (May 6, 2006)

I heard a pair of 802s a while back and was blown away. Amazing speakers.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

I auditioned B&W speakers when I was shopping too.
I had read so many good things about the 600 series I was primed to be a buyer.
IMO the 600 series and the CM series was highly overrated.
This store had the 805 bookshelf speakers setup in the same room. Now those speakers sounded good.
Then we went into the 800 series room.
The 804 was impressive and each model up just kept getting better.
My wife and I had not planned to spend that much money but we put the 804's on our list of maybe.
This store also had a pair of Nautilus in a room by themselves.
Those are far and away the best sounding speakers I have heard.
They cost more than 1/2 as much as my house so a little over budget...LOL


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

chashint said:


> I auditioned B&W speakers when I was shopping too. I had read so many good things about the 600 series I was primed to be a buyer. IMO the 600 series and the CM series was highly overrated. This store had the 805 bookshelf speakers setup in the same room. Now those speakers sounded good. Then we went into the 800 series room. The 804 was impressive and each model up just kept getting better. My wife and I had not planned to spend that much money but we put the 804's on our list of maybe. This store also had a pair of Nautilus in a room by themselves. Those are far and away the best sounding speakers I have heard. They cost more than 1/2 as much as my house so a little over budget...LOL


 If the 802's are $15,000 I can only imagine how much the 804's are. I just can't see dropping car/truck money on speakers. A man can dream though right?


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## littlejohn74 (Feb 11, 2014)

JBrax said:


> If the 802's are $15,000 I can only imagine how much the 804's are. I just can't see dropping car/truck money on speakers. A man can dream though right?


The 804's are much more affordable.. It's the 801's and Nautilus that you have to worry about.. lol

An interesting comparison would be a pair of 801's vs a properly eq'd, modestly priced 2.1 or 2.2 setup.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

littlejohn74 said:


> The 804's are much more affordable.. It's the 801's and Nautilus that you have to worry about.. lol An interesting comparison would be a pair of 801's vs a properly eq'd, modestly priced 2.1 or 2.2 setup.


 Ahh, so the price goes up as the model # goes down. It's usually the other way around.


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## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

There's a reason why a lot of famous mixing studios like Abby Road Studio and Skywalker Ranch use them. I absolutely love the look of the 800 and 802 speakers. The 800 and 802 are probably my most favorite looking speakers. Absolutely gorgeous craftmanship.

I'd love to own a pair or three pair  for kicks and giggles!

Soundwise, they are not my favorite, but they are still very high up there! I like a little bit warmer sound than they produce, but for analytic and critical listening, they're undoubtedly fantastic!


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Jon Liu said:


> There's a reason why a lot of famous mixing studios like Abby Road Studio and Skywalker Ranch use them. I absolutely love the look of the 800 and 802 speakers. The 800 and 802 are probably my most favorite looking speakers. Absolutely gorgeous craftmanship. I'd love to own a pair or three pair  for kicks and giggles! Soundwise, they are not my favorite, but they are still very high up there! I like a little bit warmer sound than they produce, but for analytic and critical listening, they're undoubtedly fantastic!


 They were absolutely stunning in their craftsmanship! To my eyes they looked almost artistic sitting there. I haven't heard many speakers that compare but I've never attended anything like Axpona. Of the speakers I've personally heard that were in the same league are the Paradigm Signature S8's.


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

Looks sure do boost pride in ownership! Seemingly innocent aesthetics are often part of a speaker's functional acoustic design. It's getting more expensive every day to join the special fit-n-finish club. (Sidebar: One option is DIY like our very own "hllbll" from Finland. Check out his homegrown amp chassis finish here). The B&W 800 series are a special speaker with a special finish, at a special price. That they sound special is icing on the cake, or is it the other way around?


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

BlueRockinLou said:


> Looks sure do boost pride in ownership! Seemingly innocent aesthetics are often part of a speaker's functional acoustic design. It's getting more expensive every day to join the special fit-n-finish club. (Sidebar: One option is DIY like our very own "hllbll" from Finland. Check out his homegrown amp chassis finish here). The B&W 800 series are a special speaker with a special finish, at a special price. That they sound special is icing on the cake, or is it the other way around?


 Again and I feel like I say this a lot but very well stated Lou! Aesthetics play such a large part for some people (Me included). Electronics/Speakers and eye candy go hand and hand. I know it heavily influences my purchases. Is that bad? Form over function?


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

JBrax said:


> Again and I feel like I say this a lot but very well stated Lou! Aesthetics play such a large part for some people (Me included). Electronics/Speakers and eye candy go hand and hand. I know it heavily influences my purchases. Is that bad? Form over function?


 not bad or even undesirable... Gotta go... More later!

Sent from my iPad using HTShack


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## littlejohn74 (Feb 11, 2014)

Jon Liu said:


> There's a reason why a lot of famous mixing studios like Abby Road Studio and Skywalker Ranch use them. I absolutely love the look of the 800 and 802 speakers. The 800 and 802 are probably my most favorite looking speakers. Absolutely gorgeous craftmanship.
> 
> I'd love to own a pair or three pair  for kicks and giggles!
> 
> Soundwise, they are not my favorite, but they are still very high up there! I like a little bit warmer sound than they produce, but for analytic and critical listening, they're undoubtedly fantastic!


I'm sure there are, but i'm willing to put it out there and say the most probable reason is the studios came up with a mutually commercially attractive arrangement with B&W


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

littlejohn74 said:


> An interesting comparison would be a pair of 801's vs a properly eq'd, modestly priced 2.1 or 2.2 setup.


You've got something there! considering the law of diminishing returns, some speakers surely come close, EQ'd or not (Def Tech's Golden Ears, etc.). On the other hand, EQ can't correct for power compression or dynamics. Some high dollar speakers are just fluff. The 802 Diamond is an engineering Tour de Force. Would close-call competitors suffice for famous recording venues and their clients, or be relegated to budget studios and home environments? We may never know! 



littlejohn74 said:


> I'm sure there are, but i'm willing to put it out there and say the most probable reason is the studios came up with a mutually commercially attractive arrangement with B&W


Maybe so. Studios with impeccable credentials need an equally impressive control room to win clients that care about their sound. B&W certainly doesn't have a stranglehold on the upscale speaker market in either performance or aesthetic departments. But aesthetics play a major role in making positive first impressions; so if what you say holds water, an 801 competitor would likely take its place. I don't pretend to know the caliber of each studio that "uses" the 801's. It would be interesting to see what would/will take their place.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

I had a a pair of B+W 801 series F from 1980 that I bought from a studio in NJ for $700 and I really loved the sound they produced. Unfortunately I liked to play them loud and for their age they could not hold up and I blew the tweeters. Replacements for them are long gone so I ended up selling them for $500 ironically to someone in NJ. For the time I had them they were the best sounding speakers I ever owned. Here are some pics of my set up then.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

You can get the 801 series 3 used for around $3000 I wonder if they would hold up better than the original ones?


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

tonyvdb said:


> You can get the 801 series 3 used for around $3000 I wonder if they would hold up better than the original ones?


Possibly but one thing I regret not doing when I got the 801's is having the crossovers updated. I always thought maybe if I did the tweeters might have lasted longer and I may still have them. OH well I will never know. :dontknow:


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I remember when you picked the 801s up, you were a member on the Secrets forum (no longer operational) right?


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

I sure was, Good memory. I won my very first PJ in a contest they held there. :T


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Yup, I remember that also


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

tcarcio said:


> I had a a pair of B+W 801 series F from 1980 that I bought from a studio in NJ for $700 and I really loved the sound they produced. Unfortunately I liked to play them loud and for their age they could not hold up and I blew the tweeters. Replacements for them are long gone so I ended up selling them for $500 ironically to someone in NJ. For the time I had them they were the best sounding speakers I ever owned. Here are some pics of my set up then.


 How did they compare to your current Cerwin Vegas? Those Vegas look like they'd be impressive come movie night.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

JBrax said:


> How did they compare to your current Cerwin Vegas? Those Vegas look like they'd be impressive come movie night.


The 801's were better in the tweeter and mid range in that they were not to forward at all like the CV's are. I like the CV's but they are much more in your face than the B+W's. As far as the bass the B+W's were very good but the CV's have more mid bass and that in your chest feeling if you get what I mean and that is great for movies like you mentioned. So I would say the 801's for 2 channel music listening shine through but for movies and more dynamic sound the CV's do that well.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

tcarcio said:


> The 801's were better in the tweeter and mid range in that they were not to forward at all like the CV's are. I like the CV's but they are much more in your face than the B+W's. As far as the bass the B+W's were very good but the CV's have more mid bass and that in your chest feeling if you get what I mean and that is great for movies like you mentioned. So I would say the 801's for 2 channel music listening shine through but for movies and more dynamic sound the CV's do that well.


 I figured you might describe the differences in the two exactly as you did. I've never heard or seen your CV's but I imagine them sounding similar to my RF-7's. Do you have any pics you can post of them in your room?


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

JBrax said:


> Ahh, so the price goes up as the model # goes down. It's usually the other way around.


You got it.
I should also mention that at the time we were shopping the 804 tweeter had not been upgraded to the diamond version so it was still the silver tweeter, the 804 price took a pretty significant step up when the tweeter switched to the diamond version.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

JBrax said:


> I figured you might describe the differences in the two exactly as you did. I've never heard or seen your CV's but I imagine them sounding similar to my RF-7's. Do you have any pics you can post of them in your room?


Got no new pics of my room but I will try and take some and post this weekend if I can.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

JBrax said:


> Do you have any pics you can post of them in your room?


Here are a couple of pics.


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## azhikerdude (Sep 5, 2009)

Timely post as I recently considered buying the 802D’s. After an hour of listening to the R2D2 look-a-likes in two different show rooms on two different occasions, I wasn’t impressed enough to spend $15k. Don’t get me wrong, they are beautiful speakers. The 804D’s are about ½ the price and are appealing however the reviews have been less than stellar. Paying a premium for the name. As someone mentioned, the B&W 800 line goes down in price as the model numbers go up. The 800D is the most expensive in the 800 series (I’ve seen them ‘on sale’ for $20k) to the 805D which are bookshelf / monitors speakers. One aspect to consider when purchasing the 800’s or the 802’s is their weight, these are massive units.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

tcarcio said:


> Here are a couple of pics.


 Very nice…those things scream "In your face"!


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

azhikerdude said:


> Timely post as I recently considered buying the 802Ds. After an hour of listening to the R2D2 look-a-likes in two different show rooms on two different occasions, I wasnt impressed enough to spend $15k. Dont get me wrong, they are beautiful speakers. The 804Ds are about ½ the price and are appealing however the reviews have been less than stellar. Paying a premium for the name. As someone mentioned, the B&W 800 line goes down in price as the model numbers go up. The 800D is the most expensive in the 800 series (Ive seen them on sale for $20k) to the 805D which are bookshelf / monitors speakers. One aspect to consider when purchasing the 800s or the 802s is their weight, these are massive units.


 So what did you end up going with?


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## azhikerdude (Sep 5, 2009)

Thanks for asking. I'm still looking. Open to suggestions, but best not to hijack this thread. Will do my annual trek to the T.H.E Newport show at the end of May and see what's what. I like the 804D's as i found them to be engaging, so may be the ones to pull the trigger on.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

azhikerdude said:


> Thanks for asking. I'm still looking. Open to suggestions, but best not to hijack this thread. Will do my annual trek to the T.H.E Newport show at the end of May and see what's what. I like the 804D's as i found them to be engaging, so may be the ones to pull the trigger on.


 With that budget you've definitely got some great choices. I think we're close enough to being on topic that you're not hijacking the thread.


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## Sabby (Nov 10, 2008)

This project shows extreme dedication


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

Sabby said:


> This project shows extreme dedication...


Definitely not paint-by-numbers! Oh, the labour of love.

Sent from my iPad using HTShack


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Sabby said:


> This project shows extreme dedication


Crazy good building skills.
Almost makes the asking price of the B&W 800's worth it.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

BlueRockinLou,
Just took notice of your sig line.
Thinking about that is humbling to me.
Very nice.


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

Thanks, Charlie!

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## prerich (Mar 26, 2008)

He's known as "Reference" on the Blu-ray.com forum. He totally killed that B&W reproduction right down to the crossovers! He has also has some mean Kef reproductions as well! His craftsmanship is second to none!  :T


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## bokeh (Nov 13, 2013)

I really like the 802 as well...especially as pieces of art/design. However, I would look at a pair JBL M2...or pick up a pair of JTR 210RM or the 215RT for pure performance at half the price.


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