B&W 802 Series 3

cmy330go

Hey strangers! Been forever. Weather is cooling down, things have calmed down with the business, and I'm starting to get fired up about audio again. This in-turn has led to me surfing craigslist for fun gear to play with. Today I stumbled across what appears to be a near mint pair of 802 Series 3. Just wondering if anyone here has had any personal experience with these. I think I vaguely remember hearing a pair back in the late 90's, but honestly can't remember what I thought of them. Seller is asking $1600 for them. That seem like a fair price?

Anyway...Feel free to sound off. I'm tentatively going to see them tomorrow, but if you all say it's a screaming deal, I may just buy them over the phone, and go pick them up tomorrow.

Thanks!

zingo

I have a pair of 804s of the same era, and love them. Great sound, and they don't sound dated in any way. However, I would not personally buy a pair of Matrix series speakers below 803s, because I think they show their age and look uuuuuugly. The 803/4s luckily just look like box speakers, but the geometric shapes of the big boys I couldn't do. That's not to say they don't sound great, so if you can live with the look, the sound is great.

cmy330go

I do agree that the 802s aren't the best looking speakers, but I really don't much care, and I'm fortunate enough to have a wife that won't care either. Really more concerned with the sonic traits; if I should be aware of any driving difficulties, and if the price is reasonable.

zingo

Price is reasonable and the speakers are neutral, some say un-musical. They were designed for recording studios, but I really enjoy the music they produce. The are current hungry, and can soak up all the power you throw at them. If you're going to run 800 series B&W, your component choice is very important as they will be unforgiving.

What electronics were you going to use with them?

cmy330go

Not really sure what I'm gonna do for power. I've been seeing some mixed opinions on powering these. Some claim they're power hungry, others claim they're easy to power. I'll no doubt just start off powering them with my tube integrated just to test them out, and get some listening in. Might even put them on my Halo A23 from the HT system. Those should at least give me enough of a preview to determine if I want to start shopping for different power for them. Any specific recommendations?

zingo

PM sent

mantis

I've done a few pairs of them back in the day. We also had a pair in our last swap sale. They are a fun speaker and sound really good. I don't remember what they sold for but I believe they where around what your looking at them.
More current and power the better they sound. Don't buy them if you plan on using entry level gear. You'll be wasting your time and money.

cmy330go

Well...Today went better than expected. So I get there, and the speakers are in even better shape than I expected. He had mentioned a "small scratch" on the "speaker". I assumed he meant an actual mark on a woofer or mid-range driver. He was actually reffering to a very light rub mark on the wood veneer, that can very easily be touched up, and honestly would go completely un-noticed by most. I won't bore you all with the entire story, but he happily agrees to my offer of $1400, so I'm feeling pretty stinkin' good at this point. THEN...He says "Let me show you this too." He takes me over to a Rotel RB-985 that he was also looking to sell. Said he had been trying to get $200 out of it, but would let it go for $100 with the speakers if I was interested. SOLD! Not a particularly great amp, but I'm sure I'll find some good use for it. So we load up the amp, and speakers. He then hands me a Panera paper bag, and tells me that the manuals, and "wires" for the speakers are in it. I took a quick glance in the bag, and see enough to know they're not just cheapo cables. Get home, and inspect them to find out they're 16' Synergistic Research Mark IIS. Not familiar with them, but found a post on Audiogon claiming that someone at Synergistic Research told them that an 8' pair used to sell for $700 to $800 back in '01. Can only assume that was an over inflated MSRP price, but either way was a really nice added perk.

By far my best CL deal ever. Not earth shattering, but very satisfying. Can't wait to get them into place and start listening. Actually kind of looking forward to a winter trapped indoors!

Thanks for the input guys!

zingo

Congrats on the awesome score! Great price on the speakers, and some goodies to boot. Are you going to try the speakers with four of the channels of the Rotel amp?

adb3da

Awesome score! I had that amp for a while, definitely worth $100! Add some pics to this thread!

drgalexo

Nice!!!!

zingo

Have any pictures of the speakers yet?

TroyD

That's a great score.....some felt that the series 2 was better than the series 3 in bass reponse. The 802's have always been a favorite of mine.

BDT

cmy330go

I'll get some pics taken once I get them permanently in place. So far I've only heard them hooked up to the Rotel 985, an older Marantz AVR as a preamp, and iPod as source. I can not believe how good they sound, even in a far less than ideal situation. I have a feeling these are gonna be sticking around for quite some time. They've already far outperformed my best expectation.

I too read some comments regarding series 2 vs 3, and am still a little fuzzy on the timeline, and different versions of these speakers. It seems as though the series 3 even went through a change or two during their production run. Trying to sort out where exactly these fall in the line-up. Might have to contact B&W and see what they might be able to tell me.

Anyway. I'll keep you all posted. Feels really good to be back playing with 2ch. It's been far too long.

cmy330go

So I've had them in place for about 24hrs. Sounding really good so far. Looking forward to getting some more power to them. The tube integrated is doing pretty well, but I know some serious power will really help fill-in, and detail the low end. Should have a couple solid state setups to try in the next week or two. Really looking forward to that. Well...time to flip to side B. ;-)

SugarmillMan

Great score on CL.
I have 804 diamonds as fronts with Rotel amps powering them. I can tell you this is a winning combination- light, airy with good midrange and bass.

ALWALLER

I guess I am just old fashion, but I think these speaker look great. The woofer, tweeter set-up is classic. The finish on the cabinets show off the quality wood. Good looks and good sound, a great combination. With a good amp, I guess you don't have to use a sub.
Enjoy, I think this is a great looking set-up.

Systems

cmy330go wrote: »

So I've had them in place for about 24hrs. Sounding really good so far. Looking forward to getting some more power to them. The tube integrated is doing pretty well, but I know some serious power will really help fill-in, and detail the low end. Should have a couple solid state setups to try in the next week or two. Really looking forward to that. Well...time to flip to side B. ;-)

Between those pics on the wall, and that lamp and speakers, I could score in a room like that!:cheesygrin:

IMHO, that is one bad a$$ room my friend!

The leather just sets it off!

cmy330go

Great news! I sat for a few hours last night, playing album after album, assuming the lack of low-end and blurred imaging was just due to them being under-powered. Was about to pull the last album off the table for the night, and happened to notice that the bubble in the level built into the turntable was about a 1/4 bubble out of level. Totally forgot that I shifted the whole rack a couple inches earlier in the day, and didn't re-level the table. A few twists of the adjustable feet, and the whole thing came to life!!! Deep rich bass, vocals dead-center, soundstage wide and deep. Can't believe I didn't think to check that. Probably would have identified the problem earlier if I had just popped a CD in.:rolleyes: Still looking forward to trying some other power combos, but currently very pleased with what my little tube-integrated is doing.

I have to admit that the look of these has really grown on me since I got them in place. Really digging the book-matched veneer.

Thanks for the comments guys! It's feels great to be back in the sweet spot. I really had forgot how much I love audio.:biggrin:

F1nut

Never coil your cables.

cmy330go

Yea Yea. I know. Trying to figure out what to do about that. Can't bring myself to shorten that pricey of a cable. May just have to buy new, or work a trade for something.

zingo

Congrats and a very nice looking set-up. The look of those speakers really does grow on you, and I'm sure the sound accelerates that process quickly. :cheesygrin:

cmy330go wrote: »

Yea Yea. I know. Trying to figure out what to do about that. Can't bring myself to shorten that pricey of a cable. May just have to buy new, or work a trade for something.

Lay the speaker cables out and back instead of coiling them. It's the coil the can create inductance, and most other configurations avoid that issue.