Side by side listening test Polk 3.1TL (mod) vs B&W 803D2

Gunther16

Alright, Here goes, I'll try to keep it short and sweet, had the opportunity to do a side by side comparison. Equipment used to switch speakers was a Adcom GFS4 Speaker Selector. Keeping in mind my bias toward the Polks a variety or music was played via CD in straight stereo mode. Blues, Classical, Rock, Country, Alternative, Instrumentals, Pop....you get the picture. Too many to list here. Comparison commenced at 3PM Saturday and finished about 1AM Sunday along with a few beers and shots of Tequila which definitely increased the volume level. Setup of the B&K ($10000.00 new) took some time to get to the best possible position within my environment, they were very finicky. Anyway here is my opinion of this experiment. Both speakers are excellent at what they do. Both have their negatives and positives. The B&K were very accurate, quick and well defined and represented all the genres of music with clarity and ease. Never did they become harsh or strained. They are worth every penny spent on them. The musicality was really beyond reproach and made me drool. Nice sound, nice soundstage and depth, effortless at any volume, clarity was just out of this world. I could love them every bit as much as my Polks ($2000.00 new). A major difference between the Polks and B&W was in definition and clarity, got to give the edge to B&W. This said the single largest difference noted was the soundstage. The 3.1TL soundstage blew the grilles off the B&W although the B&W was no slouch in that department either but just could not keep up with the Polks gigantic stage presence.
Final conclusion: I'm not gonna divorce my Polks but will take the B&Ks as a younger mistress LOL. I want them both! Thank goodness I don't have to choose one over the other. Those of us who have and love their vintage SDA's can rest assured that the old babes can keep up with the modern younger beauties. And they both are beauties but both have their flaws. I'd have to say the experiment ended in an overall tie with a ever so slight edge going to the B&W. Now I do believe that the recent mods made to the Polks allowed them to be competitive against these B&W's. If it had not been for those modifications the 3.1TLs would have sucked eggs in all departments except soundstage. As it is modified the old nag can run with the best 3 year olds.

Love my Polks!!!!!

westmassguy

Nice write-up Gunther.

Gunther16

Thanks David

F1nut

I demoed the 802 D3 a few weeks ago. You're far kinder in your review than mine would be for the 802 D3.

Gunther16

F1 maybe the difference was that I was able to do a side by side using the same equipment and I think the 803s are an equal to the 3.1TL speaking size and spec wise!
They were really easy to listen to. Still love my Polks all things considered!

honestaquarian

Well said!

Nightfall

Wait, B&K makes speakers?

Dennis Gardner

I'm glad that you got the chance to A/B them. I wasn't a huge fan of the 803, but found the 802D to be something that I could live with if I had a huge dedicated room to fill. Those diamond tweeters seem to need open space and I found that in a large room seated back 12-14 feet, they excelled.

Gunther16

Ha, somebody out there is a stickler. Good catch, B&K not, B&W yea. Must be the lingering effect of the Don Julio!

Nightfall

I believe @DarqueKnight when he says he has auditioned some very expensive speakers and nothing has touched the soundstage of the SDA's. I recall him saying he found some that were close but you had to keep your head in a vice.

Hope you had fun.

Gunther16

I believe he's right, I don't think that there are any that do what the SDA's do for a soundstage. At least I have not heard any!

indyhawg

Nice review and comparison. Thanks for sharing.

Mike Reeter

Once again, proof that the SDA's can compete with speakers 4-5 times their price.

Good stuff!

xschop

Great apples/apples review. Same room/equipment and tunes gives it that double-blind testing standard without the placebo.
I'll be watching CL for a set now. Shame on you.

Seriously, good stuff.

nguyendot

I was offered a pair of 803D2s from Magnolia DC for $5k. Super tempted but my wife would kill me.

mikeyb128

http://polksda.com/pdfs/SRS3.1TLBrochure.pdf

Thought this was cool, I'm sure you vintage nuts have already seen this though.

RandyCroissant

I wish they still made them

Gunther16

nguy, you sure they didn't mean each? I think I'd pick them up for $5 grand for a pair if I could afford it. Would have my old nag and the mistress LOL

K_M

Nice comparison!
Just do not go to a B+W forum and expect the same results

Audio is a learning curve though. With more in depth listening, you will more be able to focus in on other attributes of the B+W that are superior.

You will eventually find a much more resolving sound, more detail, and clarity, and a more realistic pinpoint imaging.

Simply in a different league all together, but maybe it was the beers...lol

Gunther16

KM, I'm sure the B&W fans would be in an uproar that a lowly Polk peasant would compete with the royal B&W. Just so you know I been listening to high quality audio all my life and am well versed in critical listening and I'm no spring chicken. If you noticed I did have to give the final edge to the B&W but not by as much margin as you may think it should be. I gave a completely honest comparison opinion and also mentioned that the Polks did have major mods done recently which I'm sure helped them a lot in detail and clarity. I was extremely objective Yes, they are different and the same simultaneously. Both are excellent at what they do and how they sound. The B&W are worth the cost but the old nag hangs in there with them.
PS the beers did not happen till later in the evening but may had some effect on both speakers performance.

F1nut

Like Gunther I too have been listening to high quality audio all my life and am well versed in critical listening. I'm no spring chicken either, but not over the hill yet.

The speakers were set up properly in a dedicated listening room being feed by high quality gear. I approached this demo with eyes closed and an open mind.

On the positive side I thought the B&W's had a good tone and quick, tight bass. The fact that they had a good tone surprised me as that's one thing I could never say about the B&W sound until now. The fit and finish is top notch.

On the negative side they were distinctly left and right with nothing outside the speakers and a weak center image. Despite my moving the listening chair back and forth in the room that didn't change much, so horrible imaging. I found the height and depth to be lacking, so no scale either. None of that surprised me as that has been my previous experience with every B&W speaker I've heard.

Gunther16

Agree with F1, Took some time to set them up to where they were at their best within my listening environment. (It is possible that my faulty environment gave me a better experience). That said I can honestly say that F1's experience was exactly what I was experiencing during positioning, No depth, nothing outside the left/right and weak imaging, no depth and scale. But once I had them in correct position they improved dramatically although it did nothing for the rooms aesthetics. Best depth was obtained by the speaker positioned 3.5ft from back wall facing straight forward, this was at a loss of low frequency. Regardless of where they were positioned there was a loss of some aspect, Depth, width, imaging, treble, bass etc. Had to find a compromise between all aspects. Not an easy task. The actual listening started at 3PM but setup and positioning started at 9AM so it took a long time to find that sweet compromised spot. (Thanks for gliders). Final position was 18 inches from back wall, 40 inches from sidewalls, slightly toed in, maybe 10 degrees. Once the best position was found depth, imaging etc was quite nice as was the soundstage. Note: Nothing like the soundstage of the Polks though. Overall very enjoyable other than the setup. Honestly that part was really tedious.

F1nut

My best result was sitting 5 feet away....just a bit close, IMO.

Dennis Gardner

F1nut wrote: »

My best result was sitting 5 feet away....just a bit close, IMO.

Funny! That happens with a lot of speakers once you have experienced the SDA soundfield. Getting that close is the only way of acoustically omitting the crosstalk!

nguyendot

Gunther16 wrote: »

nguy, you sure they didn't mean each? I think I'd pick them up for $5 grand for a pair if I could afford it. Would have my old nag and the mistress LOL

Pair. It's quite a great deal but $5k is $5k.