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B & W 801 series 2 advise/decision

lakegville

lakegville

Active Member
OK....i will admit that things are a little out of hand around here with speaker acquisitions but is that not part of the wonder of this beautiful site....you will not be chastised for such things? Due to some special circumstances i am working on an accelerated bucket list of speakers that everyone here speaks of. Anyway, i am not really in a position to be able to acquire speakers that are not say... fairly local so when these showed for sale in the backyard i have to give them some special consideration because they may not show up again around here. I think this is a very special speaker and one that would be worthy of BL status.....but i was hoping for some advise from folks more in the know than me....you all! My perception of B & W is they make some very serious speakers and others that are not as much.....ones that are produced from the sales marketing teams that look pretty with WAF and profits in mind. I think this is one of the serious one....but am not sure any advise would help because even though i think the price is fair they are still a big hunk of cash for a mistake. i am not able to go audition/listen to before purchase. Thanks in advance very much. FYI i have a good many electronic options to drive them and a access to a good sized room.
 
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They were good enough for abbey studios. I have a set of 802s laying around. They like lots of good clean watts and I thought were great. I recently went a different route with some Martin Logan odysseys. In any case imo they are accurate and detailed speakers
 
I always thought the 801 series were to forward in the midrange spectrum From about 400 to 1.6 Khz. The highs were nice, the bass was good. But I think the 802 and of course the 800 were much better speakers until they got the balance wrong with the diamond tweeters. It seemed like every time I walked in to shops the balance had changed with the latest derivation. So depending on which version of 802 you have I think its a better speaker. Of course you can always spend hours getting the 801 correctly positioned and your room dialed in. If you do that I imagine you'll be happy. But right out of the gate I would rather have a pair of Snells top line editions and I own neither.
 
I had 802 Series 80s and I liked their sound quality a lot, but I could never get them to play very loudly on 150 WPC. At full volume I could have an (almost) normal conversation while they were playing.
 
Zonker92 said:
I had 802 Series 80s and I liked their sound quality a lot, but I could never get them to play very loudly on 150 WPC. At full volume I could have an (almost) normal conversation while they were playing.
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Strange you say that because as meaty and mean as these things look i figured they would really get the air moving. I have silly amounts of power (up to a 2200 per channel crown) that i can tie to them but i want them to be the kind of speaker that thrives on power and seems to get better the more power/vol they get. This talk about full volume while having a normal conversation has me concerned because that is not what i was hoping for. I know that they will not be as efficient as say my Cornwalls but as heavy as this things are (150lbs per speaker) i would expect them with proper power to "bring it" and feel them in the foundation?
 
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200 watts of good clean power will work fine and play at plenty of volume. Make sure you get the bass control unit with them and if they don't come with stands, you'll need to get them off the floor 10-16". Of all the B&W's the 801's are my favorites for sound, not looks.
 
If below say $2750, I'd snap them up. Nice speakers for the long haul. Had my 802/3s since new.
 
I heard the 801 diamond in the magnolia section of best buy. They sounded awesome. Maybe you can demo in best buy if ones near you. Will give you an idea of their sound.
 
One of my favorite speakers! Condition and finish is everything when determining value.

If everything checks out and you like their condition and price, rest assured that you're dealing with FANTASTIC speakers that bring life and airiness to vocals and cast an impressive sound stage. Almost holographic in the right room. Bass is musical, punchy, and deep.

As far as power is concerned, look into the HCA-2200 MKii. It's a major value for amplification that would pair very well with these.

I've heard them in a somewhat cramped room too. They were awesome there too.

I'm jealous...
 
Hay,

I had a pair of the 808's for a few years, they're 2 801's in one cabinet. They were a gift from the original owner. He said when he bought them, he purchased 2 McIntosh 500 watt power amps to drive them. All I have is my Toshiba SA-7150 receiver, 160 watts a side. I was able to get them loud enough so that both mine and my boy's ears rang for about 3 hours afterwards. This was after about 1.5 minutes of listening time. It wasn't because of clipping or distortion, it was because of sound pressure. It's huge. The owners manual has a little paragraph that gives you the times versus power input and how long you can listen without permanent ear damage. At full power, you can only get about 90 seconds of listening time in. 126 decibels, yo.

I sold them because I wasn't able to do speaker rolling, easily. These come in at 172 pounds a piece. Getting them outside and stashed in the garage repeatedly just wasn't in the cards.

BW808.jpg


Biggles
 
Are we talking about the vintage matrix 801 or the newer nautilus or diamond 801. Big difference in sound (as others have mentioned) and price of course.
 
edwyun said:
Are we talking about the vintage matrix 801 or the newer nautilus or diamond 801. Big difference in sound (as others have mentioned) and price of course.
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I believe he was asking about Matrix 801 S2. There is no 801 in Diamond series, last 801 was Nautilus. I used to have Matrix 802 S3. Series 2 and 3 are rather close, but many believe S2 had better crossover. When buying speakers that old (they are from early 1990s), pay most attention to lack of any damage to drivers. Specifically I would look at hairline cracks in rubber surrounding of bass drivers (this is why I sold mine). Also remove cover from tweeters and inspect them too for any sign of damage, there should be nothing suspicious. Get a really bright flash light with your for inspection.

These speakers like good power - easily take 500W or more. But they also work reasonably well with 50-100W of tube power.

Regarding price - do not pay more than $1500 for these speakers if they are in excellent condition.

Of cause if he made a mistake in title and talks about 800 or 802 from D2 series, then there is no reason to wait if price is right (here I mean less than 70% of retail) and funds are available. These speakers are among the best on the market regardless of price.
 
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Thought so too but not the other posts.

$1500 is 802 range. $1500 for 801 would be a steal for mint condition of which there are usually many.
 
801 series 80 often go for $1,000 or less. 808 should be around 3 dB more sensitive than 801 so 160 watts into them would be like 320 into an 801. I read somewhere that studios often had 500/channel on hand to drive the original 801's. I'm always on the lookout for a pair of 808's (and ADS L2030 of course). IMO the 801 was not a good choice for a studio monitor, it just wouldn't play loud enough. B&W replaced a lot of woofers under warranty, and APOC took care of the other drivers. The pair I restored had been pushed very hard indeed, as many were. Most people would be shocked at the levels used in studio environments, especially late in the work day.
 
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