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802 D3 vs Revel Salon 2

MattHooper

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I've always found B&Ws to be a somewhat distracting speaker to listen to. I'm always so aware of the tweeter. First of all they tend to have a frequency response with dips that make the highs stick out, and then they have this very obvious tweeter mounted detached on top, so that also helps my mind map the sound to the tweeter. So I tend to think of B&Ws as not having coherent high frequencies but a "detached tweeter" sound that sticks out.

Still, I was sort of pleasantly surprised when I auditioned the B&W 803D, against the Paradigm Persona 7F. I'd auditioned the Persona's before and found them very competent, kind of Revel-sounding, with the exception of the highs which I found made me fatigued of listening after a while.
Then later I got to hear them again compared to the B&Ws (same room, speakers being switched out). I preferred the B&Ws. They sounded more colored, but it came off as a bit more "colorful" making the Paradigms seem a little bland in comparison. The B&Ws highs sparkled, but sounded really clean so it seemed to add an enjoyable bit of shine. That said, I didn't listen long enough to really get the sense if I'd get ear fatigue. (Likely, I'm sensitive to that).

I actually like the looks of the B&W, a bit odd but "deliberate" looking and high finish and craftsmanship evident.
 

Cadguy

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I recently auditioned the B&W 803Ds with Simaudio Moon 400 monoblocks at a dealer streaming tracks that I use for speaker listening tests. I chose some of my favorite treble torture tracks. I've read a lot of criticism of the B&W treble and since I'm very sensitive to brightness I expected I would be driven out of the room in short order. However the demo room was very heavily (over) treated to the point where my hand clap test produced no echo at all and in that space the 803D's treble sounded rolled off. There wasn't any of that "sparkle" or "airiness" that audiophiles love (I don't). The dealer said they weren't using any room correction and I believe it because the bass on the other hand sounded heavy, bloated, and "one note".
 

atsmusic

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Can someone please explain to me in some detail what the measurements of the 803 d3 really mean? I am new here and could use a brief overview of what they actually are saying. Thank you.
 
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