B&W 802D $14,000pr

This speaker does more things right than anything else we’ve heard! Where to start?!

Well, I guess we have to start with the D portion of the speaker, the diamond tweeter. B&W tells us the diamond tweeter is a more perfect piston than any other material. They’ve gotten the high end to exceed 80kHz before breaking up- meaning that we’re just fine in the audible range. But how does that transfer to music?

It’s smoother. The top end is extended to nether land- but there’s nary a trace of brightness or grain. The top has no zing or tin. It keeps up whatever pace you ask of it without a hint of harshness.

Now, just because a speaker is expensive doesn’t mean it won’t be zippy up top. In fact, most high end speakers we’ve heard have a pretty mean bite on top. The goal is often to grab your attention instead of serving music. I remember hearing various ribbon tweeters over the years and the calling card was always, "Listen to how crisp those highs are!" Yeah, crisp with a razor blade.

802D is a nice improvement over the classic N802. The crossover is better and more simplistic. There’s only one component between the midrange and tweeter. The blending is superb and you can’t hear anything in the way.

802D maintains B&W’s patented surroundless FST midrange driver. 802D uses B&W’s heavy duty Marlan head to house this driver. Hence we have not only a unique driver, but a structure to house it that doesn’t share any of the ringing resonance of its traditional competitors. It’s an incredibly dense material with no parallel walls. The result is the most transparent middle you’ll hear. The image is huge- any seat in the room is fine and there’s not a rumble or squawk to be heard.

We’ve had many folks audition 802D and their first reaction is always, "It’s so clear!" So starting with an open, airy middle and top end without being aggressive- is a pretty good start! What about the character?

Being a piano lover first and foremost, I’ve run 802D through its paces. Have you heard any of the beautiful recordings from the early 60s? While we have to look past a little tape hiss from the day, the sound of the big Steinway is warm and clear. The piano sings and you can hear it revealingly through the 802Ds. When you move into the digital recordings the tape hiss is gone but the recordings are mixed. You can hear some are rich and pearly (like the Brendels and Uchidas on Philips), while others are thinner and lean. Most of the big names record on labels where they’ve done it right. EMI offers grand recordings from Andsnes & Kovacevich. DGG features Argerich, Lang Lang, Li, Pollini, RCA has AX & Kissin, CBS has Perahia- they’re all super! I’ve run them all through 802Ds in comparison to other esoteric speakers and the 802Ds just feel more comfortable, more RIGHT.