B&W 803d vs 804d2

Depending on what your requirements are for speakers, for example, the 803 has extra bass driver and larger cabinet for deeper stronger bass in a large room whereas 804 is designed for a smaller room. That said, I found little to no difference when I compared the 802D vs. the 802 D2. I would suspect a similar outcome with 803D vs. 804 D2 except for the difference I described above. I've stated this before in other threads and took some heat from certain individuals, but I have stood by my opinion on this. I am not alone in this opinion as many B&W dealers have agreed with me. And the ones that thought the new D2 series was a bit better said differences were marginal at best. If money is no object and you have to have the latest design, go buy the new D2 series. But if money is a concern than the 803D is by far the better value. IMHO.

Also depends on what electronics you have or plan to have. I drive 804S with 75Wpc tube amp and love it, but the 803D needs a lot more power to get the best out of it. At the time I tried a McIntosh MC252, 250Wpc SS, and my MC275 and preferred the 75W amp.

I had a pair of 803d's in a medium size room - 17 x 13 and thought they over powered it and took them out. The 804d2's may have been a better fit, though I never compared the two. My 803d's did love power though. Went from 1 MC352 to 2 MC352's to a pair of MC601 Mono's and noticed improvement with each upgrade. I only used 6 to 60 watts max.