I have owned both and will try my best to put into words the differences. The 802S3 is a real three way speaker. This can be good and bad. It definetly goes very deep in the bass department but also lacks some of that mid bass punch that I like and prefer. The midrange unit in the 802 is superb but is very room dependent and electronics sensitive. To put it simply the 802's required a great deal of effort to sound good, almost too much effort. The N805's are a different animal. I have accepted the lack of very low 802 type bass. The punch is great, and treble cleanness is better that the 802. The 805N is also very room and electronics friendly. They never cease to amaze me in the situations that they sound good. I use my speakers for strictly two channel audio so low bass is not very much of an issue for me. I think my opinions are somewhat valid since I have owned more expensive speakers and higher end B&W's specifically. The N805 are special and always just sound great. I find myself more apt to listen to the music, then when I owned 802's and would analyze and nit pick every little detail and had little musical enjoyment.
