What are your general thoughts of B&W speakers

1. Everyone's got an opinion. Yours is the one that matters most. Now that this caveat is out of the way...

2. If you've heard 804s and are still asking about 800 Diamond line, you've probably already decided you liked what you heard...good start.

3. Some observations about 800s. They need a lot of high current to really have the full runway to play music for you. High quality, high power, high current.

4. They come from a background of studio monitors...the treble can be quite precise, and one is not careful...might be a bit sharp...due to co-ownership?, Classe and B&W are often linked together. I have heard the match, and it is a good one.

5. Bass on the bigger B&Ws (800, 801, 802) take a lot of energy to snap properly...one of the first things to go if you have a weak amp is flabby bass...this speaker more than most.

Value for money...a big plus here. You get a lot of speaker here for the money...particularly in this day and age of rising audio prices for the new new thing.

For that kind of money, i would look at Quad 2905...but it wont have nearly the dynamic power/muscle, the SF Extremas or Guarneris...paired with a sub...very different from B&W...you'll get the magic midrange of SF plus big bass power. But the 800 will provide a very solid upper bass/lower midrange presentation that will be tough to beat with a smaller monitor/sub.

One man's opinion. Good luck and enjoy.

Andyprice44,

Clearly negative sentiment here for B&Ws. For 8K, picking up a pair of 801s or possibly 800s is still a ton of speaker in terms of range of sound. As evidenced above, you have to like it obviously. And they really need high power, high current, high quality amplification.

FWIW, my other suggestions (Guarneris with sub, 2905s, etc)...are speakers i personally would prefer over 800s, 801s. I have truly liked only 1 B&W speaker the 805 silver signature...and even that one, i had others i preferred for the money.

That said, its your ears. good luck.

When did B&W start using curved speakers? I ask because i recall the SF Guarneri came out in 1994 and given their continued success (18 years!), i imagine they too inspired a number of curved speakers.