B&W 702 Signature vs The original B&W 702 S2

I’ve owned many of the recent B&W speakers, including the 702S2’s.  They were very nice for the price point.  The new 702’s are darker sounding and overall not as good a value as your 702’s.  I also had the 804D2’s,  802D2’s and now the 802D3’s.  The Diamonds are special and once heard, addictive.  I would get the 804D3’s or 803D3’s....both are great but the 803D3’s are a whole other level of wow!

I owned the 703s (order version of the 702s) and I think they are really bad (first “highend” speaker and I did not know any better). There is some thing very odd with the upper mids around 4-5k range. The current 804d3 do the same thing imo. It is just the voicing. They also lack bass and need to be played loud to come alive.
I would try to by a used pair of focal 1028be,1038be, Thiel 2.4CS. All of which will be more natural with more bass than the 702.

Just demo other brands before moving up the B&W line to make sure it is really what you want.

The B&W’s are revealing and must be mated properly and placed appropriately.  It’s really not that hard and the reward is a stunningly lifelike recreation of a recording. I’ve owned Focal speakers...boring.

Dave B

Thank you for your opinion on the Signatures. My 702 S2 have more then enough power from my McIntosh.