Replacement for 802 D3s


Hey all,

After living with them for a few months, I'm looking to replace my B&W 802 D3s. While they offer great detail and soundstage, the sound is too bright and thin for our space. My room is fairly large (roughly 20'x30') and the speakers are on the long wall. The rest of the system includes...

Mac c2700 & MA 462
Aurender ACS100
VPI Prime Signature

The speakers I'm considering (and about to start auditioning) include...

KEF Blades
Paradigm Persona 9H
Wilson Audio Sasha DAW

I'm also considering Revel & Harbeth from a local dealer and am trying to find a dealer to demo Sonus Faber Amati Traditions and Il Cremonese.

I would be interested in any perspective from people who have owned any of these speakers and lived with them in their system for some time. Whatever we end up with has to not only sound great, but also look fantastic in a contemporary aesthetic.

Many thanks for any feedback...


beach2mtn
Have you looked at Wison Benesch?  There are not a ton of dealers out there to help you with auditions but they are brilliant speakers and will be a bit more natural sounding than B&W.  I would look at the A.C.T. One.  

Vivid Audio is not necessarily going to be significantly less bright, (Laurence Dickey is ex B&W and designed the Matrix and Nautilus lines) but these are incredible sounding.  Aesthetically, you either love them or hate them but few critique the sound.  A Giya G3 should deliver very room filling sound.  

Both of these are some of the best engineered speakers in the world and would be first choices for me.  I am in the process of becoming a dealer for both brands and could blather on for pages for why both.  Cabinet materials, driver design, etc... all make them fabulous.

Regarding other options:

Rockport makes insanely good speakers and again, are a bit more natural sounding.  Wonderful engineering and you can't go wrong with the.

Vimberg or Tidal - they take a while to get but are awesome speakers.  

YG and Magico - Aluminum cabinet and both are worth a listen.  YG has an awesome upgrade path.  




The 802s are sooo young.  Give them a few more months to breakin and mellow out.    Add some absorption panels to room and a carpet. Set crossovers to 40.  Get a sub for less than 40. 

With your ACS100 I assume you use Roon and would be able to tweak annoying frequency area in DSP. Not trying to change your mind about buying new speakers, just troubleshooting what the issue is. You did not mention any room treatments, nor if you have used Room EQ Wizard to find out what is really happening at your listening position.  Personally, I would do the work of finding out what my room is doing acoustically and from there choose speakers that match the environment or EQ in the digital domain to work in your room.
Another one that can sound incredible in a large room is Legacy Audio Aeris, IF you can get their proprietary internet based room correction run just right.  I have heard it sound incredible and I have heard it sound like the setup was not quite right.  You won't find many speakers that can compete in reproducing deep male vocals with the Aeris if they are set up right.  Try Leonard Cohen's You Want it Darker for a test track. 
I demo'd KEF and Paradigm Persona, Legacy Aeris and Wilson Daw before settling on Sonus Faber Amati Tradition Homage speakers.  The SF's easily filled my room which was 20 x 40.  For me the KEF and Persona's were to bright.  I am definitely not a fan of B&W.  

With that budget you should look at YG Acoustic.  It is the best non horn speaker that I have heard.  I have since sold the SF's and moved onto to Viking Acoustic Grande Voix.duea horn speakers.  They easily are better than my previous SF Amati's and cost way less.  They even passed the wife test from an architectural looking speaker.  If you would consider a horn, you should take a look at the Viking Acoustic website or even call David Counsell at Viking.