I've owned a pair of 802s for about six months now. The improvement over my ACI Saphire III/Sub 1 combination was dramatic. Coherent and tight bass that extends cleanly and with good volume to ~30hz without boom. The mids and highs are well integrated with the mids being very open sounding. Very detailed and musical sounding overall. Soundstaging is quite good, you get what is on the recording. My electronics are a SF Line 1, McCormack DNA-1 DLX, Meridian 508 CD, and Transparent Super cabling.

I heard them once and directly fell in love with them.At the moment i'm saving money to buy them and i will not stop untill i reach my goal. It will take a while though since i'm only 21 and not earning that much money yet...

Does anybody know a cheap adress to buy them? or a second hand pair in the neighborhood of The Netherlands?
Please keep me informed!

I've owned B&W 802 Series III's for three years. They replaced a pair of Celestion SL6S mini-monitors. The B&W 802's are outstanding. They have revealed musical detail I never thought possible. They have taken my listening sessions to a higher level. Soundstaging is great, midrange is smooth and bass is tight. My 802's are powered by a Bryston 3B amp. Other equipment: Bryston BP20 pre-amp, Proceed CD Player, Transparent MusicWavePlus speaker cables and Power Wedge 116 Power Conditioner. These speakers are also beautiful. Mine are black and look like sculpture in our urban high-rise apartment.

I have owned the B&W Matrix 802 series 3 for a little over 1 year. As a music lover and musician, I cannot say enough about the soundstage, detailing, imaging, and correct timbre of intstruments played through the B&W's. In fact, the resolution is so great that I had to update the rest of my system. Now, with a Threshold STASIS SA/5e power amplifier, the range and "musicality" is incredible. I heard new levels of detailing and ambiance on CD's that I thought I was intimately familiar with.
The B&W's are truly a monitor speaker (presumably, this is why may classical recording studios use B&W's during the recoding/mastering process). But this is a double edged sword. If the CD is recorded and mastered well, then the B&W's will shine and take you to new levels of music heaven. But if the CD quality is bad, the sound will be just as bad. These speakers can really show flaws in a CD (as well as associated equipment). Thus, one needs to obtain the best recorded and mastered CD's (and associated equipment) in order to reap the full benefit from the B&W's. Also a pair of stands helps a great deal - I use the Arcici stands filled with lead shot - to tighten up the bass.

I used to change and update speaker quite a lot in the past, but that thought has not even crossed my mind with the B&W's. Yes, there's that good.

It has often been said that nothing moves the spirit like music. Well, the B&W's let your spirit fly!

I listened to a pair of these at my dealer (Audio Images) and I haven't heard a *dynamic* speaker I like more. They had very tight bass and smooth, accurate midrange reproduction. Female vocals were liquid-like in their realism and flow. With the right gear, these speakers will work miracles for your LP's or CD's. I specifically listened to Jeniffer Warnes' "The Hunter" album, which includes some very good test tracks on it. The second track includes a bass guitar that can sound muddy or uncontrolled on lesser equipment. With the 802's, the strings were tightly plucked and the decay was just right. I was amazed at how well-controlled the bass was. These speakers are, in my opinion, the best available. Good work B&W! If I had one more option, I might consider Martin Logan's, as I like the performance characteristics of the electrostatic panels. Anyway, to anyone looking for a top-notch set of speakers, who should also have deep pockets, these are probably the best speakers you'll find anywhere!

I listened to these speakers at the dealer`s, compared them to Thiel, Spendor, Rogers, and found these to be the most realistic speakers that I had found for the money. I`m going to go buy them tomorrow. I don`t thing the new nautilus series is that significant of an improvement over the Matrix series to warrant a doubling in price, but I`m sure there will be those who disagree. Anyway, these replace 10 year old Polk SDA 1-C speakers and I am really looking forward to connecting them up to my system

Great Speaker in overall music and home-theater, but need a careful positioning and good stand.

Associated Components: Krell KAV 250a, Krell KRC-3, Meridian 508.24, Kimber's Interconnect and Speaker Cable

Until recently, I had a pair of Matrix 805s, and an 800ASW subwoofer. Great system, however I was never able to get the sub to integrate perfectly. I've been looking around over the last few months for full range speakers. When my usual dealer told me that they had one last pair of 802s at close out prices, I jumped at them.
I listened to PSB, Mission, Mirage, Paradigm, Definitive, NHT, Martin-Logan and a few others. In the end, nothing came close. They 802s have the same glorious mids and highs that the 805s are famous for, and fill in the bottom octaves with ease. While the 800ASW was able to belt out more bass, the quality of the 802's bottom end is simply outstanding. The bass isn't boomy or 'pushy', it's just there. Perfection!

I biamp with an Arcam Alpha 9/9P combination. Backend is a cheezy CD player which is slated for upgrade when my bank account recovers from the speaker purchase ;)

I have owned the 802 IIIs for a little over two years now. This is a very well integrated 3 way with nice taught bass, an open and detailed midrange, and smooth extended highs. Excellent on music, works very well in a HT system too. The 802s are quite efficient, but a high current amplifier with good bass control and neutral sound (not bright, but not overly sweet) seems to work best.
I have mine set on Sound Design stands and use large Poly Crystal cones which recently replaced a set of brass cones. This last change at first seemed to make the 802s brighter, but I realized that the bass was even tighter and better integrated with the midband. A well worthwhile tweak.

Bought used or at close out prices the 802 is more then competitive with any other speakers costing 2000 - 3000, and will hold its own against speakers costing alot more.

All in all the 802 is a keeper.

"BMW's" Mr. La Selva?BMW has never made an 802. Thier product line consists of the 300, 500 and 700 series and they are all FAR more expensive than any Paradigm loudspeaker!
Anyway, I had a chance to listen to some of the __B&W__ lines (300, 600, 800) last week, and I must say that they *all* have truely excellent high's and midrange. Only the Matrix 801's, Nautilus 801's and 802's have sufficient bass response IMO.
I didn't give a critical listen though - the only ones I could live with (N & M 801's, N 802's) were far and away out of my price range. Like a BMW. I too will stick with my Paradigms for a little while longer (Studio 80's).
Rick