New B&W 800 Diamond series

Yeah, I tend to agree that they are not as nice looking as the current range but as you say it depends on what they sound like.

Also, I understand that they are considerably more expensive.... no surprise there then!

Richard

p.s. I know someone who has heard them so........

I quite like the new look. What's the price range?

I am told by local dealer 802 diamonds come in at  £16500, the 800' for which are too big and expensive are £22500 approx. Doug.

That's not as steep a rise as the the recent Titan upgrade.

Interesting and less than I thought.

Where can I find any pics?

Prices on the What Hi-Fi website. Pictures there too + and on the B&W website.

Keith

The 802's were £11,500 list when I bought them in 2011. Unlike Naim they don't have extravagant annual price rises making the difference over the length of time they've been around seem quite reasonable. 

They seem nice to me as well. I'll def take a listen when they are released. 

The new 803 D3

Yep, those are the ones that I saw in Steyning.

The new 803 looks like substantial improvement.

Indeed, the new 803-D3 looks now much more like the 802-D2 and 802-D3:

2 woofers (the 803-D2 had 3 woofers) and a separate midrange 'droplet'

Price is also similar to the old 802!

I'm wondering if a XS-2 will power the new 805's or should I get on the upgrade train and go for a SN2 or 250 dr? This is all very preliminary as I'm happy w/my XS-2 and I promised my girlfriend I wouldn't upgrade the current CM6 s2 speakers, but these are new and shiny! 

marcusman - I'd also be interested in that possible new pairing, as we have similar setups. I also have an XS2 (with a certain Middle East-made power supply) but with CM5 S1 speakers. Overall, I am quite happy with my setup, but like you, I can't help but wonder about potential improvements. My girlfriend also wouldn't be keen on my spending any more on upgrades, although when she heard my system after I went from a standard Sonos Connect to a Wyred for Sound modded one, she blurted out (much to her own chagrin) - "Oh my God! That sounds amazing!" 

I just sold 805s speakers, and just could not get along with them.

Looks like they also understood and realised that Kevlar on the midrange is not the ideal material for neutral and transparent sound. 

Maybe B&W will get me back now as a customer, but I am in no hurry, enjoying music on Dynaudio for now.

Hope the new material that replaces kevlar will trickle down to the 600 series. In my view once they got rid of the kevlar they have a shot at being truly great speakers, maybe among the top in the world.

lets hope the new series is fast, musical and neutral.

95KG per speaker - I'll need to reinforce the floor. Our floor is hard wood fixed to the concrete underneath, and already sports tracks made the 802Ds wheels. Only, at this price, the competition has become a whole lot more interesting, particularly for more traditional upmarket designs like the Marten Getz and the new Harbeth 40.2 but also many more exotics in the EUR 15-20K bracket. Well, I'm in no hurry to upgrade.

EJ

don't kid yourself,  the new 800 series will sound fantastic and better than the previous one.

reservations about the kevlar midrange not sounding quite that neutral addressed.

better get that floor reinforced 

However food for thought here. Franco Serblin, founder of Sonus Faber did believe that big speakers and a big sound is not needed at home, there is an interview of him on stereophile for the SF minima speaker. His exact words were the search for perfect bass is futile, when you don't have it you miss it, but when you have it, it disturbs you.

The minima was the speaker he was most proud of, a small 2 way standmount.

Hence here only the 805D3 is of interest to me, the others never were.

I remember talking to my dealer a few years ago, he was not too happy about the replacement of the 805s (£1600) with the 805d (£3750).

It may have been a better speaker, but the price hike meant that he did could not sell any of them.

The 805S was sort of replaced by the PM1....

Nowadays you can get a lot of speakers for below 2000 GBP which perform just fine with Naim kit.

@Ears To You:  You're not kidding we do have very similar system.  I have a w4s remedy which is the best $400 I've spent in awhile. I agree with @analogmusic I have a feeling these new speakers are going to sound fantastic. B&W does have good R&D and I'm sure they've come up with a winner.  Regardless I owe myself a listen.  Not sure I can afford them but who knows.....

Is your girlfriend's name also "Sarah", by any chance? About 5'7", brown hair, brown eyes? 

haha Ex-girlfriends name was "Sara"!

I was at my local dealer earlier today. They have sold B&W for many years along with Spendor, Wilson Benesch, Dynaudio, Linn, Rega and PMC.

They have been in the business for over 30 years and recently attended the factory tour for these new speakers. In their opinion they are a game changer!!!

This was with relatively modest electronics and red book material.

I cant wait to here them. specially the 804 D3