The 803 is probably more speaker than you need for that size room.

The 804 is what I would recommend, if you are set on one of those and don't want to find out what sounds better.

I see them at $7500 per pair, although you may be able to get a better price.

I have listened to them though, and my personal opinion is that there are MANY better-sounding speakers at that price. They are fairly good speakers; just not the best by any means.

I bought a pair of Vandersteen Treo speakers a year ago for $7000, and I do not think the 803 (or the 804) sound half as good. They are just not in the same sonic class as the Vandersteen Treos (nor are they as attractive; the Treo is available in 10 different fine wood veneers).

Also, the Focal Aria 936 speakers sound (and look) much better than the 804 IMO, and they can be had for $4000 per pair; an outstanding value.

But if you want to buy B & W, just be aware that you are paying about two times what they are worth, for a speaker that is only fairly good. Some people think the name is worth it, but I prefer to get the best-sounding speaker for my money; not just a name.

OP-

when considering a large purchase such as this one, go out there and listen, listen and listen to the various loudspeakers!

GEt a loan buy the 802Ds
You will never look back
dont need a sub
others will say mine is just as good as a 802D
you know better

Been awhile since i posted. I was recently in the same boat when looking to upgrade and ended up buying up to the 802Ds. I think the difference between the 802 and 803 is one of the wider gaps in the 800's series range.

Personally i found the 802 a bit cleaner in the mid range and fuller in the upper bass. I agree with Laen that you can certainly run them without a sub, but a nice sub will give you that last octave. But I think i would take the 802 with no sub opposed to 803 with sub.

Also just went through the same on the center channel. I went with the HTM4 and it works perfectly. Its true that the HTM2 is a better match but if you are in a smaller room you can get away with the HTM4 but in bigger rooms it will sound noticeably smaller. Should also not that the HTM2 requires good amps since its similar to the 802 and has a fairly low impedance drop in lower frequencies

Hope that helps

B&W is not the company of the 70's, 80's and 90's. They are outclassed in sound and value by Vandersteen, Focal, and I would say Paradigm and Triangle.

There are lots of fine sounding speakers in the 3k to say 15k or 20k dollar range. Don't decide with your pocket book. There are many better speakers in that range than the B&W. Also, buy from a large manufacture like one of them mentioned. The larger the company (in general) the more consistent the output and often better the support.

The topic is 803 vs 804.

Not B&W vs. the world.

However, as good as the Vandersteen Treos truly are, the B&W 803/804 are significantly more sensitive; yielding significantly louder sound levels with exact same power at a sensitivity of 90db compared to 85db of the Vandersteens. The B&W's also reach down into exact same lower range ...around 35Hz..as the Vandersteen's. (36Hz).

While I have not auditioned EITHER speaker, I HAVE auditioned many Bowers & Wilkins models and owned the CM5's for awhile and regret selling them for temporary financial hardship to this day. I plan on either buying Bowers & Wilkins AGAIN, or Magnepans.

Back to the topic: just reinforcing your decision to buy B&W IS a GREAT ONE! As for 803 vs 804, the only real difference I see; and it may in fact be critical when you audition them, is the 803 goes to 35Hz, and the 804 to 38Hz. Though they don't say it, the 803 may be louder with the additional Bass driver. So, in nutshell, you may get that chest thumping Bass out of the 803 vs. just "very good" from the 804....

But please don't be swayed from B&W!

Best of luck,

Ron

ps. Here is a very compelling quote from another speaker (psb) website with this interesting fact:
"it takes twice the amount of power to produce an increase of only 3 dB in sound volume. That means, given the example of the PSB speaker above, an amplifier with 100 watts of power would need 200 watts of power to increase from 84 dB to 87 dB! "

SO, with the *5* db difference between those Vandersteens and either B&W, you will need about 300% the power to drive the Vandersteens to the same level of the B&Ws. Yikes. Last I looked, the price jump from an Integrated or amp that drive 80-100watts vs. one that drives 300 watts is severe. The B&W's will allow you to afford a very high quality amp vs having to perhaps compromise to get the wattages required for significantly less efficient speakers.

rrstesiak wrote:

The topic is 803 vs 804.

Not B&W vs. the world.

However, as good as the Vandersteen Treos truly are, the B&W 803/804 are significantly more sensitive; yielding significantly louder sound levels with exact same power at a sensitivity of 90db compared to 85db of the Vandersteens. The B&W's also reach down into exact same lower range ...around 35Hz..as the Vandersteen's. (36Hz).

While I have not auditioned EITHER speaker, I HAVE auditioned many Bowers & Wilkins models and owned the CM5's for awhile and regret selling them for temporary financial hardship to this day. I plan on either buying Bowers & Wilkins AGAIN, or Magnepans.

Back to the topic: just reinforcing your decision to buy B&W IS a GREAT ONE! As for 803 vs 804, the only real difference I see; and it may in fact be critical when you audition them, is the 803 goes to 35Hz, and the 804 to 38Hz. Though they don't say it, the 803 may be louder with the additional Bass driver. So, in nutshell, you may get that chest thumping Bass out of the 803 vs. just "very good" from the 804....

But please don't be swayed from B&W!

Best of luck,

Ron

ps. Here is a very compelling quote from another speaker (psb) website with this interesting fact:
"it takes twice the amount of power to produce an increase of only 3 dB in sound volume. That means, given the example of the PSB speaker above, an amplifier with 100 watts of power would need 200 watts of power to increase from 84 dB to 87 dB! "

SO, with the *5* db difference between those Vandersteens and either B&W, you will need about 300% the power to drive the Vandersteens to the same level of the B&Ws. Yikes. Last I looked, the price jump from an Integrated or amp that drive 80-100watts vs. one that drives 300 watts is severe. The B&W's will allow you to afford a very high quality amp vs having to perhaps compromise to get the wattages required for significantly less efficient speakers.

You don't need a big amp with inefficient speakers in a relatively small room. Also, efficiency and sensitivity aren't the same thing, while they are related. And most importantly, how even is the sensitivity plot? And does it change at higher volume? The keys to the kingdom when it comes to the sensitivity issue is the wideband sensitivity, and, I suspect, this is why Vandersteens and Focal do so well with relatively low powered amplifiers.

There's always a more important story to tell if you ask more questions.