At few days more than a month into my Bowers & Wilkins 802D4 speakers taking the place of their 804D2 predecessors, the initial unboxing and connection euphoria has subsided and I’ve both consumed enough music purposely and walked-in on enough tracks served randomly by Roon to evaluate these speaker’s sound signature – and more specifically, to comment on how they compare to their 804D2 predecessors in case other readers might be considering an upgrade both in 800-series size and generation.
To quickly summarize, if you can afford the upgrade, there is an immediate palpable difference delivered by the 802D4’s. Without question the bass is more solid and coherent (even though I had long ago augmented the 804D2 predecessors with a 2x7inch PV1D subwoofer, it leaves that combination well-behind), and the midrange is more open and revealing – though this may also come from improved tweeter contributions as well - the fact that I cannot tell which driver is making the magic speaks to the overall coherence, and I suspect it is some of both.
I believe the tech that Bowers & Wilkins has employed to improve this generation of Diamonds is not marketing hype – the increased cabinet stiffness, refined cross-over, improved turbine damping, new midrange driver suspension, and improved tweeter housing design among others - it all works. Already I’ve experienced many “I’ve never heard that before” moments while listening to the 802 D4s, and I was plenty-happy with the older 804 D2s. The considerable extra expense, extra mass, and extra imposition on my listening room affected by the Schwarzeneggeran 802D4’s has been worth it to me – I’ve had no buyer’s remorse. Yes, being recently retired and not of unlimited means, I did have a couple of “I did what?” moments associated with spending half-a-nice-car on a pair of speakers, but never remorse. Already, many moments of deeper music appreciation have been delivered, and if you are like me - also enjoying movies or binging the latest series with your wife or partner of choice, these experiences too have been elevated.
To detractors who comprehensively dismiss Bowers & Wilkins speakers as overly-bright, I would first and foremost state the obvious and say that this, like the great majority of choices we make in the “audiophile space” is a matter of taste. Second, I would be sure to understand their reference point when you consider it. Are they referencing 800 series or some other Bowers & Wilkins series that does not benefit from the precise and yet refined diamond tweeter? If 800 series, which generation, because each generation also has its own subtly-evolved sound signature. The point is to be careful of un-specified opinions. What I would objectively report to potential buyers of the 802D4 is that these speakers are truly reference-class, with their larger sibling 801D4 (featuring the exact same turbine head/midrange driver and nautilus tube/diamond tweeter as the 802D4) being employed in some of the top recording studios around the world – thus, they are depended upon to replay the music fed to them as accurately as possible.
As you would then expect, when properly fed with well-recorded source material through quality amplification, these loudspeakers will bring you closer to an in-studio sound than you have likely experienced before. Likewise, they will just as faithfully expose poor recordings that are not properly miked, too loud, too compressed, overly brassy or otherwise deficient. This can be readily demonstrated if you listen to close-miked tracks where peak levels are clearly pushing well into the red, or if already distorted guitar amplification (the good, textured kind) is pushed-up another level to become etched and irritating, to say nothing if you navigate the waters of many 80’s and 90’s recordings (yes – of course there is plenty of quality music from this era, but it seems that recording engineers at the time were mostly sent to the pedal-to-the-metal-school of mastering subtlety).
Audio scholars succinctly characterized the sound of the 802D4’s as monitor-like – and in my listening opinion that is, like the 802D4’s themselves, entirely accurate. This is not to say that you cannot enjoy a whiskey while you listen to the 802D4’s – of course you can. Select your source material appropriately, relax and surround yourself with aural goodness if that is what you are feeling. As an example, Brian Bromberg’s The Saga of Harrison Crabfeathers from the album Wood – (44/16 via Qobuz) will have you sipping that whiskey at the edge of the stage in an intimate jazz club, Brain’s stand-up right in front of you, drums behind, and piano off to the right. As I drifted into a musical trance enveloped by bass realism, I was honestly tricked for a flashing moment into thinking “this is a night I will never forget”. No worries, the 802D4’s allow me to recreate it anytime I want. Isn’t that the repeatable high most of us are striving for in our audio journey?
Likewise, don’t expect the 802D4’s to make excuses for recordings or sources in your collection or system that are lacking (mine exposed a bad PC audio driver in my first listening days, and I also learned that the 802D4’s do not require the same degree of toe-in as the 804D2’s – the upshot being several instances of significantly-wider sound-staging noted in my listening thus far). I think accuracy vs. “warmth” or “listenability” is a tradeoff most of us understand. If you are looking for a speaker to smooth-over everything in your collection and sound “good” no matter what it plays, you should probably consider other options. If on the other hand you crave an in-home reference experience, and like me are addicted to the visceral reaction that music can trigger when we suddenly hear something evocative or strikingly more realistic from even familiar recordings, then this speaker may well be for you. The effortless and yet often startlingly-good bass presence alone would be enough for the serious audiophile to justify their purchase. What I wasn’t expecting was the amazingly open and layer-revealing nature of the midrange and tweeter that goes above and beyond my previous reference, bringing additional life to vocals and revealing new sounds that we all crave in our deep listening sessions. Placing the 802D4’s into service marks the 5th landmark improvement in sound quality I have experienced in my audio journey of 40+ years. They are precise, visceral, and highly recommended.
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