http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=1159&sc=hf

I've never heard any B&W stuff, just seen the review of these recently. What do people more experienced in these matters feel? Roughly the same price as the Lab5s, not got the looks to my mind. Any comments?

Not as well built or designed as BeoLab 5s, but they really do sound stunning.

A good match is Naim power amps. Timing like you've never heard! Very musical!

All in all though, once you really spend as much as you should on amps and room treatment etc... it can get more than twice as expensive as a pair of BeoLab 5s, which while it will sound very different to 5s, they don't sound quite as 'smooth' yet still driving as the 5s.

Low frequency extension is a bit disappointing considering their size though...

I'll trundle out the warhorse comparison photo again:

What you're seeing on the ground next to the B&W is a quite expensive Classé monobloc amplifier which the 800D requires to get going.

They were set up in an acoustically perfect environment. The BL5 held its own, but there's absolutely no reason to think that the B&W is inferior in any way except for the fact that it has an outside amp. The diamond tweeter on the 800D is sharp and precise, and the bottom snaps with fast attacks and decays -- no rumble whatsoever.

Yet in the comparison the BL5 had ears far better than mine engaged and impressed. The BL5 should have balanced connections, as well as AES/EBU digital IN -- that would nudge it into pro territory. 

I don't suppose you've heard the 801Ds Stein? In some ways preferable to the 800D, but more difficult to get sounding right. Also, much more difficult to power!

Alex:

Not as well built or designed as BeoLab 5s, but they really do sound stunning.

Well I don't agree with that statement. B&W does also produce high quality products like their 800 Series' ones.
This company uses high quality material and investments in R&D are important.

Not being an Audiophile but a Beofan, I also recognize that B&W had produced a beautiful piece of Art & Technology like the Nautilus.
I always dreamed of this marvelous set of loudspeakers.

Meantime, that does not exclude the fact that the BL5's  turn me on. Really.

Guy 

I was a proud owner of a pair Nautilus 802 and a HTM-1 Center speaker, and two Nautilus SCM in the rear. The whole set was driven by a Denon AVC-1SE.

The N802 is a fantastic loudspeaker with no doubt! However, I was unable to control the N802 in my room to get a decent sound result.(I always had the sound in mind during the several test I did at the dealer, it was just wow) So it did not worked out for me. Also I was tiered to take care of so many settings of the Denon to just watch a movie so I sold the whole set.

Now a couple of years later I upgraded my BV3-32 set with four BL3 and a BL2 with the BL5 and a BS3.

From the stereo point of view I do not miss anything, also the lab5 is (at least for my room) much easier to deal with to get great sound. Also the bass power is amazing!!! (not that the 802 are weak, the only other speaker I heard before with this bass performace was a Focal Diva Utopia Be)

My only challenge is the center speaker. I started with a lab 3 and now have a 7-4. Both are unable to match the lab5, it feels like a whole in the middle....with N802 and the HTM1 center it never felt like that.Maybe I should try a lab9 :-))

Would I switch my lab 5 and the nice lab3 to a B&W set back? For my living room with no doubt no, for a dedicated room maybe...(center issue)

Karsten

Oh B&W make absolutely marvelous speakers, really, but at the and of the day it does not matter how many wizz bang tricks the 800D can pull off, nothing beats the BL5's impeccable simplicity... NOTHING! BL5 makes all other speakers look inferior and 'yestertech' (even if they are as competent to the ears) and finally look at the price quote. Enough said.

Karsten, try 5 x Beolab 5

I've been vacillating between B&W and B&O myself, and as you can see above went as far as to run them against one another. Following that informal "test" I have been listening to BL5s and BL3s in lots of various setups, and my ears seem to really appreciate what the acoustic lens can do with music. I haven't spent enough time listening to BL9 yet - just one session - but the same lens "imprint" was present, and favourably so.

Given the capabilities of the BL5, plus the possibility of "tuning" them with DSP and upgrades, as well as the fact that you can combine them with lots of different sources -- I ended up choosing in favour of the BL5s. To me, they represent the future of audio. (In spite of their having been around since 2003).

The B&W speakers are wonderful performers, but if they're on the table, then there are actually a lot of different speakers on the market worth looking at, in the same price category (taking into account you need separate amplifiers). MBL's speakers for instance deliver a tone that nudge acoustic lens territory, and that I also find very correct compared to actual performance - you also have great flexibility in dialing in your preferred tone with MBL.
But I'm not into filling the listening room with technology, and find having ICEpower amps inside the speakers quite satisfactory, in spite of the characteristics of Class D amplification. (There's a reason why the amp's in the BL9s are hybrid ...)

Have you had a chance to listen to the centre channel on the BV9 yet?

Nicholas 

Listen to 5 lab5 would be a dream....however, I guess the lab 5 as rears will not make a big difference in multichannel audio (forget the speaker 4 mode for a  moment). From my expierience the center channel is more important.

That would be a wonderful weekend to have a lab 9, lab 5, lab 7-3 and a 7-2 for a test drive.....:-) The only problem is the hight of the lab 5, in my setup the top lens will cover the lower part of the screen and plasma already.

Anyway, I will ask my dealer if it could support me for that type of test, maybe some of you would like come along and we do some test sessions.

Kartsen

Well then maybe a BL9 in the middle will fill the void your experiencing, keep us posted on that comparison, preferably Andy T - style!