I would definitely go for the 802 D3s. Those old Kevlar cones were crossed over just a little too high and it was audible. The new weave makes it to the 4 K crossover, just.
I know this series especially the 800 D3 as a good friend has a pair.
The biggest problem is the load B & W speakers present to amps. This is something they really need to do something about. There is no need for it.
This is the 802 D3 impedance curve.
Phase angles go from +45 to minus 70! Impedance is 3 ohm in the major power band. So these are 3 ohm speakers essentially.
So there is no guarantee that an amp will perform into those speakers like it will on the test bench. By the way passive biamping is a waste of time and resources.
I did get measurements from my friends set up.
Again the load presented is similar.
This is the FR and waterfall.
So those are pretty good measurements. Slightly different from stereophile. I show a bit of a dip at the 4KHz crossover, and less tweeter rise at 10 KHz. Also I show that rise is on axis so the overall room response is about right. The speakers do not sound bright to me, but if anything slightly retiring. So I think that dip at 4 K crossover is real.
I do think those diamond tweeters are slight beamers. I think those speakers are best listened too slightly off axis. I personally don't think that diamond diaphragm construction is worth the trouble.
In summary that speaker is a very good one. That not withstanding I prefer mine, but not by a lot, largely because of the better defined bass, but also because mine sound more relaxed in the mid band when the going gets tough. But then I have thrown more resources at that band.
