ADTG, you are such a B&W fan-boy! Will you just buy a pair already?
On a more serious note, isn't it interesting how similar the on-axis frequency responses are? A nice bass bump and a similar but lower amplitude upper treble bump too. How convenient for in-store demos!
I listened seriously to the 801N at the time they were released, and they did not sound substantially better than the Legacy Audio Focus I was using. While comparing listening experiences over 10 years is foolhardy and silly, I do not remember the 801N having the hot treble that the 800Ds have in spades.
One weakness I definitely remember hearing on the 801N was the critical bass-midrange transition when reproducing solo piano. The 800D did not strike me as having a weakness in that regard on the same recording. Also, Wes Phillips' musings aside, I never found the imaging of the 801s, any 801, to have much in the way of depth. Not that the Legacys were very good at depth either.
The latest 800D and 802D are far and away the best B&Ws I've ever heard, though I have not heard the fugly 800s that were the rage with Stereophile's former "musician in residence" Lewis Lipnick. And the 800N test report was written by Wes Phillips, who destroyed his credibility with me forever with that preposterous review of the YG Anat he penned, where he claimed he could hear differences in power cords for the powered subwoofer sections.