Hi all -
To those that know me, you know I have a love/hate relationship with my series 1 B&W 802D speakers.
Years ago I went from the N802 to Thiel speakers and regretted every moment. Out of shear panic i went back to the B&W speaker.
Now after 10 years, i’m wanting to improve my gear. First of all, is the FR20 an equal match to the 802D4 or is it more of a match to the FR30?
What are your thoughts?
I know this has nothing to do with your question but I’m curious as to what model of Thiels did you have and what didn’t you like about them?
I have a houseful of B&W speakers, none with the diamond tweeter. I have been a fan of B&W for so long I thought I would never try anything else. I have heard both the FR30 and FR20 speakers, and every thing above the bass levels thrills me to no end. The Midrange and Tweeter drivers are second to nothing in my opinion. So the question would be how much of a bass head are you? If you love big bass you might be and FR30 candidate. If not the FR20 would be fine as frog fur.
Hi, I have the 802D3 and they sound fabulous to my ears. From the various reviews, the newer 802D4 is an improvement over the D3. Having said that, you need to spend time and listen to both the 802D4 and the FR30 to see which one is for you based on your listening sessions if possible with the same audio equipment and music materials. Good luck.
oh my, I had the 2.3’s…sibilance was insane, then the 3.7’s. just so thin and analytical sounding
Never actually heard any myself but I recall reading reviews of Thiel speakers back in the day and they seemed to be well regarded.
I think you should “pony-up” for the FR20’s or 30’s (sorry for the pun). I had B&W’s in the past with a host of planars and electrostatics. The B&W’s were relatively accurate and punchy. The planars were seamless and more accurate. I always felt in the “headlights” image of the B&W’s and never felt the open staged presence of a planar tweeter and mid. The planars lacked bass, no mystery there. Having listened to (and owned) the FR30’s vs. the 20’s, the difference may be subtle. The adjustable rear firing tweeter on the 30’ adds additional air on top and the extra woofers extends a fraction bass on the bottom.
Since I’ve owned the 30’s, it’s my components, cables and sources that are keeping me from nirvana.
I no longer look at the end point as the problem. One issue solved, on to the next.
I would go for the FR20, oh wait, I did 
Now that I am familiar with music through the FR20, I do want to listen to the B&W 801D4/802D4 again to see how they sound in comparison. But knowing the 802D is out there and available for purchase, I bought the FR20 without hesitation, because of the wonderful flat panel midrange and flat panel tweeter, as @aangen already mentioned.
But you hated them at first. Which was odd for me to understand. But then you listened to them and decided they were good. It was weird.
I do admit that I struggle at times with all of the terminology.
I used to describe my 802D’s as bright, but as I’ve been on this forum, I think that may be the wrong word to describe them. I’m kind of leaning to saying that the tweeters have a tendency to get harsh at times, which tends to become irritating, at least to me.
No offense intended, long time B&W fan here. To me the diamond tweeters always make my ears bleed. I never enjoy them. But speakers are personal choice items.
Diamond mid might just make your head explode🙂
There is no need to suffer. FR20 or FR30 cause no damage.
That was due to speaker set-up and old tubes. If you remember, the Sonist speakers had TONS of magic, but they had to be set up far apart in order to achieve that magic. I tried to set up the FR20 on the area rug at first, and because of the listening room itself, the speakers had no magic when on the area rug.
I then moved the FR20 further apart and on the wood floor (and with Gaia2 feet). That helped, but that ultimate magic just wasn’t there, yet. I experimented with speaker height, removing the Gaia2 feet and purchasing floor mats from Home Depot. That did the trick. Magic at last. Then 2 weeks later the system started sounding dull again. I replaced tubes in the M1200’s and the magic returned.
FR20 and REL subs for me…
How can you judge a speaker?
Try it out at home after it is properly placed and evaluate it after some time.
Space and placement can break or make the speaker.
That’s the most true statement about choosing a speaker.
I go into a store, and honestly cannot wrap my head around how a speaker sounds. too many variables. And at these price points, i’m afraid of new speakers sounding worse at home then the ones i traded in or sold.
Unfortunately I haven’t heard any FR 20/30 yet. But I’ve heard a lot of B&W speakers because my dealer is a big B&W fan. The B&W are used for mixing in some recording studios. Maybe an advantage when you listen to songs like that, because that’s how the sound engineer worked. I listened to the new b&w 801 d4 signature extensively. This uses better capacitors with bypascaps and a few small changes. I liked it because the blue paint is like my car. In terms of sound, it impresses with enormous resolution and detail right down to the bass. I found the bass to be very detailed and audible. On the other hand, I lacked the size and pressure in the lower registers for a large loudspeaker, for example with large drums. You can clearly hear the drum head and the strike of the drumsticks. The illustration is very detailed and quite correct. Very impressive performance I swapped the resistors on my speakers after researching how the B&W crossovers are equipped. The new Mundorf Ultra resistors have contributed to increased performance for my speakers. One reason for the detailed dynamics of the B&W Signature. But now I had more details but the sound of the capacitors became clearer and I felt my speakers sounded like too much hi-fi than music. I then replaced some capacitors with duelund Cu/Sn and Milflex kpcu-03. Thanks to the new capacitors made of copper foil with paper in oil, everything sounds much more organic and realistic with beautiful timbres. Then I listened to the B&W again for comparison. Yes, very detailed, but for me they sound a bit too much like hi-fi. My speakers have an AMT as a tweeter and are more pleasant for me to listen to in the long run. The B&W impress with very good hi-fi sound and details. Anyone who looks for them will be happy with them. I found it to be strenuous and tiring at times. In the long run, I prefer speakers that convey music with emotions for a relaxed listening experience. The right electronics and cables certainly play a role. The B&W ran on Accuphase electronics and Audioquest Dragon and Firebird cabling.
The B&W Signature was also used in the power filter workshop. I talked to a few people afterwards. It was often said that it sounded very good, but most people were of the opinion that the sound was too overwhelming and tiring.
The last three pair if speakers I bought:
B&W 804n. I have 803n and 805n speakers I adore. The 804n left me cold cold cold. I moved my 803n speakers aside, put the 804n speakers in their place. Boo hiss, awful. I sent them back. Bah.
Wilson Yvettes. Bought them having never seen or heard them. Loved them completely!
Vivid G1 Spirits. I listened to these in the store and said “Oh hell no” at least 40 times. In the end I decided to trust my dealer and bought a pair. I could not be happier that I did. Endgame speakers for sure.
There really is no way to be sure until you get them setup correctly in your home and hooked up to a $100,000 amplifier and $35,000 worth of speaker cables.
Trust me.
I’ve only read about the FR 30 so far. The appearance and also the selection of the drivers in the high and midrange in conjunction with the woofer concept with passive membranes promise good performance.
The woofer concept reminds me of the KEF Blade. I’ve heard these before. Or Kii Audio Three BXT System as active version. The high and midrange reminds me a little of Piega speakers
The Kii are also interesting, they are not too big, do not require a power amplifier and can be optimally adapted to the room. I liked the sound of these.
I find Tony Gee’s Nova Andromeda interesting. Not the prettiest but certainly sound advantages due to the separate structure. It also makes it possible to individually adjust the radiation behavior of the speakers. He selected the drivers so that they would harmonize together without any resistance on the crossover. For Tony, a woofer only starts at 12 inches and the selected capacitors and coils of the crossover should make the sound perfect. I think there are only a few people like Tony Gee in the world who know the different sounds of crossover components so well. I’ve decided to go to him in the summer and listen to the speakers. You can find videos of the Nova Andromeda on YouTube