Premium technology

The technology employed in the cones of these speakers is unapologetically serious: there's the Rohacell stiffening composite technology; the fact they use Kevlar for their own odd top-surround-less midbass drivers; and those mad tubular-chamber tweeters, descended from the Nautilus.

It all adds up to one savage pile of woodwork and acoustic engineering.

Phenomenal performance

The performance of these 800 cabinets is what you'd expect – outstanding. This immediately became apparent when I first spun Lyle Lovett's She Makes Me Feel Good from a DTS 5.1 demonstration CD.

The system grasped me emotionally in an instant; all my follicles contracted and chills ran down my spine. The 800 series offers sheer, sweet realism and huge dynamics, but with snap and edge and attack. I haven't had anything quite like these in my test room before.

This is alongside matching bass speed and melodic grip. Brushes on cymbals could have their bristles counted, while the snare drum struck me in the chest.

The layers and nuances came through clearly on recordings I have only ever heard begin to wake up.
But these aren't just a hi-fi product – the 800 series is ideally suited for movie surround mixes, too.

Immersive experience

Blade Runner: The Final Cut (on DVD) features the wonderful Vangelis soundtrack and excellent Foley work.

In Chapter 16, for instance, gunshots hit at 55:19, 23s, 29s, and 55s. Each has a savage rise time and you feel the weight of the bullet in your stomach, yet Vangelis' rich, textured synth line swells
behind it and the glass breaks in the background with a bit of reverberation.

Even in the back of the mix, the brittle tinkliness sounds delicious – you can hear the chiming of different sized fragments of glass, as opposed to it being a background 'pish'.

The sub's low-end grip, as the final heartbeat throbs, is also impressively heavy but taut.

It's just a totally immersive experience, and, along with the crystal clear images on my flatscreen, made for the best cinematic adventure my viewing room has ever witnessed.

Home cinema like no other

B&W's 800 series deliver unquestionable sonic excellence, and have thrown down the gauntlet to other high-end speaker brands. They image and articulate like no other.

While your bank manager may quibble with their price, your audience will thank you.