I find it noteworthy that B&W devoted so much effort to creating a rigid platform from which to generate sound, because if I had to pick one word to describe the 802's character, it would be "solid." This speaker, more than any other in memory, exudes an air of supreme unflappability. Nothing is going to ruffle it. Not high, sustained volume, not wildly careening dynamics, not complex, interwoven lines of music.