801 Versus Nautilus 801

Avguy said it for me...mostly. I would like to add that I owned 801s2 for 1 year powered by all BAT electronics. The speakers did everything I asked and I loved them. I auditioned 801n's at the dealer and noticed subtle differences and was somewhat disappointed that I wasn't floored. I had waited so long to hear this legend of a speaker and was not still as excited after the demo. Because I love B&W for their sound and lack of at times, I decided to upgrade anyway and take my chances. I have since forgotten about any further speaker purchases except that of the new 800 coming soon. If you like what you have keep em. The s2 and s3's are sleeper bargains as far as used full range speakers go. But, if you want "unlimited" power handling for those power pieces in your collection, if you like a bigger and cleaner soundstage, if you still want to retain that sweet midrange sound at any volume without fear of blowing anything, and if you want to hear the full benefit of what the nautilus lines have to offer you must audition these speaks in your home on a variety of types of music. By the way, Gladiator is simply incredible with these speaks. For me, I could live with the 803,802,or the 801. Also, each speaker mentioned has its own set of characteristics. They must be demoed independently. The other problem with upgrading is that you must focus on what you can afford for your source and preamp. These will be the ultimate reasons for why you will love or hate these speakers. For supreme clarity and resolution and power choose your electronics wisely and you WILL be rewarded.

I have both the Nautilus 801 and the Matrix 801 Series 3. To me, there is really no comparison. The N801 is a far superior speaker to the M801S3 in virtually every way -- accuracy, imaging, soundstage, better top-end and low-end responses, etc. That is not to say that the Matrix 801 is a bad speaker. It is a terrific speaker, except that the N801 is in a different league. I currently have the N801s as my front L/R speakers in a home theater setup, Nautilus HTM-1 as my center, and N805 as my side L/R speakers, and M801S3 as my rear L/R surrounds. I use a Krell FPB600 to drive my N801s and a Krell KAV-1500 to drive my other speakers. I use the Lexicon MC-1 as my preamp/processor. Net, as you can see, I am a lover of B&W speakers. The M801S3 sounds absolutely terrific, with a lot of warmth and sweetness. However, the N801 really is something else. I strongly urge you to A/B test them yourselves if you don't believe it.....

PS: Yes to Magic's question. By the way, Audio and Sterephile both reported, also, the better sit up sit down response of the Matrix 801 Series 3 over the N801.

I own the 801s3 also but I haven't really listened to the 801N's very much. I would have expected the 801N's to have a better frequency resonse top and bottm than the 801s3's. Did you compare the 2 speakers in the same room with the same electronics? If not, some of your observations may be due to those variables.

I have 801 series 3 (1996 vintage). The biggest differences I heard included: 801s3 had deeper but more bloated bass and had more rolled off top end. On the plus side, the 801s3 has a better sit up sit down pink noise dispersion results than the 801 N. The 801s3 are about 90%+ of the 801N but the 801 is a more sonically accurate speaker but may not be to everyone's person taste. For example, before I purchased my 801s I thought the Thiel 3.6 and Dunlevy IV were more accurate also. But to me I could get into the music better over a long listening session. But they are all great speakers and all have their weaknesses.