Hello
Fist I would like to say that I am a B&W fan. I like the B&W sound and have had several B&W speaker over the years. With that said, I just want to make sure you understand that every one does not like the same sound so I feel you must take what anyone states as information only.
I started with the 803 Matrix speakers and really liked them. I then went to the 801 Series III and also liked them. I then added a pair of 802's for my rear surround.
The 801'S and 802'S were very good, but with the small 5.25 Inch mid range driver I felt they could not quite match a portion of the mid range that the 803'S could with the 6.5 inch mid. But over all I found the 801'S to be better, but I did miss that small portion that just was not there.
When B&W released the Nautilus line with the 6.5 inch Nautilus mid range driver in the complete line up (except 805 & HTM2 which is a 6.5 driver, but not " A Nautilus drivber" ) I listened to them and decide I had to have.
I now have a Pair of the 801 Nautilus for 2 channel and and use as front left & right for surround and I have a PAIR OF 804 Nautilus as rears and the HTM1 for center.
I have listen to the 804'S as mains for about 600 hours and feel they far exceed any of my 800 Matrix series in the mid to high range. They go where none of the 800 Matrixs could even come close.
To me if you want to play Metallica they will go where the 800 Matrixs would have fell short. The 5.25 inch mid in the 801'S and 802"S was really soft there. Look where they crossed over and you can see where they had to handle a lot for such a small driver.
I have only heard the CDM 9NT in the dealer show rooms. I would not say that is fair, to compare them to listening to the 804 Nautilus at home. However I thought the CDM'S were good. I do feel that when I listened I heard more detail and more depth from the 804'S. The 804's seemed to be more to my liking.
I am not sure if you plan to use a SUB. With either the 804'S or the CDM'S a GOOD MUSICAL SUB (not boom BOX type) will make a large gain.
The other thought is that if you can get a GOOD used pair of speaker it will save you some money and if you decide to up grade later it will help there as well. The loss that comes from taking them out of the store is already gone, so you can do better on recovering a larger amount of your money back to spend on your next speakers.
For me I would go with the 804 Nautilus. I feel they are more Detailed and have more depth, with a slightly larger sound stage.
The Nautilus line of speaker can put out a great deal of information, for the entire band width.
With any B&W choose your interconnects and cable. They will let you know that, you can hear a diff.
When I got my 804'S I used them as mains to break them in. It took them over 300 hours of play to start to break in.
I have some fair electronic, which also helps. I like the Audio Research LS 25 as a pre-amp, and Theta Gen 5a dac and Theta transport. Cardas and/or Transparent cables work well in my system. But cables are very system dependant, so who know's.
Good Luck Bob
Fist I would like to say that I am a B&W fan. I like the B&W sound and have had several B&W speaker over the years. With that said, I just want to make sure you understand that every one does not like the same sound so I feel you must take what anyone states as information only.
I started with the 803 Matrix speakers and really liked them. I then went to the 801 Series III and also liked them. I then added a pair of 802's for my rear surround.
The 801'S and 802'S were very good, but with the small 5.25 Inch mid range driver I felt they could not quite match a portion of the mid range that the 803'S could with the 6.5 inch mid. But over all I found the 801'S to be better, but I did miss that small portion that just was not there.
When B&W released the Nautilus line with the 6.5 inch Nautilus mid range driver in the complete line up (except 805 & HTM2 which is a 6.5 driver, but not " A Nautilus drivber" ) I listened to them and decide I had to have.
I now have a Pair of the 801 Nautilus for 2 channel and and use as front left & right for surround and I have a PAIR OF 804 Nautilus as rears and the HTM1 for center.
I have listen to the 804'S as mains for about 600 hours and feel they far exceed any of my 800 Matrix series in the mid to high range. They go where none of the 800 Matrixs could even come close.
To me if you want to play Metallica they will go where the 800 Matrixs would have fell short. The 5.25 inch mid in the 801'S and 802"S was really soft there. Look where they crossed over and you can see where they had to handle a lot for such a small driver.
I have only heard the CDM 9NT in the dealer show rooms. I would not say that is fair, to compare them to listening to the 804 Nautilus at home. However I thought the CDM'S were good. I do feel that when I listened I heard more detail and more depth from the 804'S. The 804's seemed to be more to my liking.
I am not sure if you plan to use a SUB. With either the 804'S or the CDM'S a GOOD MUSICAL SUB (not boom BOX type) will make a large gain.
The other thought is that if you can get a GOOD used pair of speaker it will save you some money and if you decide to up grade later it will help there as well. The loss that comes from taking them out of the store is already gone, so you can do better on recovering a larger amount of your money back to spend on your next speakers.
For me I would go with the 804 Nautilus. I feel they are more Detailed and have more depth, with a slightly larger sound stage.
The Nautilus line of speaker can put out a great deal of information, for the entire band width.
With any B&W choose your interconnects and cable. They will let you know that, you can hear a diff.
When I got my 804'S I used them as mains to break them in. It took them over 300 hours of play to start to break in.
I have some fair electronic, which also helps. I like the Audio Research LS 25 as a pre-amp, and Theta Gen 5a dac and Theta transport. Cardas and/or Transparent cables work well in my system. But cables are very system dependant, so who know's.
Good Luck Bob