B&W Nautilus 800.....where's the bass?


Is it a well known fact that these speakers lack bass? I just bought them used...two years old....and am very dissappointed in the low end. My CDM 9 NT rears have more bass than these. No kidding. Is this a known problem with this speaker, or could there be something wrong? Since the 9's and the 800's are playing at the same time on the same system I do not think there is any need to list the equipment, but I will just in case it matters.
Sunfire Theatre Grand 2 processor ( all speakers are set to large)
Denon 3910 CDP
Adcom 300 by 7 ( 800's are bi amped with four of the channels.....phase is correct)
speaker wire is 14 guage in a very thick outside jacket
Thanks for your help.
baffled
"Coming from you that means absolutely nothing. I've read your other posts and it is clear you have nothing meaningful to offer."

Nothing? Why, dear sir, do you keep responding then? 'The lady doth protest too much, methinks.'
Charlie101-You talk about having anything to offer,go back and read your 14 posts as I did and tell us all what positive information you have ever added to any thread.It seems to me you are just here on some kind of mission to attack one,rather to engage in some type of meaningful audio dicussion.FWIW--JMHO Kevin
Kevin,
You're wasting time here and better get going or you'll miss your shift at Wal Mart.
Charlie101,

Your actions speak to your deficits much more than any insult anyone could conjure up to describe you. You treat people like objects, like you treat the subject matter of B&W speakers.

What is wrong with working at Wal Mart BTW? Charlie101 needs to take some Economics 101, not everyone lets mommy and daddy support them instead of getting a job, and there aren't enough jobs in the marketplace for eveyone to be a CEO at Tweeters.

You've gone from insulting speakers to insulting the blue collar working class. Good work, you are truly a spoiled jackass.
B&W's, especially the 800 series are used in many reference systems. People who understand how to drive them know how wonderful these speakers are. Driving 800's with an Adcom is like asking a whale to swim in a small pond. IMHO, the 800's need at least 300 watts a side before they begin to breath properly...they may even leave the water and do a few rollovers!
To those of you who have been following me I have said all along that speakers are the most important part of any system. When you get to speakers this high up in the food chain. You can tell the difference in amps, wires, etc. We need understand we all hear differently. And as we get older our hearing changes too. And from what I understand it's not for the better. Not like cables that need to be burned in. Been reading everyones input, thanks. I would have to revise my pervious statement to include volume as a factor. I listen to a level higher that most. The only reason I know this is the average person when they come over to visit they ask me to turn it down. I didn't think about this when I added my input. Loudness does matter. BIG X FACTOR!!!!! SO I can easly see where 2 people listen to same speaker and walk away with different impression Based on volume alone. All speakers have there sweet zone. I have McIntosh XTR 28 that I love loud. I have B&W for the softer moments in my life.
This is baffled....the Audiogoner formerly known as ahcjmh1@prodigy.net. I started this thread eight months ago when I was just getting my feet wet in this hobby. I am happy to say that I found SOME of the bass when I replaced my Adcom amp with Classe. I found ALL of the 800's bass when I replaced my Denon 3910 with a Musical Fidelity Tri Vista tube CDP. All cables have also been replaced. I have an Aesthetix Calypso on the way. These speakers continue to amaze me as I upgrade my digital front end. No complaints....no worries......just good music.
Thumbs up. I'm happy for you. Be careful with the tubes on on your speakers. They will reveal the hiss of tubes if you use them on preamp. This drove me nuts with my Conrad Johnson PV 9. Think about bi amping. You will open up the next door on your journey. Good luck
Bet the room is too small, and the old speakers had a mid-bass bump. Get better amp, and use vinyl for more bass. If your room is small, it is physically impossible to get low bass. The 800's are more accurate than the cdm 9 and won't add bass for effect, so you must get it out of your amp,source, and music.
WHY CANT WE ALL JUST GET ALONG.FIGHTING IS STUPID.WE ARE HERE TO SHARE AND HAVE FUN. NOT FIGHT AND CALL EACH OTHER BAD NAMES. THIS IS VERY UPSETTING TO ME. YOU GUYS HAVE TURNED ME OFF. YOU GUYS THAT LIKE TO START UP.DO ME A FAVOR.DONT EVER BUY FROM ME. I WOULD NEVER BUY FROM YOU OR ASK YOU FOR ANY HELP. SEEK G-D!!!!!!!!
I must say all of the negative comments on B&W had me thinking about replacing my speakers. I am happy to say it never was the speakers. It was everything else! My system is now Aesthetix Calypso, Musical Fidelity Tri Vista, and Classe mono's. I no longer use or need a sub. With tubes in the system, my speakers sound as good as the well regarded speakers I have auditioned and not bright at all. Listening to these speakers in a poor system is probably what leads to all of the B&W bashing.(just a guess) With the wrong front end they can sound pretty bad. To those who disagree, that's fine. I respect your opinion. No need to rehash. Can we just let this thread die? It is slightly embarassing that I started it by complaining about the only good piece of gear I owned at the time.
Baffled: Your tale is both instructive and heartening, ignore the other stuff. In audiophilia you find that any company of a certain size or larger, and especially one that does as much original science r&d as B&W and has one leg in the mass market, makes an inviting target for a disproportionate share of bashing. Guys like to champion shoestring causes and rail against the establishment, but companies like B&W (actually, there really is no other speaker company quite like B&W) oppress nobody, as evidenced by the continual plethora of garage start-ups in the high end speaker biz. Every David needs his Goliath. Personally, I find it comforting that the largest speaker company on the planet also happens to take good sound seriously and makes a quality product. No, they're not hand-crafted and yes, they're sold at chain stores, but they're not evil, just uncommonly competent by and large. For the record, I don't own 'em, sell 'em, or even necessarily prefer 'em in lots of instances, but I do respect and appreciate them. Enjoy your system secure in the knowledge that for the most part the rude detractors are merely jealous.
Actually, Zaike, that's a very good point you're making & I agree totally.
In a similar spirit, other mass manufacturers also produce highly performant products (take B&O & Sony for one spkr model each) -- and no, they aren't hand crafted either, but they're sometimes cheaper than their garage equivalents, as they SHOULD be.
The only thing that sometimes annoys me is that manufacturers with huge resources, i.e. lower R&D & production cost, charge too high prices for certain of their products... Not being B&W's CFO, I feel justified in ranting at the asking price of their small models. Indeed, just compare the price of a 805 to the 800...
End of ranting.
Just think how good that new front-end would sound on some good speakers!

(That ought to get people going)
The B&W Nautilus 800 is very disappointing. That is why B&W does even want to talk about the Nautilus series. The B&W 800D is so superior over the Nautilus 800.

A few years ago I went down to a Hi-Fi Store , and they had the B&W Nautilus 800 set up. We had over $100K in electronics , cables hooked up to them and that is what I said "where the heck is the bass" ?? Very lean and bright and lacking slam in the midbass where is needed. My Sonus Faber Extrema speakers have more bass.

The B&W Nautilus 800 (800N) was not very natural sounding.
Live performances in both analog and digital were very thinned out and at times irritating.

For $16K price tage the B&W Nautilus is ridiculous. Even the candid dealer took me on the side and said B&W really &%#@! screwed up on this speaker. I earned the respect of this B&W dealer after he was very truthful with me.

I went down recently down to the same B&W dealer and now he has the 800D setup. WOW!!!! What a difference a letter can make.

In my personal opionion and many agree with me, the B&W 800 Nautilus was a short lived DOG. Even at the preowned price of $7K-8K range they are not a good choice.
Lawyerman......I am happy to say I paid less than 6000.00. Perfect condition. I like 'em even better now!
I am glad you are Happy Baffled ! Great for you.

Maybe I was a little too hard on poor ole B&W.
I beg to differ Lawyerman.
B&W 800N (Nautilus speakers) are incredible speakers! They give you all the bass and dynamics that one would ever need.

The B&W Nautilus 800 Needs the right equipment. At this level there is no room to take shortcuts. A lot of clean power, and excellent electronics, cables. And you'll hear these babies sing.

I Highly recommend the B&W 800N speakers. In fact I like them more than there new 800D speakers. Both great speakers just a matter of taste. And that is another forum topic for another day.
I have had B&W Matrix 802, Nautilus 802 and 802 D.

They definitely lack of bass... among other things.

(In the past, the medium was great... it has become rude to my ears).

And I was a B&W fan .... !

I changed my Nautilus 802D for Zingali Monitor 115, with a huge 39cm bass speaker !
Another story, much better !

And all the same ! Better midrange and high, thanks to the Omniray.

I don't understand what's happening to B&W : my 1980 Matrix pair for 3000$ was better than my 12'000$ Nautilus...
I agree with JPPENN, unfortunately you can't get a pair of $16,000 reference speaker's to run with Adcom amplification. I tried doing what your doing, I had a McIntosh C200, B&W 802's, a Sony SCD-1 and I tried to cut a corner by running cheap amplification powered by B&K. Although B&K makes a good amp, to get excellent results, you do need something better. My recommnedation is to scale back on the 800's and get a pair of 801's or 802's and buy a better amp. McIntosh works great with B&W's. Thanks!
I have a pair of N800's and using them with a pair of krell mda500's and with good quality recordings there is ample bass.I did find that before i got the mda500's the bass was much thinner when using cheaper inferior amplification.
I have B&W Matrix 802 series 3 with a Classe amp and an ARC tube linestage. I get incredible bass and slam. Im very happy. And yes, the music touches my soul. Anyone in the Long Island area is welcome to come and take a listen.
I had a pair of N803 a few years ago. They were by far the most expensive speakers I'd ever owned (up till then). Me and my friend had a listen and both agreed the highs and mids were sensational. Imaging was uncanny, and probably still the best I've heard from a speaker. But both also agreed there was no bass at all. I under that the 803 is small, and perhaps I should've gone to the 802/1/0. However given the price of the N803 at the time, I was amazed anyone would buy them due to the lack of bass. I could've changed all my other equipment and moved them around etc, but I just ended up getting other speakers which were more suitable to me. Before everyone jumps on me for being deaf and stupid. I'm just saying this was my experience and what I think, you may disagree. But personally from the 803 experience, I would spend the same money for any given B&W 8XX and get some other speaker in the same price bracket. I like my bass and I think it's too much money to spend on speakers which don't have enough of it.