B&W Nautilus 805 and SACD, not recommendable? why?


Hello. In the review of the N805s, Stereophile stated the following regarding these speakers:

"The tweeter is flat over the lower two-and-a-half octaves of its passband, but peaks up by 15dB at its resonant frequency. This will not be a problem with CD programs, but with the new wider-bandwidth SACD and DVD-A, it might become an issue"

Could someone please explain me why it might become an issue partnering these speakers with SACD? What should I hear wrongly with the N805's if I buy a SACD player?

http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?168:6

Thank You for your comments.
jano226de9
i would say, just trust your ear and feelings don't listen to some bs statement. again it might happened with your system, but overall you won't even feel nothing when you try sacd.
There is absolutely no problem partnering the N805 with SACD - I've been doing it for over a year. I think the Stereophile reviewer was probably speculating when he wrote the review in mid 99, at that time SACD was just available.
I emailed B&W a question similar to yours and this was the response:

Thank you for purchasing Bowers & Wilkins Loudspeakers! The Nautilus design tweeter of the model 805 is intended to provide frequency response beyond the audible range. It is intended that the full range from high resolution format discs are offered for play through the Nautilus 805 loudspeakers. Please feel free to set the SACD player to the higher frequency rolloff.

Best Regards,

Tim Wyatt

Technical Support Supervisor - twyatt@equityaudio.com
B & W Loudspeakers - (978) 664-2870 - www.bwspeakers.com - Fax: (978) 664-4109
Rotel of America - (978) 664-3820 - www.rotel.com - Fax: (978) 664-4109