Liked the Nautilus 805 but found better?

I would either get the 803's second hand, or do what I did, get a REL sub. It integrates perfectly and is every bit as musical as the B&W's, thanks to its Neutrik Speakon connector, which allows you to connect from the speaker outs instead of the sub out.

Gthirteen, When I was shopping for speakers I prefered the Audiophysic Tempo, and the Aeriel Model 6 to the 805's, but they were $800-1400 more expensive and they did not have enough bass either. I would not be happy with those speakers without a sub, which would have raised the price again. I settled on the 805's, and bought a REL Strata III through Audiogon at a fair price. I have not heard any speaker that has the bass authority of a great sounding, well designed speaker (like Avalon for instance) that was not quite expensive. I recommend saving a few extra dollars and get a second hand REL. It will get you as close as you can get without a significantly higher cash outlay. I have heard the Grand Pianos on several accasions and thought they looked great, I wanted very much to like them, but they were annoyingly bright and became tiresome. It may have been the electronics, but I don't think so. As to being satisfied at 40 hertz, I think you may be mistaken. The frequencies below that affect the mids, and the soundstage greatly.

If you wait, there are REL's which show up for around $750. If that is within your budget, you won't be sorry. The 805's run around 2 grand, so $750 for a sub sounds like a reasonable amount. I agree with you Gthitreen, don't settle for something less than par, patience will be rewarded in this case. Try reading the Robert Harley review of the REL Strata II through www.rel.net, everything said about it is true of the Strata III and more (tighter bass). Good luck.