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Review: B & W Loudspeakers Nautilus 805 Monitor

Category: Speakers

My musical tastes run from classical to soft rock.
The most important aspects of sound for me are the ability
of any sound system to take me as close as possible to the musical event itself. The music must move me to feel what the composer of the song wants to convey in his or her music. The worst thing a system could do to turn me off is
to place a veil between myself and my music, so clarity is of most importance to me. I have had the B&W Nautilus 805's
in my music system for about 2 1/2 years now. The 805's replaced my Vandersteen 2ce's. The addition of the 805's to my system have brought me to a new emotional high, as now Celine Dion can raise the hairs on my back as never before.
The 805's strengths are the following: 1)clear silky smooth
highs.2)excellent rendition of vocals.3)Great soundstaging
ability and 4)surprising amount of defined low bass that they produce from such a small box. I have yet to determine any weakness from these speakers yet other than the ability
to go lower in the bass region. If money were no object I would still own these speakers as they give me great pleasure.

Associated gear
VPI HW19 Mk3 Turntable
Koetsu Rosewood Needle
SME V Tonearm
Levinson 38 Pre-Amp.
Levinson 334 Power Amp
Levinson 37 Compact disc transport

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loopinglou
blackie
221 posts
 
If you like the N805 then you will be blown away with the Signature version which has increased bass performance and smoother highs.
sherman1125
13 posts
 
I too listened to these for some time but was not blown away by them. If you like these, give Revel M20's a shot. They do everything the 805's do, only better. The 805's color the mids slightly.
judit
217 posts
 
I also own the N 805s. Although the tweeter isn't as sweet as it might be, what I love about these speakers is that they reveal and respond to everything upstream. This has allowed me to build a great front end and eventually think about speaker upgrade. One other point, these speakers do a great disappearing act.
pgulrich
17 posts
 
Try the N-805's with the SET Cary 805C's and you'll hear space and top end air unmatched by anything in the price range or way beyond. I also own $8K Aliante One Zeta's but the B&W kills them on treble definition and depth.
flip
37 posts
 
I read the reviews above and figured I better keep my opinions to myself concerning B & W speakers. Then I read the honest opinions concerning Bose 901's, a healthy discussion of why audiophiles (myself included) tend to trash them.

So I came back to this B & W thread, mainly to gain some understanding. I've never understood the rave reviews about this company. Almost every audio reviewer on this continent and Europe loves B & W loudspeakers. I audition every speaker I can find, and I find myself wanting to like B & W's, mainly so I can hear what everyone's so excited about. Yet every time I audition them (no matter what model) I leave disappointed. What am I missing here? Are my ears so much different from the majority of the audiophile world? I'm not trying to trash B & W; I feel the same after listening to Paradigm, Theil, PSB, Legacy, etc. I tend to lean towards; Wilson, Alon, Nestorovic, Aeriel, and VMPS.

Are tastes in speakers really so vastly different?
Are my ears just screwed up?
Is there a learning curve I need to catch up to?

I'm feeling so alone!:-)
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