Why lots of B&W Nautilus for sale used?

Hmmm...I carefully auditioned 803N and 804N at home, and purchased neither. I had waited for B&W to ramp up production of the 804, as its size was ideal for my needs. Dealers explained that the 803N was a much better speaker, and that the 804N was developed following requests by the North American dealer network, to meet a $3500 price point. It was soon clear to me that it's sound was way too lightweight, and thus barely an improvement over the 805N. I soon found my reactions to the 803N to agree with those of a British reviewer I read last spring: the Nautilus floorstanders don't cohere in the nearfield, and require a good 12-15 feet before starting to sound integrated. As I sit in a 7.5' triangle it was obvious that I was hearing 3 different sets of drivers (the 400Hz lower crossover, as well the "hot" tweeter seem the culprits). Additionally I could not accept the extreme upper crossover/radiation pattern tonal shift accompanying listening above axis. The 803/804N do NOT pass stand-up/sit-down tests well at all! Although I didn't compare Matrix predecessors in my room, trusted friends who've owned Matrix802 were similarly surprised to find they too did NOT prefer the 802N in careful comparisons. (I also understand that DB Keele had a heck of a time setting up and measuring the 802N last year for his review, and found more than enough to be annoyed about, especially in the bass response...but that's 3rd-hand info) I REALLY wanted to love the 803N, as it was one of the few medium-sized 3-ways my wife would accept, but after trying Verity Audio speakers, the improvement, ESPECIALLY in coherence, midrange purity, and bass quickness and control, was overwhelming. But they did cost more.... Sorry to bend the thread. I've seen used 802Matrix for $1600/pr. Seems attractive, eh? Ernie.

Driver integration issues I addressed relate to the listening distance from the speaker (front-to-back), NOT lateral separation, as seemingly responded to in a few posts above.... I simply couldn't get the 804 (REALLY needs a sub!) or the 803 Nautilus to cohere until I stepped BACK 10-15 feet, which doesn't work in my room. Re the 802N reviews, I just received back issues of Sensible Sound, and refer you to David Moran's take on the 802N when measured at my friend Tom's house last year (#78, Dec/Jan 00). I believe part of the driver integration issue stems from the highish 400Hz croosover, requiring mounting of the woofers fairly high up, with a major dip in power response around 300 Hz. The poor vertical axis response shifts I found (with the 804 and 803) bothersome because I like a loudspeaker to sound good as I walk into the room, not just when seated. I assume that the highish upper crossover (4kHz) is difficult to work with, especially given the broad flare of the Nautilus tweeter, and that B&W chose to shelve the tweeter down to prohibit a too-hot response; thus the oft-mentioned midrange "shoutiness". I had thus similarly feared that the Verity design, which runs the 5" mid naked up to an astonishing 5.5kHz cross would have a similarly problematic transition, but it doesn't. I've NOT listened critically to the 802N...perhaps the midrange enclose is more successful than the 803/804 in several ways, but Messrs. Moran et al didn't think so. I've got to believe that the room setup (sidewall distance), and listening distance (and height!) are VERY critical for these latest B&Ws, and that that's why results vary so much, eh? Ernie