Amplifier Recommendation for B&W Nautilis 804

Jeff -- go to Plinius' web-site -- they should have a
dealer locator or a US distributor who you can contact
to find your nearest dealer.

Jeff, I played around a bit with the B and W before I decided on a more neutral speaker. While the B and W series in general, and the 800's in particular deliver great musicality and detailed midrange - what is called the british sound - their low ends are invariably weak. I hope you get what you are looking for in an amp that tries to do what you are looking for, but my gut feel is you need a different speaker for depth and accuracy in the bass. Just my 2 cents - Thx, Arvindh

Thanks for all the feedback. Actually, the weight or bass is great on some recordings, but a little week on others, so I'm not sure of a speaker problem for my tastes. I think I'm going to try a little harder driving amp, like the plinius, maybe classe, and maybe bryston.

Anyone heard the 804s with a Bryston or Classe?

I heard Classe with the CDM7's. Classe Yanked them around by the nose. I didn't see the need for dual bass drivers that the CDM 9's use. B&W was using Classe Omega's on their snail so maybe B&W likes the synergy.
I disagree that B&W has "the British sound". Spendor, yes. BBC monitor's also. I don't think British sound means weak in the bass anyhow. Not if you compare B&W to Spendor. From what I've read, B&W made the Nautilus to be neutral and to be used in European homes with solid plaster walls. Sheetrock walls used in US looses bass.
Sam Tellig was right IMHO that B&W bass is unbeatable. It is very accurate. Something you can't get with underdamped bass. But it tends to be quick with little overhang hence the feeling of little bass. B&W choose small excursion on the bass for better linearity/less distortion. Active speaker bass is better but for passive designs B&W is pretty good. Better to have too little up to just right bass vs. just right up to overbearing bass IMHO.
Karls, I think, had an excellent post last year describing how a 6" bass driver cannot be effective over something like 75-80 dB. A larger or double 6" was good for 90 dB. I'm going by memory so don't quote me exactly.
I didn't find Classe, Bryston, or Plinius (why do people recommend Plinius so much anyhow?) to be neutral. But that may not be your goal. Krell would be my first recommendation if you want more punch. The new A3.2cr also is more krell-like but tends to be bright. Sort of the smiley-face equalization. It may measure flat in M-F spec sheet but sure doesn't sound flat into real-world speaker load.
Otherwise suggestion for a REL sub is excellent. B&W rolls off pretty evenly and a good sub up to 40 hz would help a lot.
Also have you looked into putting speaker more into the corner? N804 has such wide dispersion you can put them 9-10 feet apart and stil not have center image breakup.

BAT VK-200