Neutrality, Sweet Midrange, Great sound reproduction, looks

Bass Extension, Long Break In

I bought these speakers in early September and love them. The have the beautiful B & W midrange which lends itself perfectly for vocals and jazz. The speaker needs good equipment, I have heard these speakers with Krell stuff and it sounds harsh and bright, although when mated with the correct equipment, this speaker is wonderful. The detail is very precise and these speakers create a huge soundstage, I swear that they fill the wall with sound. Also every upgrade made can be easily heard, be it switching the speaker cable or putting a vibration device under the CD player. The only thing which might be missed is the bass, and what bass is there is very controled and tight, I wouldn't consider it a weakness, but then again, I can't say that I will not buy a sub in the future. Still though, these are an incredible speaker and if you are in the market for a speaker of this price you have to try the 805's.

Associated Equipment:
Sim Audio I-5 Integrated Amp
Cal Audio Labs CL-15
Acoustic Zen Hologram Speaker Cable
Siltech SQ-80 interconnect
Analysis Plus Power Ovals for both CD and Amp
PS Audio Powerplant 300
Synergistic Research AC Master coupler for Powerplant

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm, Dynaudio, JM Labs, B & W CDM1NT, NHT, Nautilus 804

Visually stuning, impeccable workmanship

Did not like the sound all that much

I tried everything - long break in, less power, more power, bi-amped, shoved them all over the room, did extensive sweep and spectrum analysis, even did a room energy-time analysis. Try as I might, I did not get the performace I hoped I would based on the comments this speaker got in the press. Compared to the Paradigm, it was too polite, too boxy. Compared to the Joseph Audio, it would not play as loud nor with as much transparency and refinement. I finally had enough and had to let them go. They were pretty though, especially with the pricey stands.

Similar Products Used:

Joseph Audio RM7si Sig, Paradigm Active/20

Great soundstage, 3D imaging

expensive stand

this is my all time favorites speaker. i've listened to many more expensive speaker like AP Virgo, Micro Utopia, Revel F30. all the speaker just come and go in my soundroom. i only keep the N805 and Micro Utopia for my all time reference. i dont need a big bass so floorstander may leave......

Similar Products Used:

JMlab Micro Utopia, CDM1SE, Audio physic Virgo

Combine these with an excellent sub and you have a combo that sounds equal to or better than the $12,000 B&W Nautilis 801's. Retail is $2000 but I have seen them for as low as $1604 (+shipping). Give em a listen!

The new Nautilus 805 are spectacular speakers! I was able to hear these with an A/B test with the B&W CDM1 SE and the Paradigm Studio 20. The Paradigms weren't even close to the 805s or even the CDM1s. There was more a difference between the Paradigms and the CDM1s despite the closer similarity of price. The 805s have a more detailed top end and the bass was better defined then the CDM1 SEs. But at almost twice the price, it would be hard for most to justify buying them. They sound fundamentally the same. Some might like the bigger and more powerful bass that the CDM1s produces. I have the original CDM1 and probably would upgrade in the future. But I suspect most people won't find the value in the 805s in comparison to the CDM1 SEs unless the price is a little discounted. Nonetheless, on an absolute scale for sound quality...

Just took home the Nautilas 805 for possible replacement of my Celestion SL-6's originally purchased in 1984. I may have become infatuated with my Celestions, but the 805's do not provide the same level of bass, imaging or musicality. Some claim that the Celestions midrange warmth is addicting - if so, I'm an addict. The 805's were edgy on top and, while they were slightly more detailed, seemed to provide an unanthusiastic presentation to my ears. Depends what you're used to, I guess as the B&W's WERE good speakers.

Come on rick! can't say the CDM-1 don't differ much from the Nautilius 805. There is a world of difference. The Nautilius sound is crisp, detailed, open. Singers are almost inside the room. Amazing for such a small loudspeaker. The CDM-1... is this the same one that stereophile rated as class-B? Some kind of veil seems to be on these units when A-B compared with the nautilius.Give Nautilius805 only 4 stars only because is not good value for money; but in absolute terms, it is a great sounding loudspeaker. And i'm not a B&W fan...P series are just acceptable speakers, for example (i had P5's for only some months, could not listen any more that over-punchy, completely unrealistic bass, that unsoportable ringing on highs, incredibly narrow sweet spot. It's simply a shame when A-B compared with the Nautilius805 )

I recently sold my matrixB&W 805's after owning them for 3 years.It was very difficult to part with them, UNTIL I heard and purchased
the New B&W Nautilus805's. I've been listening/auditioning/comparing a
variety of speakers for over a year from (Meadowlark, Thiel, Aerial, WilsonAudio), to name just a few, all at a different ranges of $$$.

Some may claim that the matrixB&W line is "generally laid-back and has a reserved/soft top-end", I agree slightly - but I also feel that the matrixB&W line is extremely neutral, accurate, and revealing... without sugar-coating the recording. Additionally I must give credit to the matrix805's:
with the right equipment they are truly exceptional. But, this is where "the bar has been raised by Nautilus". The New Nautilus805's far exceeds the matrix805 easily.

When I initially hooked up the Nautilus805's right out-of-the-box (no break-in ), my wife and I were stunned. She is a very discriminating listener and she was smiling non-stop ( as was I ) for the entire afternoon of listening. She had auditioned everything else with me for the past year, and hadn't reacted like this before. She and I were in awe as we were presented with a mix of instruments and vocals each distinct, with a deep/wide/tall soundstage, and imaging that was fabulous,and lots of micro/macro Detail.

What's the biggest difference between Matrix805 vs. Nautlilus805 ? I can easily say that so far:
1) the high's are MUCH more CLEAR and DETAILED.
2) the instruments are much better OUTLINED.
3) there's more PUNCH in the mid/lower regions.
4) most importantly: all instruments including voice just sounds more REAL, especially the TEXTURE of the instruments.

I can only speak as someone who has owned B&Wmatrix802sIII's-(really good), B&Wmatrix804's-(didn't like), and B&Wmatrix805's-(my favorite until the new Nautilus805), and a variety of other speakers from other vendors.
There is a WORLD of difference between the matrix805 and the Nautilus805
and it's all for the better, congrat's to B&W...they have outdone themselves !
The old saying: LESS-IS-MORE has never been truer, this new nautilus805 will be a "giant-killer" guaranteed.

(Associated Equipment:)
Classe', Micromega, TransparentAudio

(Type of Music listened to:)
A large variety of music, and I can't limit it to just a few types.

(Room Size:)
20'long x 30'wide x 18'high

*** A warning here ***
As always: Unless you try/audition your own components - your results may vary.
I recently heard the Nautilus801's w/Levinson and it "sang" similar to the WilsonWittsII, but then I heard Nautilus803's with Adcom, and was extremely dissapointed (awful-awful).

I finally got the chance to listen to the 805 Nautilus Friday night. First off , in my opinion they are one awesome looking speaker. Definitely different but cool, and the build quality was fantastic. Listened through a Yamaha cd and Krell amp. I was not blown away. They did not sound overly detailed. I will have to say that these were brand new and had not been properly broken in. I have the Matrix 805's and didn't notice a dramatic improvement. One good thing though is that even though they list at 2k the guy offered them to me at $1600 the same as the retail on the Matrix. I will have to try them again after a proper burn in period. Nevertheless they are a very good speaker and I expect that after some use will get even better.

I went and listened to B&W and Tannoy speakers last weekend. The B&W modelsI have listened to are 602, 603 and 805. For Tannoy, they are Saturn S6, S8,
S10 and D300.

Here is what I think of them.

Tannoy Saturn S6: I was disappoint when I heard them. I thought speakers
with a price tag in $1200 should sound much better than my $300 JBL.
Indeed, the sound is much more accurate and bass is stronger. However, I
didn't hear the clarity I expected. Also, it sounds boxy to me.

BW 602 and 603: I feel they are a little bit better than Saturns in term of
clarity and image. But still far from what I would expect from a $1000
speakers. Also, it sounds boxy to me, too.

BW 805: It offer clear sounding and bass is pretty good, too. Image is good.
However, I found it a bit forward and aggressive. Not good for my ears. The
sound is very warm.

Tannoy D300: I felled in love with it when I first heard it. It sounds just
right to me. Very clear and good image. The sound is much more refined and
elegant than the 805s. It does lack a bit of bass, however, a subwoofer
should fix this problem.

-- Rich