Imaging and soundstaging; build quality and appearance; frequency integration and overall smoothness; value; matching stands look great and are the best I've used

Demanding of associated equipment; need a GREAT sub for deep bass that can match the quality of the mid-bass on up; maybe more suited to acoustic music than amplified; can sound stressed at very high volumes; matching stands are the most expensive I've used

This is one of the great values of all-time in high-end audio. The Nautilus 805 has as pure a midrange as B&W have aver produced (and that says a lot as those who have used B&W products in the past will know) and the integration of said midrange with the mid- to upper-bass and the high frequencies is beutifully seamless in my room.

The mid-bass is very fast and punchy. Before I added a Velodyne HGS-12 I was very happy with most music over the 805's alone (organ music and the very little rock with real bass being the notable exceptions), and I think the tight mid-bass response is the reason.

The upper-bass and midrange are very rich but not colored (not more so than any other speaker anyway). The warmth and texture seem very natural to me, and never is the 805 over-relaxed nor up-front. My experience has led me to believe that the midrange is a key factor in the imaging of any loudpeaker, and the imaging here is as good as one can expect from a midrange this natural and defined. The small size and great workmanship also naturally lead to this imaging and soudstaging strength, and there is a lack of boxiness which makes the speaker very open and transparent.

The tweeter in this design is exceptional. It seems to be beautifully extended and "airy" and extremely detailed without adding the residual brightness that most speakers which give the impression of great detail usually engender.

While the 805 can sound stressed at high volumes, I found it was harder to push these speakers than most of similar size, so the dynamic capabilities of these have to be rated above-average for a small speaker. In a smaller room, these can be very nice dynamically without ever sounding compressed.

Associated Equipment:
Krell KAV-300i integrated amplifier
Rotel RCD-991 cd player
Magnum-Dynalab Etude tuner
AudioQuest Coral interconnects (balanced on Rotel) AudioQuest Slate speaker cable

A note on the value rating: I think 5 stars is appropriate for the speaker itself, but the matching stands, while some of the best I've seen, are EXTREMELY expensive. I found them worth the money when I considered everything (the looks and the rigid interface with the speaker and the stable platformwhich they give the speaker), but I don't think they are really a good value the way the speakers themselves are.

Similar Products Used:

Thiel PCS; Dynaudio Contour 1.3; ProAC Response One SC; A little Apogee TL 2-way with about a 5" midrange driver and a ribbon tweeter whose model escapes me

transparent presentation, three dimensional soundstaging ruthless and yet pleasing to the ear

for a bookshelf monitor, NONE

i finally have come to terms with why SO many people use B&W for monitoring and audiophile reproduction. Its really scary how good they are. granted, when you enter this hobby(or obsession) you see gradual improvements here and there, and notice things that may not have been apparent before, but these speakers are like listening to your 1st hifi system after coming from that midfi college crap awia, bose, etc... the sense of realism imparted by these speakers is breathtaking! there are only two reasons i can accept for not buying these speakers


1. you do not have the money to buy a sub to fill in the bottom end

2. you are planning on using these in a every day, hi end home theater for tv watching, movies music ect...
i say that because if you listen to the poorly recorded programming
out there for too long, you may stop watching entirely!!!


here are the tracks i used for evaluation:

Dave matthews : Crash, lover lay down, # 34
the chieftains: the long black veil tracks one and 2
paula cole: carmen
pink floyd: the wall and dark side( MFSL remasters)
John coltrane: black Pearls (XRCD recording)
sarah mclaughlin: angel
tom waits : mule variations, bone machine

the common denominator of these discs is how well recorded and mastered they were
with the exception of pinkfloyd and coltrane, each of these
recordings has a sense of the artists "actual" voice. each has a uniques sound that makes distinguishing traits easy to discern.
also the use of varying miking tecniques helps to tell subtle nuances that on lesser speakers should be imperceptible.
as you can tell, i talk more about the detail and the music than the speakers so, i hope you can guess that they score very well with me and hopefully with you.

Similar Products Used:

B&W dm 603, NHT 2.5,
Sonus faber concerto, concertino. NHT 2.5, B&W DM 603

Great sound from such a small speaker. Tweeter technology.

Not cheap or for the faint at heart when it comes to investing in a great speaker.

I decided after the first of the year going into a new millenium that it was time to upgrade into a good speaker that would do the rest of my system justice. The rest of the system consisting previously of:
Amp: Ayre V3
CD: Wadia 21
Speakers: Maggie 3A
Cable: Straight Wire, Maestro
Interconnect: Serenade by Straight Wire (balance connect)
If you are familiar with Wadia, this cd player does not need a pre amp,it can be hooked directly into the amp. Which is what I do to keep it simple.

I have really loved the sound of Maggie speakers and wasn't too sure about giving them up, but I didn't feel I ever had a proper room to set them up in. They need a lot of room to breathe. So I went on a mission to find a speaker that would still give me the breath taking sound of the maggie. I tried out a pair of JM Lab 905's and was real pleased with the sound. Great imaging an all. But one thing that bugged me with them was some of my recordings sounded tinny and irrated me. I wanted these to work, but couldn't get around that quirk. I had a pair of Kestrils and really do love them (kept them actually and put them on a back up home theater system). But when I test drove the B&W Nautilus 805's, I knew I had found a speaker that could give me what I wanted to hear out of my music just like the maggies used to. And also open up the music to almost a surround feel.

I was able to audition them for a week before buying and used the stands I had used on some B&W 602's instead of the stands that are built for the 805's. They still sounded good. But when I borrowed some of the stands built for these speakers I heard a big difference. I couldn't believe the bass I was now getting. Granted these aren't going to blow you out of your house, but that is not what I wanted anyway. I want a speaker that gives just enough to satisfy recordings like Patricia Barber, Diane Krall, or some rock like Radiohead or Dream Theater. These speakers also emit a smooth high end sound with the patented Nautilus tweeter. My only worry is that a guest wont try and yank it off the cabinet. I ended up trading the Maggies for the 805's and have had them about 4 months now. I still think I have some breaking in to do, but they sounded good due to being demo's at the store. If you don't mind dropping 2K on some speakers, these are a good one to look at. I know people say the stands are not cheap, but I was able to get them for 20% off and that was a good investment.

Similar Products Used:

Meadowlark Kestril, JM Lab 905, Magnepan 3A

Small size, Big sound, Smooth Midrange, Clean Treble

None

I have owned N804's for 9 months now. Recently I sold them for N805's +Cash to save some money. The 805's are mounted to Sound Anchor stands. In the same room and the same electronics as the N804 - I prefer the N805. Bass response is even better (Punchier and Deeper), Midrange has more Bloom, and the treble is cleaner. Maybe has something to do with the Sound Anchor stands or the easier load on my amplifier who knows. One thing I will say is I can't stop listening. By contrast I think the FST midrange in the N804 is more forward sounding and a little drier sounding. Don't get me wrong I liked the N804, but to my surprise the downgrade was not disappointing. Here is my system:
Pass Aleph 5 60WPC Amplifier
Audio Electronics AE-1 Preamp 6SN7 Tubes
Meridian 506.20 CD Player
Synergistic Research Wiring

Similar Products Used:

N804

After breaking in these speakers since July 2000, I really enjoy listening to them. The 805's have excellent clarity and tonal balance that create a complete accurate sound reproduction. While the 805's have great bass output, I listen to them with an ASW 500 subwoofer (liked this model for its size, others were getting too large for an apartment) to make up for some of lower range tones the 805's miss.

I highly recommend the 805's.

System:
Marantz SR 7000, Rotel RCD 951, Marantz DV 3100, B&W 805's (fronts), B&W LCR6 S2 (center), B&W LM1's (rears), B&W ASW 500 subwoofer, Tributaries (cables)

After breaking in these speakers since July 2000, I really enjoy listening to them. The 805's have excellent clarity and tonal balance that create a complete accurate sound reproduction. While the 805's have great bass output, I listen to them with an ASW 500 subwoofer (liked this model for its size, others were getting too large for an apartment) to make up for some of lower range tones the 805's miss.

I highly recommend the 805's.

System:
Marantz SR 7000, Rotel RCD 951, Marantz DV 3100, B&W 805's (fronts), B&W LCR6 S2 (center), B&W LM1's (rears), B&W ASW 500 subwoofer, Tributaries (cables)

Beautiful midrange and a treble to die for. Decent bass for such a small speaker. Great soundstage.

$600.00 stands

What a speaker. I have really enjoyed listening to these speakers, even out of the box. I could not understand why so many people hated the sound out of the box, until mine started breaking in. I currently have around 50 hours on them and they do sound better everyday. They just get smoother all of the time. I would say that I have never heard this speaker sound bad. Even with old bad recordings they still shine. This is the best money that I have spent on my system yet. I am still upgrading all of the time. Right now I have a Krell Kav 250a, MITerminator 2 cables, Sony S7700 dvd player for a cd player and I switch from a Rotel RTC-970 Pre-amp and a Denon AVR 3200. My next Purchase should be a pre-amp. I found that when I listen to B&W Nautilus 804, and the 803, they were lacking something. I am not sure how long they were broken in and I am guessing that they need a lot more time than the 805s but I prefered the 805 over the others hands down. I can say that if you are looking for new speakers you owe it to yourself to hear these speakers. They will not disappoint. They have a smooth presentation from top to bottom. In my system they are not forward. I think my system proves that you can have a modest system and still use these speakers. Others have said different but I disagree with them. I am sure that they could sound so much better with great equipment, but I am not there yet. Someday. Enjoy

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Reference 100, Snell, B&W 603 s1, B&W 602 s2, B&W 302, various NHT

Sweet, sweet midrange and highs, controlled bottom end. Blends with my subwoofer like a dream. Beautiful.

Tweeter looks too much like a microphone - surprised I havent had to glue it back on after guests have left.

Since ther are over 90 reviews here I will try to add something new and not just repeat. The use of my system is 50/50 music and DVD movies. I would recommend a subwoofer with these speakers, but if your primary interest is music it's definitely not as critical.

Some comments on music DVD's played over these speakers:

Eagles, Hell Freezes Over (is there a better recorded concert DVD out there?) A lot of acoustic guitar and piano and the speakers have lots of body (never sound weak or thin). You'd swear you can hear every fretted string.

Steely Dan, Two Against Nature - A complex set of arrangements including several keyboards, guitars, horns, and backup singers. None, however, seem like they take a back seat to the others. The mix is up-front (not forward sounding or bright) and smooth over the entire audible range.

Fleetwood Mac, The Dance - Lots of different styles from hard rocking to ballads. Stevie Nick's voice and Lindsey Buckinghams acoustic guitars shimmer (in a good way) on Landslide, and Buckinghams solo performance of Big Love. Someone playing guitar in my family room wouldn't sound this good. Go Your Own Way showcases how well these speakers can handle the bass and drums (not to mention a screaming guitar) on this DVD.

CD's generally sound excellent, although I can now hear differences in recording/mixing techniques that my old speakers masked.

Two thumbs up for my dealers courtesy & professionalism.

Components in my system include:
B&W N805's Mains
B&W CC6 Center Channel
B&W LM-1's Surround Speakers
Velodyne 1250X Subwoofer
Denon 3300 Receiver
Pioneer 525 DVD

Highly recommended!

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM220's, B&W LM-1's, shopped many others (Polk, Definitive Tech, Gallo)

Crisp, fabulous highs, overall integration, especially considering small size, great looks

None I'm aware of

I'm new to the audiophile world and far from an expert. So, I'll make this brief, hopefully useful to those considering the buy. I compared these speakers with similar priced offerings from NHT, Definitive Technology, Mirage, Paradigm, and a few others while shopping. I thought these smaller speakers had superior definition across the frequency range than the similar priced fuller-range speakers I heard, and after 3 months of extensive listening I am very happy. Most surprising to me as a novice is how much the character has changed during break in. Bass has grown richer than I had expected over time (at least 50 to 100 hrs of listening so far), but it remains tightly controlled and superbly integrated with the mids and highs. As a stereophile first, a home theatre person second, I am wary of the loose, uncontrolled bass that seems to be the rage these days. The Nautilus line seems to avoid that, which appears to be a major factor in determining who buys them (many wanting that house-shaking experience from home theatre above all else seem disapointed by tighter speakers).

This is about as much as my experience and knowledge allow me to say so far. I did a careful audition of the 804s recently (with favorite reference recordings) and was surprised to find they sounded inferior to my 805s - compressed, not as much definition, and surprisingly, considerably less bass (this was at a dealer). After bi-wiring them, the dynamic range improved, but I must assume that the remaining difference I was hearing was a matter of break in (again, I don't have the experience to know for sure). The take away message for me was that these 805s sound fantastic indeed, and further listening in dealer shops is going to be unkind to speakers that might be even better than the 805s given that dealer stock is almost never properly broken in (I would love to get 803s as mains in the not too distant future and move these 805s to the back).

I've given these 5 stars simply because I consider them excellent and have heard nothing as good in this price class.

My system so far:

N 805 main speakers
Krell 300i integrated 2-channel amp (150 wpc)
Rotel RCD 971 CD player
Tara labs interconnects and speakers cables.

Compleatly natural transducer

Compleatly natural transducer

The problem with this speaker and all other B&W 800 series lines derives from the fact that they are sonically balanced. They do everything nicely, but only excell in their sence of "air." I have a job with all the local dealers testing out the equipment in real home enviroments and many speakers and amps have come and gone from my home. I must say that these are the only speakers I have kept. In fact I told the dealer that he would not get these speakers away from my house without a bitter struggle. There is just so much goodness from these little speakers, and really nothing wrong. Naturally, this is a subjective compliment and allow me to quantify it. First, this is the only speaker that did not impart some sort of "watermark" on the musical image. Sure, the sound of wilson audio watt speakers is a thrilling experience, but there is problems in calling them pure transducers, one can tell that they are Wilson audio speakers. With the 805 I never once could hear any sonic image except what came from either the associated equipment or the recording. This is a monumental feat for a two-tousand dollar pair of speakers. However, this speaker will give deacent performance with non-audiophile grade equipment. Once I hooked up the speakers to a Yamaha V995 reciever, the sound degraded but was still pleasent. All in all these speakers are the very finest around. Be careful of amplification they deserve the best and will truly show the sonic qualities of the source. To some this is devestating to say the least and I expect the reason for some low ratings.
I curently recomend solid state amps and tube preamps for these little gems. But if you are going to be using them in a theater set-up go solid-state all the way.
A quality cd or dvd player is a must. Let me amend this by saying that these speakers are not all that great with digital material. There is a boost in energy around the 18khz wave and can become shrill with high sampling discs. Other speakers like mirage do this much better, with a trade off in over all sound quality. Analog playback through a cd is excellent, as with LP's.
Also good cables are a must, with out them the sound is like looking through a dirty window, the image becoming obscured. I recomend the best you can buy (I use transparent beacuse they fit the "laid-back sound" I like).
No cheap monster cable please.
Finally, hear me now and understand me later, these speakers are some of the finest around. Trust your ears and go listen, you will nopt be disapointed if true reproduction by the simplest means possiable are your goals.
These are my transducers. WOW!

Similar Products Used:

Mirage, energy, revel, wilson audio, nht, polk audio, boston acoustics . . .