clear,powerful,pure,accurate,clean, beautiful,reveling sounding and more , good looking too.

within the limitations of small speakers, absolutly nothing.

I have these red cherry colored pair for four months now together with the 805 stand, and its about time to write. they must be broken in and biwired to sound good. as for michael the reviewer on sept. 8 03, its a good timing for i have a pair of cdm1se for 3 years myself. the differences are many, the n805 has wider dispersion, more precise and more 3d imaging , wider soundstage, more power handling, clearer/purer sounding, higher highs, more revealing mids and etc. the n805 is clearly superior compared to cdm1se in every category in judging speakers. if you planning to upgrade, now is the time. you'll know what i mean and you'll be delighted. there are many stands out there that are cheaper and hevier, but the 805 stands are the best for it , for it has 2 screws to anchor it to the stand so that they become as one and remaining vibration be absorbed by the sand fillings inside the stands and most of all they look good together. if you are or planning to use a sub/s with it , dont use the x over in the sub, it would contaminate the sound , you'll surely hear it if you have good enough hearing and its annoying compared to the pure sound when you use it without a sub/s or any signal proccesor in the signal path for that matter. but there are solutions to that problem, first, use the speaker level input of the sub/s, second, to increase the power handling of the mains, construct and insert to the positive in the speaker out of the amp an array of about the equivalent of 250 micro farad capacitor composed of high quality mylar or polypropelyne type (dont use electolythic type, they sound bad), connect the sub/s in speaker level before the capacitors ,then adjust the x over of the sub/s to about 75hz. plus/minus 10percent, that way you relieve the main of the power robbing low freq. there are many more ways around this problem, but what ever you do , do not connect anything to your line level signals, even if you only Y connect with the sub/s or anything, the signal would still be contaminated, i know, i tried it my self and heard it. Im sorry for a long review even though i could've written more . and I would like to thank audioreview for this great site, feel free to email me if you have questions.

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b&w cdm1se and 601s3

Detail, maturity of sound, wide soundstage. Easy listening for endurance rather than short-term 'wow-factor'

Not really a weakness but they do have the expected lack of deep bass but then it's horses for courses - I like this sound - if you want more get an 800 or 802! or plumb in a speaker wired REL SW.

I have the Signature models and haven't heard the 'plain' versions! These standmounts offer a wide soundstage, not critical for sweet spot, with a subtle depth in detail and clarity. The tweeter is astounding and lacks the harshness I have disliked in other metal, as opposed to silk, models I have heard. They need plenty of available amplifier power, I demo'd them on 600W per Ch EC NEmo's and now have them running off a McIntosh Solid State 400W/Ch. If you have hard flooring, like my terracotta tiles, they avoid the muddying of bass that bedevills floorstanders. They also DO benefit from bi-wiring (I used Ixos BiWire speaker cable with good results). They are outstandingly attractive and well made and gain a high WAF !

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BW 602's / CD7NT's / Yamaha NX-100 / Paradigm Reference 100

Clear, clean sound from an unobtrusive piece of fine furniture (w/matching cherry stands). Audio Consultants top notch service.

$600 for stands? Use the money for a nice chair to enjoy the music. Rockers may want sub.

The 805 is a top performer for jazz, classical, country and soft rock. Loud rock listeners may long for 'more' sound, but will lose the clean sound and stage of these finely finished speakers. I use a Music Fidelity A-3 integrated and and Arcam 72t cd player w/transparent interconnects/bi-wired speaker wires and get a smooth sound. For mature listeners, bigger is not better.

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Theil, B&W 600 series.

Clarity, Clean sound, crisp

Needs subwoofer to compliment for the low bass

These speakers are fabulous. I just upgraded to a Rotel 1075 (120x5) amp from the Yamaha 995 reciever. What a difference! These speakers love power.

Great-looking nice upper range well built bi-wireable

Minimal low range Average sound stage

After having these speakers for approximately three years I thought it would be helpful to update my previous posting. Since I purchased these I have upgraded my system to the lexicon M. C. 12b and the Sim audio titan amp. This combination seemed to reveal the weaknesses in this speaker. I currently use the B&W Nautilus HTM1 as a center channel speaker. The lack of any significant low end sound from the 805s has been disappointing. While I never expected deep bass from a compact speaker these speakers could never seem to create an enveloping sound stage. After months of attempting to tweak my system I gave up and brought in a demo set of definitive technologies PM 700s. My wife and I were then able to do an A-B comparison. On music ranging from jazz to rock there was no comparison. On lower volume jazz and piano the B&Ws were similar. On louder volume they could not image near as well. Overall while I am not unhappy with the speakers I would recommend only using for smaller rooms or low volume listening. If you are set on these speakers it makes sense to demo them with your set up.

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Definitive technology's PM 700

Midrange, detail, soundstage, tight bass, smoothe highs, build quality is first rate.

Can sound harsh on high end if other componets are not well matched. Needs a great amp with lots of current to sound at their best.

Have been using these now two months and they keep getting better sounding. I use Sanus stands filled with sand 20" high. Bi wired with Kimer Kable speaker wire, I just switched from a Adcom GFA-565 preamp, to a CJ tube preamp and what a diffrence the CJ made in the high end and imaging. Krell KSA-250 amp, and an old Sony ES 77 cd player from like 14 years ago. The highs at first seemed to bright but got better over time, soundstage, detail, and midrange are first rate. Awesome monitors!! At their price level a super speaker.

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Older Snell's.

Very musical, for listening clasical and jazz music, very open and beautiful sound.

None.

I am very happy with all music range that is coming from speakers. Midrange is exellent, wide and open, tweeter is sweet and high, low frequencie is good enough for listening to jazz. Speakers are exelent for listening to home theater. My system: MARANTZ SR9200 AV RECEIVER MARANTZ DV-17 DVD PLAYER MUSIC FIDELITY A308 CD PLAYER PHILIPS 36PW9527 TV B&W NAUTILUS 805 MAIN SPEAKERS B&W NAUTILUS HTM2 CENTER SPEAKER B&W ASW 650 SUBWOOFER B&W CDM1SE SURROUND SPEAKERS VAN DEN HULL THE FIRST ULTIMATE INTERCONECT CABLES KIMBER CABLES 8TC FOR SPEAKERS

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B&W CDM1SE, NAUTILUS 804

Very detailed with a good bass reponse for a small speaker. Fit and finish are second to none.

B&W stands are too expensive ($600). I am using a pair of Premium stands that work very weel.

I upgraded from the CDM1 NT to the N805 and have not regreted it. The N805 has a much detailed and open sound stage and a far better bass response. Even my wife (almost tone deaf by her own admission) could hear the difference. The CDM1 NT is a great speaker, but I feel the extra $800 for the N805 is worth the price and these are even close to being broken in. You would be hard pressed to find a better speaker at this price.

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CDM1 NT

Relaxed sound stage, beautiful image, highly deatiled and great finish.

sometimes to revealing on some records

Why do I compliment the N805's with a 5 star verdict you might ask. Well, these speakers are able to produce music in a very revealing way. You might say, more speakers do and your right so. But it's the sweet, detailed and clean sound which settles the N805's above it's competition. I have had no problems with a long break-in period, right out of the box the speakers sounded wonderful to me. But you have to have a stable (MIND stable, much power isn't really a priority since I use a 2x25W amp and still have a great sound)quality amp and an even better source to let these speakers shine. Mind that these speakers CAN sound boring (since they have a laid-back character)or can sound harsh. I found out that a Meridian 551 amp for example makes a very boring setup, while setting up a Linn Genki at the begin of the chain the sound will be dark and sharp. So component matching is a must, but isn't that with every high-quality piece of equipment?

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B&W CDM 7 & 9 NT * Dynaudio Contour 1.3 MKII * Totem Staff,Hawk and Model 1 * Kef Reference 1.2 * Linn Ninka * and many others

I purchased new B&W Nautilus 805’s to replace my Matrix 805’s. I decided to read all hundred and something reviews here on these new N-series speakers, and offer the following comments… If you want superlative audio in your home listening room accept the fact that you can get a great system if you are prepared to accept a reasonably sized portion of super audio and not an oversized heaping helping. I use a Naim CD5 with Chord Solid cables to a YBA integre Delta DT with Cardas Hexlink Golden 5-C birewire speaker cables to the B&W Nautilus 805’s. Add one PS Audio Juice Bar with several heavy butcher block slabs, a few steel cones and this system produces a good-sized slice of audio heaven, the perfect combination of power and poise, with style and grace. If you want to move up to the next sized portion of this caliber of audio then be prepared to mortgage the farm, and be prepared to get more without more getting any better. The reality is that for a little more low end slam and depth, you will sacrifice many other superlative mid range and higher sounds that are native to the smaller, faster and more agile speaker and associated electronics. If you must keep upgrading then do it to your source CD or Vinyl components. Besides a more pleasant and user-friendly system, you will have lots of change left over to do what you are supposed to, which is buy more music and enjoy the listening. Additional components include- McIntosh MR-74 Tuner, NAD T-550 DVD, Aiwa Excelia XK-009 Cassette, Stax SRM-1/MK2, Stax SR-Sigma, Bedini CD Clarifier.