great sound stage, very transparent midrange, detailed high freq.

very long break in period, need sub woofer for 5mX6mX3m room

if you prefer jazz or country than alternative or rock, this is the speaker for you, the mid high above is very detail. low mid is neutral and warm, the most impressive is they often disappearing even with my eyes open.
the weakness is only it's required a very long break in period, but once it break... the tweeter is much more polite and no harsh. please give more attention in cabelling, no cheap cable pls.. MUST be wired with the same type cable.
for that much of money... you can do nothing better than this hell speaker, even compare with $6000 SF electa amator.
Equipment used:
Musical Fidelity A3 CD
DAC Theta DSPro
McCormack TLC-1 Dlx
McCormack DNA-1 Dlx
Sinergestic Research Interconnect
XLO speaker cable

Similar Products Used:

jmlab elactra 915, Sonus Faber Signum

size, midrange, looks

boxy, soundstage, warm, laid back sound. price with stands

i do not own these speakers. I listened to them while deciding what to buy. I wanted to listen to these and compare them to the Monitor 9i's in the $2000 price range. i've read great reviews and was ready to be blown away. What i heard surprised me. They sounded ok, but didn't excite me. I thought they were a bit boxy and the over all sound was sorta small. They were hooked up to a Rotel 2 channel system and Bi-wired. So the equipment seemed good. They also seemed a bit warm i guess. The music was laid back and almost unexciting if that makes sense. It also seemed that the sounstage was a bit small. Not very wide. Good depth though. I used Lyle Lovett, Diana Krall and Sade as material. (never tried my rock cd's). Plus, i also didn't want to spend even more cash on stands. The mids were good and the bass was decent if a bit shy.Yet thats expected from bookshelf speakers. These were nice to listen to but i was hoping for more. Would i be disappointed with these. I doubt it. they just don't compare with "some" floor standers. I went with the Monitors but i do tell everyone to give these Nautilus 805's a listen first. I'm giving them a 3 star value rating only 'cause you also need to buy stands. And that affects the price

Similar Products Used:

Monitor, Polk, Def Tech

Deatil, Image, Mid-Range, Resolution, Roll-off

Bass was borderline decent

Brought a pair home last week to try out, and didn't feel it right to make a review until they were broken in. It took some time to break them in(25-30) but I'm not complaining: That's part of the fun ion the world of "audiophilism". I set them up in my bedroom(I'm only 18..still living with the rents). I set them up in my typical sweet spot and began to listen after I felt the break in period was completed.
Many people have said these are best when hooked up to very high-end euipment. Without me having to say, my equipment is not as high-end as what people suggest: Levinson, Krell, ect. I own a Rotel 985 int. amp, Sony 90es cd changer, all connnected with audioquest.
However, even with the lower end high-end quipment the B&Ws were phenominal(spell check please?). The details were superb. I heard things I've only heard over my Grado SR-125s. The image was there, sometimes actually hallucinating Richard Gilmour was soloing for me a version of ""Wish You Were Here". When put on a random "Nature" CD the soundstage provided a thrid dimensional image. Even my 14 year old sister, who knows plenty about my addiction to sound and music, inturrupted my listening session and said "Man, those are f***ing straight."(we were ever that young?) which showed me a very nice speaker if an average person can tell the difference. The details, image, soundstage, color, resolution was best out off all the monitors I've listnened to.
But, as expected out of a bookshelf, the bass wasn't there. However it was very nice and tight for the size. When I played Rdsiohead's KID A track 8, the wven Kevlar driver produce the synthesizer(spell checker again please) bass above 60 very very well: musical, tight, and fast. Below 60, it was hurting: nothing a subwoofer can't fix though. I felt the Pardigm Reference 40's provided much better bass: it produced
I thought, when paired with a good subwoofer(maybe, I lacked one so I rerally couldn't say for sure) would make they set a wonderful, and trully musical, combonation(make sure the sub is quick enough to keep up with the 805s though).
I found this speaker not to be the best for people who want a speaker to produce good rock, electronics, fusion,: maybe try the CDM 7 or maybe the 802, or stay with the 805 and check out a good sub. But for piano, vocal, classical, and jazz works very well with it, but not superb.
I am definately going to purchase the pair however. With all the lus sides, you cannnot do much better for under 3k.
Happy Listening

Similar Products Used:

B&W CDM 1, Phase Technology, Paradigm Ref.40, Sonus Faber Concerto/Concertino, Mirage,Vienna Acoustics

Imaging, soundstage, tonality

Lack of lowest octave

B&W Nautilus 805
Purchased these speakers 2 months ago. Previously owned Hales Revelation 3 speakers. Forced to downsize because I had to move, with the new home came a smaller listening room. The first thing that I noticed was a total lack of sizzle on the top end. Highs are completely glare free, even as the volume control approaches "11" (-..."this one goes to eleven"...) Anyway, this speaker is amazing with regards to its imaging capability, the precision with which it delineates a sounstage, and the quality of its bass response. The soundstage/imaging qualities are most important to me, and this speaker excels in these areas. Great soundstage and precise images are worthless, however, if the speaker sounds like its located in a metal bucket. As you might expect, this speaker has a basically flat on axis response, and a very life-like tonality. No frequency ranges are emphasized or deemphasized (other than bass below 50hz), and over all the speaker sounds really full in my 12' by 13' room. The bass response, compared to my Hales Rev 3s, does leave something to be desired. Please understand that the Hales are awesome speakers, and a natural, (sealed box) smooth bottom end is perhaps one of their greatest attributes. While they do not go nearly as low as the Hales, the B&W Nautilus 805s have a lively midbass that seems (because of a light boost) to go lower than it actually does.
Recently down rated by Stereophile magazine from "Class A restricted lf" to "Class B restricted lf", supposedly because they heard the Nautilus 803, and decided that it's inclusion in "Class A restricted lf" (low frequencies) meant that the previously auditioned Nautilus 805 somehow didnt sound so good anymore. Ahem. If Stereophile claims to be a scientific journal, I'll eat YOUR shorts. Since they don't (but all-in-all are, in my opinion, still the best mag) claim to be a scientific "journal", or even unbiased (THEY NOW ACCEPT MONEY FOR ADVERTISING SO HOW CAN THEY BE UNBIASED), I'll simply chalk this one up to attempting to keep the majority of their advertising speaker manufacturers happy, and most importantly, keeping them as advertising clients of the magazine. When a speaker is reviewed, it is typically reviewed on it's own merits. When the 805 was reviewed, it was given the exalted "Class A" rating, solely on its performance. Along comes the 803, made by the same company. It receives a Class A rating. Fine. But perhaps the division between the business office and the editorial department isn't as large as they would like the readers to think, because, based on the merits of the larger 803, the 805 was reduced to Class B. They wouldn't demote the Dunlavy SC-V because the JM Lab Grand Utopias sounded better (supposedly) and cost more (fact). So why is it that because a speaker is made by the same manufacturer as another speaker in the Highest class, it must be demoted?? Simple. It's the dollars involved. Specifically the dollars from companies like Martin Logan (not necessarily Martin Logan), who make lots of speakers that have been reviewed, and who pays Stereophile lots of advertising dollars each year. Certainly, it "pays" to keep advertisers happy. And a $2000 Class A speaker, from a company that already has 2 Class A speakers, and is typically reviewed quite often, well, that makes purveyers of $10,000 (and up) speakers nervous. Quite Possibly because Stereophile has the power to make or break a company based on the reviews it prints each month.
So, they bump it down a notch, big deal. I bought mine after the ordeal transpired, so my feelings werent hurt.

Anyway, (whew!) these speakers are great. If you want a $2000 full range window-rattler, get the Hales. If you want a refined, almost full-range speaker, with loads of detail without sounding tilted up, sounstaging to die for, excellent dispersion and imaging, and taught, punchy midbass with absolutely dead on georgeout tonality....
BUY THE NAUTILUS 805.

BEST I'VE EVER TOUCHED

Similar Products Used:

none

Fast mid-range. Superb imaging. Clear smooth, natural treble. Fantastic looks and build. Wonderful on vocals.

Need plenty of amplifier drive to come alive. Dedicated stands are expensive (but nice). Can get a little harsh when pushed hard (but most smaller speakers do, anyhow). Need lots of running in.

I recently bought a pair of 805s (with Atacama stands, 'cause the B&W stands were sooooo expensive) to replace my existing B&W floorstanding P6 loudspeakers. I quite liked the P6s in my old house, but in my new place, the P6s became very ill-defined and boomy at the bottom end (horrible exaggerated 50Hz peak which I could not get rid of (just shows what a huge difference rooms make). I borrowed a dealer's well run-in demo pair and placed an order within a week. Listening to music through these speakers revealed layers that were not readily apparent through the P6s - much easier to distinguish between instruments in a complex mix of music, more spatial clues about the timbre of instruments and generally a wider window into the music itself. The imaging is rock solid, almost holographic (the P6s were very good in this respect, but the 805s are better), expecially if the tweeter is kept roughly at ear level. I used to have a pair of Celestion SL600 which were absolute pigs to drive and the 805s remind me about the good bits of those speakers - very clear mid range and top, allowing you to hear those little breaths on vocals which other speakers simply mask and the ability to clearly follow low level ambient details. It's also much easier to distinguish HOW MANY singers there are in a small choir. My wife summed up the performance in an interesting way when listening to vocal music - saying that she now KNOWS what the artist would sound like if they SPOKE to you in the room - she simply could not make that connection before with other speakers which did not bring out the timbre in voices as well as these. Negatives? Well, if I'm to be really picky, then: a) my new pair sounds a little more constrained then the review pair - but getting better with more use, b) pushed really hard, there is some break up on big-scale works, c) the bass, although tight, fast and focussed, rolls off rapidly below 50Hz and therefore a sub would be needed if you really need the floor-shaking stuff. So I like them - they have certainly cured the overblown bass problem I had and given me a much wider acoustical window into the music. A final interesting note - I thought that the 805s would be ruthlessly revealing of poor recordings but I find I listen to more of my 'badly recorded' CDs because I get swept way into the performance more easily. How many other (revealing) speakers do that?

Similar Products Used:

Celestion SL600 (years ago). B&W P6 floor standers. Jamo Concert 8 (demo only).

Clarity, imaging, precision

Bass extension, bleached sound

I found the 805's slightly used for $1200, so I wanted to love these speakers.
I was so eager to hear what these wonderfully reviewed speakers could do. My first selection was Tori Amos's Precious Things. Tori's voice sounded so dry and bland that she could have been any talentless spice-girl wannabe. On the other hand, her piano came through these speakers phenomenally, it sounded wonderful.
Every song I played with deep bass lost it, which I might add is much superior to the Revel(Lush, rich, thumpy, imprecise, sloppy, ugly).
With a subwoofer, a more powerful amp than the Bryston B60, and listening only to instrumental music this speaker would be great. Unfortunately, I hate it.

Similar Products Used:

Revel M20

Fantastic Imaging, Soundstaging, and Depth. Midrange and Highend is warm, round and natural. Midrange is punchy and alive. In a word, these speakers are musical.

The weaknesses of these speakers are of course in the low end. While the speaker has great slam and bass extention for its size, the lack of deep bass can make the presentation seem bright at times.

I am writing this review after a brief home audition. First of all, let me say that these speakers are fantastic. They are musicial and will impress even the most demanding audiophile. However, as they are minimoniters, you do not get the deep bass. This should not surprise or disapoint you because minimoniters aren't known for deep bass. This speaker sorts out complexity in the high end and upper midrange as well as any speaker I've heard. In addition, its lack of low bass is somewhat compensated for by its incredible bass definition and slam. These speakers will ROCK N' ROLL. Listening to Stanly Clarke, Victor Wooten, or Charlie Haden might not be the most accurate experience on these speakers, but it will captivate you.

I've given this speaker five stars but everyone should know two things. First, these speakers are warm and natural, but also very revealing. You must have good components behind it or you will get unsatisfying results. Second, if you can afford and have the space, buy a floorstanding speaker. These speakers are great for people who can't quite afford the 804s or 803s, or for people with small rooms. As good as these speakers are, I believe the 804 is better in EVERYWAY. You just can't get around not having the low bass. I wouldn't call it a flaw of the 805s, but it is just reality. These speakers are wonderful, but they are more of a compromise than I'm willing to make.

Similar Products Used:

B&W N802, B&W N602s2

Clarity,great Mids and crystal clear Highs.

Needs high quality equipment,Expensive stands

I have the B&W 805 Nautilus for about 1 mounth and I have been imprested.I liked them from the first day.They have clarity to die for and the bass for such a small speaker is really good.My room is not too big and in the bigining I was going for thr 804N but I finaly bought the juniors.I keep hearing them with great pleasure and still getting impresed with their capabilities.They are getting better and better every day.


My sistem:
B&w 805 Nautilus
McIntosh 6450 amp
Qed Atmospher Silver Spiral speaker cable
Audioquest tirquaz interconnection
Cd Technics 390 (try to upgrade with a 24bit DVD)

Similar Products Used:

Totem,Dynaudio

•Very good percussive attack and dynamics for its size.
•Images well.
•Easy load to drive for many amps.
•Good power handling ability before compression.
•Nautilus tweeter.
•Great asthetics.

•See below.

I auditioned the N805's in-home (with their dedicated stands - sand-filled), and had thought to mate them with maybe the REL Storm III sub. The reason I didn't end up with the N805's was, while I thought its overall performance was very good for a speaker of its size and price class, it didn't seem to do as well in my room and system as I thought it should. (According to my dealer, this pair had had ample break-in time, so that wouldn't have been a factor.)

Specifically, I didn't care for its mid-bass response (40-80 Hz.) at their price of $2600. While there was plenty of it for a 2-way monitor, the mid-bass seemed to be a tad slow and indistinct to my ears - never mind what 'Stereophile' or anyone else says. It would have been next to impossible, IMO, to mate them COHERENTLY with the superior speed and definition of an exemplary subwoofer such as a REL or an older Entec. Which, to me, is one of the main reasons to get into a good mini-monitor/sub set-up instead of a full-range speaker in the first place -- generally better bass response for the $, greater soundstaging/imaging potential, and ease of placement.

Also, the lower treble/upper midrange was not as balanced with the rest of the range as I would have liked. What I heard was borne out by a glance at the individual frequency response graph that comes with each speaker, that I didn't look at until after listening for some time so as not to bias my judgment. Your speaker's individual response curve is printed on the sheet next to the curve for the lab standard (a nice touch, by the way B&W!). The individual response curve showed a small peak around the 5 kHz region -- just as I had suspected. That peak is right in the range that happens to bother me, but your mileage may vary.

The N805 had most everything else right though, I will say. For example, the distortion seems subjectively lower than many other 2-way mini's.

Therefore, I wasn't interested, and decided to move up the line to the N804 and N803 to give them a listen. I'd heard the bigger B&W's extensively, and could have gone for the N802's. But a bigger listening room would be needed for the N802's than what I could give them right now. Since I'm generally fond of the sonic attributes of the Nautilus family, I decided to put the 2 'forgotten' middle models through the wringer.

(BTW, doesn't it strike some of you as a bit fishy that the N805 entered the Stereophile 'Recommended Components' list in the Oct. '99 issue at "Class A, Restricted Extreme LF"; then in the very next 'Rec. Comp.' list in April '00 it was slapped down to "Class B, Restricted LF"? Evidently, their excuse was that in the meanwhile, they had reviewed the N803 and decided to place IT in "Class A", and they had been a bit hasty to rate the N805 as they did! Sure, we believe you Mr. Greenhill and Mr. Tellig...

Get outta here!! When was the last time you've seen that happen -- once a component has been placed in a ranking and no superseding version has come out to replace it??

With the N805's being the least expensive "Class A" speakers in October at $2000./pr., and with the next higher priced "Class A, R.E.L.F." speaker model being the $5395./pr. Audio Physic Virgo's, Stereophile was shooting some of their other advertiser's in the foot, and/or making life too easy for B&W. Because they know that quite a few audiophile-wanna-be's will go out and buy the lowest priced unit in a given class, thinking: "Hey, I've got a 'Class A, B, or C piece of gear, 'cause it says so right in Stereophile...", without even critically listening to it or matching it with the proper components, etc.

Since they've already rated B&W's N801's and Silver Signature's "Class A", they couldn't very well have 2 MORE models in "Class A" again from the same manufacturer, could they? Well, in the case of the Silver Siggie's, it looks like Stereophile waited until they were "officially discontinued" before putting the N803's in "Class A"! Hmmm...

How convienent. Anybody notice that? Besides, nobody was stupid enough to pay $8000. for a 2-way mini anyway except for the writers at Stereophile!!!) ;^)

If you like the Nautilus' sound, build quality, reliability and looks as I do, you might be better off shelling out the 900 clams extra for the 804's. Then you'll have more power handling/loudness ability/sensitivity than with the 805's - AND a cleaner mid section and bottom end. You can always get a sub later for that last octave, or flip for the 803's as I did.

The N805 is a very good speaker for it's size, but it wasn't the one for me at this time.

Oh, BTW -- yes, the N805's stands are very good. They're needed. They're also too expensive. And B&W and their dealer's know this. So, overall, not as good a value as some of the other models in the Nautilus line.


Happy Hunting!

Similar Products Used:

•D'ya mean what other speakers have I owned? Well, let's see...Apogee Stage; ADS L990; Boston Acoustics A40; Entec LFX; KEF C80; Magnepan 2.6R and Tympani IV; Martin-Logan CLSIIa; Mission 70 MkII...and too many other's to list, but you get the point. : )

Build quality, sound stage, appearance

expensive stands

The B&W quality is readily apparent, and if you buy light or dark cherry and use them without the grilles, you might watch them more than your TV. Appearances aside, the performance I have experienced has been superb, paired with the Nautilus HTM2. I was advised about appropriate break-in and bi-wire setup, so I knew what to expect. What I did not expect was the bass availability and sweetness of the experience in my listening environment.

For my apartment and HT setup, this speaker is perfect, and I am glad I didn't skimp on budget. When paired with the right components, which I think I have, I couldn't be happier. Spend the time on an audition and correct room placement, and you likely will not be disappointed.

My setup is:
B&W Nautilus 805's/HTM2/DS6
Pioneer DV626 DVD
Lexicon DC1 pre-pro
Rotel RB985mkII AMP