midrange, imaging

tend to sound too bright on many recordings.

I really wanted to love these speakers. I have heard them on numerous occasions with a variety of equipment, and I must say these are the most schizophrenic speakers I have ever heard. Sometimes they sound simply amazing. Other days, with different equipment they sound bright and harsh. I recently heard them driven by a monster Krell (600 watts per channel) stereo amplifier, and the sound was not good -- bright and uninvolving. Interestingly, the best sound I've heard from these speakers was when they were bi-amped with two NAD S200 amps. I don't like the idea of having to bi-amp to make an expensive speaker sound great.

I love the look of these speakers, and sometimes I have loved the sound. I just find these speakers to be too fussy. I realize this is not an audiophile term, but I think it fits.

I hope to find speakers that sound great with a variety of equipment, thus allowing me some flexibility (and fun!) to choose amps, processor, etc. If I were to buy these 802's, I think I would feel a lot of stress for each and every subsequent system purchase.

This is not meant to "diss" these beautiful speakers. If they sound consistenly great to your ears, then go for it and enjoy!

I am now considering the Revel Ultima Studios.

Sound. Breakin time is ridiculous. Expensive for what you get.

Sold them.. The break in time is ridiculous, and no matter what I paired them with (Krell, Plinius, etc) they were just flat. And I don't mean flat response. Flat, as in no liveliness.. Dead.

These were $8000 retail? Please..

Luckily (for some reason they hold value ok), I only lost $2000 on them and I had them almost a year. My honest opinion is that these are not the speaker for me, but may be for you. However, I SERIOUSLY doubt it.

Thanks for reading my opinion.

Badly break in time. Noisy.

Look as little robots, but this not help sound. Sound is very poor. Many other brand speaker sound nicer.

I pay too much for this to sound so bad.

They are weak. That is their weakness.

There are so many other speakers you can get for MUCH less money that are as good, or better. Please do not be fooled.. Do your research first.

Similar Products Used:

Legacy, Wilson, Genesis, NHT, Thiel, Polk, etc

very very sweet midrange, great soundstage, bass is just perfect!

too heavy

audition this speakers in my friends store, it is just fabulous, i would say this speakers is ridiculous, they are just too nice!, i myself is using a nautilus 803, and i feel they need more deep bass, but the 802 they are driving me nuts, difinitely "state of the art" components, they produce music so naturally and detailed, its like having a band in the room, every single instrument is very clear and clean, huge soundstage, but you need to feed this speakers with a lof ot power with control,
i paired my 803 with a plinius SA-100 (upgrading to SA-250) amp and wadia 850, and i still need more power, but i think the SA250 will do the job.
anyway i wish i have a pair of 802 and a pair of plinius SA250 (each for one channel), anybody ever try it?
must be deadly and poisonous, once you listen to it you gonna dream of it night and day,
and for those (or that) reviewers who give 1 star for this product, grow up and listen, when finally you have listened, youll see.....

speed, authority, transparant, clarity, looks

In spite of their relative sensitivity, they need to be driven by beefy solid state amps. Tube lovers will be disappointed.

the only real 'weakness' of this speaker is that it's too clean. This detracts from a lush sound. Often, this is not a problem if you pair the speakers with a tube amplifier. Trouble is, tube amps don't work quite as well.

Similar Products Used:

Wilson benesch ACT 1

Big sound, I thought my previous CDM7NT were reasoble untill i heard them

Someone asked me the difference betwen the new CDM 7NT and these speakers. the 7's are almost as detailed but you get a diffrent impression with these speakers. As i am no technical listener i explained the diffrence like a 40 kg Pavarotti singing in the bathroom when listening to the 7's and a 200 kg pavarotti singing in a big church, when listening to the 802's. I think that is the big difference.
Now a small question. I am not totally satisfied with the PM14MK2KI of MArantz(a new amp, not available in the US i think) for these big speakers. I recently read the review on the McIntosh MA6500 on e-town. It was stated that this was the best Amp he heard in combination with the 802. That is great because it is in my budget, although i would prefer the sperates ofcourse. But i only read reviews about the Mcintosh Ma6850 which was got a very high rating in a german audio magazine. Should i go for the cheaper Ma6500 or the Ma6850? Or should i just stay with the Marantz? Is there a better amp in the same price range for the 802's?
Many thanks

Similar Products Used:

CDM7NT, MarantzPM14MK2KI, Marantz PM17MK2

Resolving complex music and presenting a live feeling

Not the ultimate in midrange magic

Wow, I am actually flipping to the music sections of magazines instead of the component/hardware sections !

After 10 years of switching around (just to name a few of the speakers I have had... Martin Logan SL3/ReQuest/Odyssey,
Magnepan 3.5/3.6R, Inner Sound Eros, Dunlavy Aletha's, Proac 3.8, Avalon Eclipse, and most recently Dynaudio 3.3's)I have
(and I hope for a long time )settled down.

I feel like there should be a new catagory for reviews called systems. I know we all know this, but the system really is the right level for many reviews and here is mine;

- B&W N802'2
- Ayre K-1 Pre
- Sim Audio Moon W-5 Amp
- Meridian 588 CD Player
- Cardas Gold Reference & Golden cross speaker wires and interconnects

I have a very wide variety of musical tastes... Rock, Jazz and Classical. This system is the first one I have owned that can give you a realistic FULL presentation for a broad range of music.

There are so many things my system does well... deep realistic base, clear vocals, very well integrated presentation, large soundstage, great sound from sitting anywhere in the room,very high build quality and a great wife factor as a bonus.

The N802's are as good as the system behind it and I have clearly found a VERY synergistic combination.

Happy Listening !

Similar Products Used:

Too many to name

Coherence, subtle control of sound

bass not up to 801 standards, but more than enough for 99%
of listeners

I traded a pair of Legacy Classics which I thought were great sounding speakers for the 802N's. The Legacys strong
suit is giving a strong, live sounding sound, sometimes slightly harsh, sometimes slightly boomy because of all the bass output, but exactly what you would expect from a live performance.

The 802's take a different approach. They are not boomy and never harsh. On a live album, the sound is smoothed out seemingly like you were part of the mixing process. These
speakers are at there best with voices. Like all the veils have been removed and is crystal clear.

These speakers benifit from the slighest improvement from
equipment upstream of the speakers. The Legacys are wonderful for the money, but the are not near as sophisticated sounding as the 802's which are more than twice the price and still a bargain.

Associated equipment:
EAD Ovation
McIntosh 7009 CD
DV-09 DVD
HTM 1 Center
Krell FPB 600 amp

This is the system I dreamed about and was finally able to pull it together. It hasn't disappointed.

Similar Products Used:

Legacy, other B&W, Celestion

The Nautilus 802 ( N802 ). Is one of the most remarkable speaker I have ever seen and heard. Here in South Africa It retails at R55000 which is about $7500. The only reason why people give this speaker such a bad rating is because they cannot afford it or they just don't like the speaker because it is just to good. The speaker come with a wide variety of new features coming from the 802 matrix. The new FST technology emproves the quality of the speaker by exactley 35.21% and If you really are a audio lover you will go for this speaker, the N801 and N802 are not very different to one another, the only thing is the bass driver, the N801 is for people who have the money and want to a real kick in life. People also do forget that this speaker cannot just run on any amplifier, there MUST ALWAYS be a power amp driving these speakers and speakers in this range, they do drive just 500W. I recommend the the Plinus 100 to drive these speakers and a cable of impedance of 0.2ohms, please don't think all these words are here to make you think that this speaker is the thing, there is always something better and always take into consideration your ROOM, it can change the speakers quality and ratings all the way down, that is also what people forget. Well i gave this a 5 and i think it is because where I have put them is in a pro room and all the little tweaks.