B&W’s research, design and manufacturing prowess are evident in the 803 Nautilus speakers. The 803's design is an admirable balance of form and function (see http://www.bwspeakers.com/nautilus800/ for information on the entire line). In short, these are beautiful, and beautiful sounding, speakers.
BUILD QUALITY: Built like fine furniture, the 803s somehow manage to look both classic and modern (check out the cherry wood; the black wood simply does not show them at their best). Probably because of their tall tapered shape, they look svelte with their black grills on (they look more massive with the grills off). From the gently upward sloping top with the dimple for the tear-shaped tweeter, to its gently rounded posterior, the attention to design and manufacturing detail is obvious. This is a luxury model.

THE SOUND: The overall impression is one of ease of presentation – music simply flows effortlessly. The sound is natural, uncolored, dynamic. If you like the midrange/HF detail of an electrostatic speaker but prefer a much larger sweet spot, you will want to listen to the 803s. I have seen comments online that they sound bright, but be sure you are listening to a broken-in pair (see WHERE TO FIND THEM below) and that they are correctly placed (away from walls and about 80" apart). All technobabble aside, as mechanical devices all speakers need to be played for a while to sound their best (the B&W manual suggests 15 hours and that seems correct from my experience). And any speaker which is poorly placed can sound pretty anemic.

COST: At $5,000 they are a substantial investment for most folks, but if your home or apartment has an open layout, you can get excellent sound in several rooms (and the backyard) and true high-end sound seated anywhere in front of them.

WHERE TO FIND THEM: B&W has lots of dealers. I have listened to the 803s at two high-end dealers. If they don’t sound great at your dealer, go to another dealer. There are plenty of dealers out there with lousy ears. Dealer #1 -- They sounded merely OK and not worth the price. Four factors seemed to be responsible for sub-optimal performance – lousy room dynamics, underpowered amplifier (both of which affected other speakers I listened to in the same listening room), no break in time (they were stuck in another room since this dealer was pushing the 802s in his high-end room) and incorrect setup (positioned much too far apart). Of course, they were hooked up to the very fine components. Dealer #2 – They sounded fabulous (if you are in the San Francisco area, drop in on Bob Sheldon, owner of Access to Music – see http://www.access-music.com/) – Telephone: 415.461.1568).

DELIVERY: If you really love them, check on the delivery date. They seem in short supply. I had to wait more than a month for delivery. But within one hour I forgot all about the long wait. And within a week I had almost forgotten about the speakers – I was listening to music.

Beautiful midrange, smooth high

Can a bit stronger in bass

I bought the N803 two months ago. I use a Pass Labs X150 to push them. 803 has silky midrange that plays like a violin with a bit of wood sound. The bass is perfect for music, I added a Velodyne HGS12 for watching movies. The high efficiency of 803 allows me to use a small amp. They also match well with my old Matrix 800s. I highly recommend N803.

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Harbeth, KEF

Strong deep bass and silky smooth mid thru hi freq's.
Excellent build, easy on the eye and small footprint.

PRICE$$$ I would not complain if they were $1500 cheaper.

Let's see... where to begin???

Great speakers when used with proper amplification.

If you're trying to drive these with some candyass 5.1 receiver from BESTBUY/CIRCUIT CITY you're going to be disappointed with the lo-end response.

Arcam FMJ CD-23 cd player w/ AP PL-313 power cable
Rotel 1090 pre-amp
Rotel 1090 amp
0.5 M Straight Wire "Crescendo" innerconnects (RCA)
6' Straight Wire Serenade speaker wire (IBW)
Audio Power Power Pak II

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none in same quality range.

Sound blooms around the speakers. Clarity and power balanced from the bass through the highs.

Tweeter mounting appears less than kid-proof.

This was a big upgrade for me. All the previous speakers I had were very good with their own portfolio of strengths and weaknesses but the Nautilus 803s have all the strengths of my previous speakers with, seemingly, none of their weaknesses (so far anyway). While the Stereophile and TAS reviews were very complimentary, listening at a local dealer really convinced me to buy them.

I use a Classe CAP-100 integrated amp to drive them which seems to have power to spare compared to my previous speakers.

I thoroughly recommend these speakers. Sonic excellence aside, they are relatively compact and easy to place and are beautifully finished.

I also want to commend the people who run this site; it is very useful as well as being fun to read and I completely agree with your posting guidelines. Thanks.

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Sonus Faber Concerto Grand, Thiel CS 1.5, Vandersteen 2C

Good top to bottom tonal balance, imaging, soundstage and pitch definition. A very smooth overall sound

Lacks energy in the lowest octave.

These are very refined sounding speakers. They have a very large soundstage and their room positioning does not seem as critical as many other top speakers. They possess a good level of detail without being overly analytical. The bass that they do have is very good, just not as deep as possible. They do however seem quite dependent on the associated electronics. I heard them with Proceed equipment and they left the above stated impression, but I also heard them through lesser equipment and was quite disapointed (they sounded rather dry and less 3 dimensional with much less sparkle in the treble region). Overall, I believe they are an excellent speaker (when properly matched to electronics), but ultimately don't represent a good value to me since (to my ears and personal sonic biases) several of the other speakers mentioned above share similar sonic virtues, if not the same sound, for considerably less money. As far as their absolute rating goes, I can only give them 4 stars because they are clearly surpassed by the N801's as well as several others I've heard.
One last note, I agree with a previous poster that it is inappropriate and unfair to these speakers to skew their ratings by turning this site into a venue for bashing the opinions of others. Everyone has a unique perspective on any given product and while we may not share their opinion, we should at least respect it.

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B&W Nautilus 801, Vienna Acoustics Beethoven, Thiel 3.6, Totem Tabu & Forest, Martin Logan SL3, Magnepan 3.6R & 1.6QR, and numerous others

Dynamics, clarity, detail, subtlety

Low-level resolution, forwardness, very revealing

Overall I'm quite happy with the B&W N-803s. They are clear, detailed, very dynamic, fairly natural sounding, with lots of timbre information. Most importantly to me, they bring out the nuances of the performance that involve me emotionally in the music. They're good for a variety of music, work well in my cramped apartment, and really do "disappear" leaving just the sound. They are super revealing, however, and I've had to be very careful about component selection. Changing a piece of equipment upstream can either make or ruin the overall system.
I chose the 803s over the similar products listed above, all of which cost much less, as well as over a similarly priced ($4,500) pair of Thiels (I forget the model) and Revel Ultimas that I listened to in the store. The Ultimas just weren't very interesting … I didn't even want to listen to them very long. Muscular. The Thiels sounded very good … more laid-back, more relaxed on a symphonic passage than the N-803s, and had better low-level resolution … but were not as dynamic. I like classical music, but jazz and rock, too, so went with the B&Ws. Also, the Thiels just didn't sound as "clear" as the B&Ws, though I'm told the Thiels have better detail. Nonetheless, they sounded fuzzier to me. Also, the guy at the store told me the Thiels would be much more sensitive to room placement than the B&Ws.
Currently I'm using a Wadia 850 CD player run directly into a CA-201 200W amp, Kimber KS 1130 (silver) balanced interconnects and Monster MI.4s biwire speaker cables. The challenge with component selection has been to (a) open up the midrange while (b) controlling the bass and (c) keeping the high treble both smooth and integrated. B&W seems to be all about "trickle down" technology from its top-of-the line Nautilus ($30K) and N-801 ($10K) speakers; it is almost as if, with the 803s, relatively more quality has trickled down to the tweeter, and the rest of the speaker has trouble keeping up - the "pod" tweeters are hot and very fast, sometimes faster than the rest of the speaker. The mid-range driver is a real step down from the N-802s, where it is in its own Nautilus pod (but a big step up from the N-804s); putting the cone inside the cabinet, as the 803 does, seems to bottle up the mids somewhat, and add some coloration … or maybe it just fades the natural colors. These speakers want lots of current, which means bass control has been an issue. I upgraded to an amp that is rated for 400W into 4 ohms, and with the right cables (both interconnects and speaker cables), control is fine. These speakers definitely sound better with loud music than with soft (either relative to the volume knob or the recording itself). Low-level definition would probably be my biggest gripe, but only occasionally does this become an issue.
After I bought these speakers, every flaw of my system was glaringly revealed. Economically, the 803s are a real slippery slope! I had to nix my ADCOM GCD-700 CD player because the 803s revealed an unacceptable degree of digital-sounding distortion. When I brought home the Wadia, the sound was just awesome. Musical, spectacular, with smooth, sweet highs and rich, chocolatey lows. Subtle variations of pitch and volume were clear and involving; the sound seemed to roll out of the speakers in waves, resonating and filling the room. Nirvana. I wanted to tap my foot on every cut; the sound quality really enhanced my enjoyment of the music. At the time, I was using a pair of inexpensive ($200), single-ended Monster cables. I wanted to go balanced; I've tried a few non-Monster interconnects. So far the sound has only gone downhill. The sound with the Kimbers I'm using now is way too cold, dry ... mechanical. It's not bright exactly, but when listening to jazz, it's sort of like, "would you like some music with your cymbals?" Totally ruined the involving, musical experience I had when I first brought the Wadia home. Previously I tried terminated interconnects, MITs, and with them the high treble disappeared, and the bass turned into oatmeal - these generally sounded awful (even after 300 hours). Now I'm waiting for a pair of Monster Sigma Retro balanced cables. A salesman I like says he uses these at home with his N-802s, that they really open up the mids. I'm hoping to get all the musicality I had with the single-ended Monsters, plus the cleanliness of balanced operation and more open mid range the salesman mentioned. We'll see.

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Revel M-20, B&W N-804, B&W N-802, B&W P4, Revel Ultima, Thiel

I don't understand how someone can say they did not hear slam or snap out of this speaker. The only other place I have felt pressure on my chest when I hear this speaker is at the local dance club and the 802N. Of course I heard them on Krell. Not my favorite amp for delicacy, musicality and warmth but impressive in the way the got these speakers to do their thing.
Obviously, this is a speaker that varies widely with the amps driving them. They sounded to me in brief listening like very neutral transducers with very little personality of their own, simply reproducing what they were fed with aplomb. Soundstage could be bigger, but then there's the 802N if you need that.

Speakers like the Aerials and Dunlavy's may have a warm slow character and more personality to them, which is not necessarily bad, but they are in a different price range, with the Dunlavy SCIVa's around 8k and the Aerials in that range also.

I also have found you need to get the volume up to hear what this speaker can do. Not so good for all of us with little audiophiles running around and sometimes sleeping.

I must say that the N803's were every bit worth the wait. I just received them in the natural cherry and although it was a long wait (I hear that they are shipping sooner now) I appreciate B&W committment to 100% perfection. I spent months auditioning speakers...Theil, Martin Logan, etc... and they can't compare to the N803's. THe midrange is direct and has a real purpose, the highs are concise and deliberate. The soundstage has depth and a good range. The key is placement and set-up, but I must say that these babies sound better in my home than at the audio store. Test them, listen to them and then buy them! You can find better, but not in this price range....

Articulate, smooth, natrual, clarity, airiness, refined.

nothing

The b&w are superb at rendering space and depth of the original perfomance, they are articulate, smooth. they have exellent definition and are very accurate. I'm an audio engineer and I know when a speaker sounds as close to the real perfomace, as these speakers do.

transport-Proceed pdt
da converter-Vimak DS-1800
preamp_audio reasearch ls1-sovtek valve
power amp-Kraft-100
interconnects-audio quest diamonds-analouge and digital
Mit terminator 2 bi wire speaker cable
and of course the "B&W NAUTILUS 803"
sonex foam on rear wall and side walls to stop first wall reflections. acoustics make a very big diffirence to the sounds of your speakers, I should know I'm an audio engineer.

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jm lab

Clarity and definition. Very musical. Great fit and finish.

If you like boomy bass, these speakers are not for you.

I won't bore you with my "audiophile-thesaurus" description of how the 803s sound to me. Speakers are a personal matter. Either they excite, repulse or fall somewhere in between. Given all the variables which affect the sound we hear (system components, the room, musical tastes, time spent listening, ear wax, etc.) it's no wonder that some of these reviewers say, "tight bass," "no bass," "great soundstage," "no soundstage," etc. Bottom line: Only you can judge what's best for you. I will say this--the Nautilus line (N805 included) has helped me rediscover my entire CD collection. I listen to a fairly wide range of music (from Sinatra to Zeppelin) and I am still hearing music on my CDs that I hadn't heard before. I listened to the N802 for several hours and switched between several amps (a modest $2k--like mine, an $8K and a $14K). I soon realized that, realistically, I would not be able to get the most out of the 802s given my system and listening environment. I am not an audio expert, but I do believe with each speaker design there are trade offs. No speaker is perfect. Like most of us audio nuts, the ultimate sound is probably still in my head. In any case, for me, and I believe most home environment/restrictions (including the wife factor) the 803s are more than able to deliver high quality sound without spending a fortune on an amplifier. As far as looks, well, I think they look great, but there is no accounting for taste, right. My only advice for the frustrated and/or uptight audiophile is this—don’t forget to enjoy the music!!

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N802 and N805