Tremendous excitement attended my audition of B&W's new Nautilus 800 series. The salesman told me that the N804 was his favorite in the series, so I listened to it after auditioning the flagship model N801. I wondered how much of the larger model's weight and drama the N804 would retain. As it turns out, the N804s display none of their larger siblings abilities.
The Nautilus model 804 seems diminutive in comparison to the larger Nautilus models. It features a Nautilus pod tweeter, "surround-less" 6.5 inch kevlar midrange, and two 6.5 inch kevlar/paper woofers in a slender tower, which is less than a meter high. The black, wood veneered speaker seemed beautifully built, and I was impressed with it's unique oval shape and unique styling. The N804's sound was less of a revelation.

My first test disc was a disc of Liszt piano works. I was not pleased by what I heard. Piano treble transients sounded blurred, dulling the notes, diminishing their impact, and slowing the performances. Piano tone had a thick, opaque, wooly quality and lacked pitch accuracy. I was dissappointed.

To test vocals, I chose a disc of Motown hits and things continued going downhill. Like their larger N801 siblings, the N804s suffered from a serious lack of "presence," leading to swallowed sibilants, poor resolution, and a lack of vocal intelligibility. Very dissappointing.

A disc of Schubert symphonies sounded inoffensive, but did not involve at all. The performances sounded thick and opaque and did not sing, because the N804s lacked definition and transparency.

To test bass rhythm and extension, I chose tracks from jazz artist Keiko Matsui's album "Doll." These pieces feature deep, synthesized bass in dense, musically complex arrangements. The bass sounded light-weight through the N804s. Worse, the bass lacked pitch accuracy. The N804s lacked the weight, scale, and drama of the flagship N801. Furthermore, the speakers lacked the resolution to separate the elements in the dense mixes.

The N804 failed to pass a single one of my listening tests. I now understand why B&W released these speakers last in the Nautilus series. The dealer's enthusiasm seems unjustified by the seriously awful sounding N804s. To do way better for less money, one need look no further than B&W's own 600 series II.

Piano (Liszt) *
Very dissappointing sound. Dull sounding. Blurred treble transients. Opaque, wooly quality. Lack of pitch accuracy.

Vocals (Motown Hits) *
Lack of intelligibility. Poor resolution. Shut-in. Swallowed sibilants. Serious lack of "presence." Dissappointing.

Upper Orchestral Strings (Schubert) **
Non-descript & uninvolving. In-offensive. Opaque. Lacking definition & transparency.

Bass Rhythm & Extension (Keiko Matsui's Doll) *
Light-weight sounding, but not pitch accurate. Lacking the weight, scale, & drama of the N801. Lacking the resolution to separate elements in dense mix. Dissappointing.

Build Quality *****

Looks *****

Value *

I've waited to post a review until I managed to listen to the majority of my cd collection and get through break in. But I've got to tell you that I fell in love with this speaker from day one. Previously I had cdm7se's with the cdmcse center channel. I waited until the n804's were available to make a decision on upgrading to the N803's or 804's from the cdmse series. I'm a little surpised at some of the reviews on this site of most of the nautilus series-especially the 801's- how anyone can give that speaker one star and say it lacks a detailed midrange is beyond me, but to each their own I suppose.
The rest of my system includes:
Classe ssp-25
Classe cav-75
rega planet (using digital out)
sonydvp770
mirage 12 inch sub
tara lab reference interconnects
tara lab prism-22 biwire

Anyway, I went into the listening test expecting a noticable improvement over the 7se's, but I was instantly floored at how dramatically clearer and realistic the sound music sounded. I was very happy with the cdm series, but the biggest differences between the 7se's and the n804's have to be the detail in music and soundstage. If I just close my eyes, I can here a drummer centered about 6 feet behind the speakers- and saxaphone and horn players at least 3 feet to the left and right. On some cd's, it actually sounds as if the musicians are at my left and right. I believe the difference in price between the 2 speakers is around $1700 retail, I would have paid another 3k for this difference as I believe my system went from maybe a 6 to an 8 on a ten scale. I can't tell you how much I look forward to getting home from work and just listening to music for an hour or two now, and I suppose that's the point of all of this anyway. I decided on the 804's over the 803's because I already have a subwoofer and there is really no differecnce between the 2 with the midrange and tweeters.

In a nutshell, voices and horns sound amazingly realistic, like their not even recorded as does acoustic music. My tastes run the gammet from jazz like mingus and green through the beatles to last weeks chilli pepper release- and it all sounds terrific with these speakers. I notice quite an improvement over the 7se's in funk and rock music such as galactic and soundgarden with a more accurate presentation of mid bass and guitars.

After listening extensively to music, I put in a dvd and did not notice the difference that I had come to expect because of the improvement in music listening. I will dare say that indeed the movie dialogue and action is cleaner but not nearly as substantially as the music presentation. However, I am using the HTM2 center which is better suited with the 805's. I am waiting for my dealer (sf stereo- who has been so helpful throughout my whole system match/purchase/upgrade- definetly recommended) to get in one of the HTM centers although at $2k for a center channel it had better sound mind-blowing over the htm2 in order for me to upgrade as I am satisfied with my movie performance at this point.

I have really no complaints about the purchase(actually I do-I wish I could afford the 802's), I got them in the red stained cherry and prefer looking at them with the grills off, however my wife insists the grills stay on... I suppose I can make a few sacrafices. Also hoping to get a classe 201 amp in the near future.

An open letter to Chris Wynn. Do you consider yourself an audiophile when you describe the quality of the recordings you listen to in detail when evaluating a loudspeaker? Most of us REAL audiophiles know the difference netween a bad recording and a bad speaker. I'm ashamed that you consider yourself an audiophile. REALLY ... MOTOWN??? As many audiophiles have realized, the Nautilus series requires a huge amount of break in time. After that they are incredibly detailed and musical. I have owned speakers from SNELL, VERITY AND REVEL in the past few years, and even though I do not own any Nautilus product, I can't sit by and let a so called audiophile who describes every last detail about the recordings he listens to yet doesn't have a clue dis' these speakers. I hope you folks will give a well broken in pair a listen and decide for yourself that Chris is an arrogant egotist that just wanted to get his name on the internet. All you have to do is read his review to know he is an extreme weanie. Why else would he write a bad review of an excellent product. I know, he can't hear!

I got these demo speakers yesterday at $2900 plus tax and they are broken in from the store for 3 weeks. The sound is incredible in clarity and image. Lacking a little bit of bass, but they are perfect for my music (Classic and new age). I think they haven't got through the break in period yet, but the sound is terrific ,rich and accurate. Good product.

I own a pair of Nautilus 805,s but had to comment on the Nautilus series in general because of a review posted by Chris a couple spots back. This is not meant as a personal attack, but it is obvious that he heard a pair of N804,s that were either just out of the box or did not have much break in time. There is no question the speakers exhibit all of the qualities he described, but I have never heard a speaker that evolves nearly as much as any in the Nautilus series. Go back and listen to a broken in pair Chris, you'll surely agree that they are magical.

I must revise my initial review on this newsgroup. I brought my own front end equipment to the same dealer some two months after hearing them previously. I attribute much of the calming down of them to break-in. On the previous visit the speakers were brand new. A word of advice let these break in a while. Anyway, same great midrange but a more laid back yet detailed treble response. Bass response seemed better also. A great speaker.

I don't know what qualifies one as an audiophile, so I won't presume to be one. However, I am a former musician, including both live and studio work, typically classical or jazz. These speakers are among the most accurate I've heard, and possibly the most accurate in their price range. Yes, they have a break in period, but that is a small inconvenience to pay for the quality of their sound. They are especially wonderful for anyone who wants to hear acoustic sounds reproduced accurately, no matter whether the music contains vocals or instrumentals. I easily give them five stars.

It was very courageous of Scott to post his review of the N804 after he had witnessed the kind of personal attacks that I got after telling the truth about these speakers. The N804 supporters (presumably people who have bought the speakers and definately some people who have never heard them) cannot challenge the truth about the N804's shortcomings, so they resort to bashing the messenger(s).
I for one was quite surprised that my review would provoke such emotional and hysterical responses. I own B&W speakers and have extensively auditioned the B&W range. This knowledge of B&W speakers actually helped me to see (quickly) that the N804s seriously underperformed. Scott described them as being more useful in a recording studio. The N804, in my opinion, is most useful as a sculpture. It is beautiful and chic but cannot reproduce music accurately.

I wonder, if those who have purchased these awful sounding speakers, might not be engaged in some form of psychological face saving. That would explain the emotional and hysterical attacks. The truth is threatening, but if it were me, I would either return the speakers or sell them to someone else. There is simply no reason to spend this much money on loudspeakers that provide so little fidelity.

I recently replaced my speakers and listened to about everything I could find in the $1500-3500 range. I ended up getting Vienna Acoustics' Mozart speakers which are $2500 (if you are looking in this range, my audioreview of the Mozart's includes comparisons with everything I tried). I thought these N804's were also quite good, #2 of the speakers I listened to. I am a bit puzzled by the bad reviews here. I agree they are too analytical, the highs popped out seemingly a bit "too good" (I don't know why it seemed that way but it did) and they are a bit on the harsh side. The bass is fine for me although they are placement sensitive (salesperson didn't place them right and I had to fix). Other than that, they were very impressive. Their accuracy is truly amazing and imaging also exceptional. I could put up with the problems because of the beautiful music they were making. They stood up extremely well at higher volumes. Other (stereophile high-rated) speakers I A/B'd them with sounded like pure crap.
The discontinuity of the reviews makes me think they may be very room- or electronics-sensitive. Or maybe they weren't broken in. I was sitting relatively close to the speakers (a too-small room at the store) so maybe that was a factor. I tried two different amps and both sounded very good with the N804's.

So: forget the prejudices of the reviews here and give these guys a fair listen, they deserve it.

I spent two hours listening to these at a shop here in Toronto. We used a combination of Proceed, Bryston and Rotel amplification. Sources were the Arcam Alpha 8SE and Rotel CD991. Overall, I wasn't really pleased with the speaker. The primary shortcomings were:
- Too much sibilance in the highs
- Bloated upper bass
- Not enough bass extension
- Overly directional tweeters
- Poor transition from woofer to tweeter
- Lower frequency instruments don't sound natural

Because of these faults, the 804 doesn't disappear into the music. You'll never forget that you're listening to a speaker, not to the music.

Other than it's beautiful appearance, this is not worth having. I might consider it if it were less than a quarter of its price. Of the Nautilus line, only the 805 does anything for me, but I can get a much better speaker for much less money.