I'm a little amazed at the reviews that have been posted for this particular speaker. I have had the opportunity to listen to these speakers in many different audio stores. There was one interesting thing that I noticed at each of the dealers. When I asked the question, "What is your best sounding speaker in the $2500 to $3500 range," each would first direct me to the new 804's, and then to the other speaker brand that they also had to offer.
To make a long story short, the 804's are magical. Yes they are very revealing, but this simply adds more life to "good recordings," if you have a poor recording, with the right components, these speakers will not be forgiving - but so what, if you are going to spend this kind of money, is that not the goal? To have "True" reproduction of the original recording?

I have gone through my cd collection, and it seems that on some of the cd's, it's like I'm listening to them for the first time again. There are background singers that have proper placement and distinction from the lead singer. I have not heard another speaker in this price range do better.

There is one instance where I will agree with the negative comments, on very low bass, they are not the best performers. In my particular situation, I already have a great sub, so for movies, it works great. However, on many cd selections, my wife and I alternated turning the sub on and off. In many instances, we could not tell when the sub was on and when it was off. The 804's do not have the bass that rattles your bones. Most recordings do not have it either. What they do have is a lightning fast response. These speakers kick when pushed hard. If I had to describe the bass, it would be tight, and precise. It does not rattle your bones, but it does have a tight punchy feel. Let the sub do its work on the real low freqs.

In summary, these are the speakers that I purchased. I'm not trying to justify them to myself or others, but, because of the poor reactions posted below, I felt that I needed to let people know that they do sound great. They sounded good right from the start. BUT......., please let them break in before you make any decisions, they are now heavenly to listen to.

If you have $3500 for a pair of speakers, these are the ones you want. These perform best w/ well mastered music and a clean processor and AMP. I auditioned these with various Receivers/pre-amps and Amps and discovered that they sound good all the way up the price range and improve with each upgrade.
Put your money in these speakers and upgrade your components as you get a chance. Unlike some speakers, they will improve with the quality of the source.

I am currently running a Proceed AVP and Marantz 700 Monoblock amps against my 804s. Although this system produces an incredibly accurate and powerful sound, I am glad to know that my speakers will be able to handle when I bump up the quality of those components.

Just spent some time auditioning these at the dealer. Since I already have the B&W CDM7SE, I was interested in comparing them with the N804s, with the thought of an upgrade. I had the salesman place the N804 and CDM7SE side-by-side and both were fed by the same electronics and using the same CDs as source material. I believe the CDP was an Adcom and the amp an Acurus (don't remember the specific model #s). Let me say this - the differences between these 2 speakers are not subtle! The N804s did everything better - from imaging, realism, ability to render shades of detail, bass extension, etc. These N804s were evidently well broken-in since I detected none of the high-frequency harshness and other faults mentioned in some previous posts. I was so impressed by the N804 that I decided to trade in my CDM7SEs on the spot. Fortunately the shop had a liberal upgrade policy that allowed me full credit for the CDMs toward the N804s. This is one speaker that I can live with for a long time! Highly recommended! Yes, it's pricey but it's worth every $0.01!

I placed an order for a pair of Red 804's yesterday which, upon arrival in 2 - 3 weeks, will replace my current CDM7-SE's. I had been causually auditioning the Nautilus 800 series for the past year while awaiting the 804's arrival, and this purchase came after 2 demo sessions at a local dealer. Here are a few examples from the demos. Associated electronics were by Adcom.
- At the start of "One Day" (Bjork: Debut) a bell like instrument moves about the soundstage as it's being struck. In a good system this sound is truly holographic. Here the 804's soundstage extended at least 5 feet beyond the sides of the speakers and well forward & back.

- "Lullaby" (Cure: Disintegration): tremendous bass slam for this size speaker.

- Marianna Prevetti's vocal on "At Last" (J Street Jumpers: Is You or Is You Ain't My Baby) had so much air one of the 804's actually floated up into space and got stuck in the demo room ceiling. OK, slight exageration.

- The piano on Hungarian Rhapsody 2 (Valentina Lisitsa: Virtuosa Valentina) sounded like...well, like a piano. There was a slight congestion in the lower range on complicated passages. Still very good.

Compared to the CDM7-SE the 804 offers about the same range, but the 804's offer cleaner highs, a much stronger mid range by virtue of the dedicated FST driver, and tighter bass. The styling is of course killer. In terms of absolute value for the dollar, I'm not sure where the 804's fall because I didn't listen to any other speakers this time around.....the result of a generous trade up policy the dealer offers.

For background I've had the CDM's paired with the AI Modulus 3A & a Classe CA 150 for the past 10 months, and that combo works pretty well. I expect the 804's to integrate smoothly with that same equipment and bring out the best in those electronics. At some point a slightly more powerfull Classe or Bryton may be in order.

In closing, a word for Chris Wynn: I don't have any issue with your opinion on these speakers, but it is inappropriate, as you have, to post 2 negative reviews of the speakers. It totally screws the objectivity of the ratings, and makes clear that your agenda is something other than audio.

I am on my second pair of 804's and have just developed the same problem I had with my first pair. After about 30hrs of musical listening use at 40-55 db levels, the mid driver on one of the speakers develops a fuzzy scratching sound. The speaker exhibits the same problem when I connect it to different equipment or the opposite channel on the same equipment.
My equipment is as follows:
System 1
Proceed AVP
Proceed AMP-3 (150w per ch @8ohms)
Balanced Madrigal Gel interconnects
Monster Cable digital Silver 1000 interconnect
Sony DVP-S7000
XLO ER-11 biwired 9 gauge speaker cable (8 meter run)
B&W 804, HTM2

System 2
Sony DA80ES Receiver (100w per ch @8ohms)
Monster Cable digital Silver 1000 interconnect
Sony DVP-S7000
Monster Cable 14 gauge speaker wire (3 meter run)
B&W 804, HTM2

Note: the first set of speakers developed the problem on system 2 and the second set of speakers developed the problem on system 1.

The speaker serial #'s were 2400~ for the first pair and 750~ for the second pair. This leads me to believe that this is an inherent problem in the driver/design vs a production issue.

Given the above information I have made the following basic conclusions:
The relative quality and wattage of both systems in combination with the low listening levels are not creating a clipped signal to damage the driver.
The problem is reproducible in various configurations leaving the speaker as the origin of the problem.

My questions are to anyone familiar with these speakers,
1) is this a problem that you have seen before and if so what is the cause?
2) if the answer to #1 is yes, is it only in the 804 or does it appear in the rest of the Nautilus line (i.e. the 803's)?
3) is there an adjustment to resolve this problem or is this a bad driver issue?
4) if the problem is a bad driver and is replaced, is this something that I will have a problem with in the future?
5) if it is a bad driver and I have it replaced by the dealer will the speaker still be timbre matched to the mate and to your reference db?

Once these speakers break in, setup is correct, the room is acoustically controlled, and the source material is exceptional, these speakers are controlled and detailed creating a wide and uncolored soundstage. Now if I could just get the mid driver to stop taking a crap...

I have owned the B&W Nautilus 804's for a little over one month, and I couldn't be happier with them. Of all the speakers I auditioned (Aerial 6 & 7B, ProAc Studio 125,ProAc Response 1.5 & 2.5, Meadowlark Shearwater Hot Rod among others), I found them to be by far the most natural and musical. The speakers have incredible definition and clarity, but are also very full and rich. The highs are transparent and airy, the midrange warm and smooth, the bass is very tight, rich and powerful (without being boomy). The 804's are capable of conveying incredible detail without sounding clinical or strident. I employ them in a system consisting of a Linn Sondek turntable, EAD T-1000 CD transport, EAD DSP-7000 Series III D/A converter, McIntosh C 15 preamp, and McIntosh MC 122 power amp. I use Straight Wire interconnects and speaker wire. The McIntosh particularly work well with the 804's, adding to the overall feeling of musicality. While the speakers do benefit considerably from a period of breaking in, I found them very satisfying right out of the box. I couldn't recommend them more highly.

Entirely Neutral

None

There are many people in this section who have reviewed the Natilius 804 and given it a bad review. The only thing I have to say to this group is that they need to look at there other components because these speakers have no personality at all, which is the best personality for a speaker or AMP. If they are muddy then you need to figure out which component in your system is causing the problem, but the 804 and the entire Natilius line are very revealing and from my experience not very forgiving. But to me this is there strength because they have told me what to work on in my system.

B&W Natilius 804 (Front)
B&W Natilius HTM2 (Center)
B&W 602 Series (Rear)
Transparent Musicwave Plus Biwire
Transparent MusicLink Plus Interconnects
Montster Cable M-550 M Series Interconnect
ADCOM GCD-700 CD Player (Moving to Meridian 805.24)
ADCOM GTP-600 Pre-Amp (Moving to Proceed PAV)
ADCOM GFA-7000 Amplifier (Moving to Bryston 9B TXH)

Similar Products Used:

CDM-7 SE, Matrix 804, Canton, Silver Signature 30, Boston Acoutics, and variety of others of which I cannot remember the name

Excellent Midrange and High End, Beautiful Cabinetry

Price

I have owned these speaker for just over tow months now. I wqanted to wait to write review based on reviews I had read posted here. I feel they are now broken in and they are producing some of the best musical reproduction I have experienced. I have a friend who has spent $$$ to have the system of his dreams. He was over and after a few hour of fiddling around with placement he commented on how great they sound. I feel that due to the design of these speakers break in and correct companion components are neccessary to achieve optimum performance. Enjoy them everyday. Bass does improve with Bi-amping. I am using 200 watts bi amped across front. HTM 1 has also been excellent performer with the ability to fill room with clear clean dialog.



System:

B&W 804

HTM1 Center

Sig 7 in walls rear and sides



Proceed AVP

Sherbourne 5/1500 (2)

Pioneer DV-05

Similar Products Used:

805, Areil, Thiel, Paradigm Reference

Clarity and warmth in the mid and high range. Looks - passes fiance test.

Bass response

I purchased the Nautilus 804's after reading extensively about them in Stereophile and Absolute Sound. I purchased them new through McShin at $800.00 off retail.

I have been listening to them for the past three weeks. On first audition, I was disappointed in there low end response, and there inabity to resolve rock/alternative music. The low end sounded like a "thud" esp. below 40 Hz. And when I played complex alternative music such as the Matrix soundtrack, it sounded compact without good separation of the different sound samples. However, they did sound warm and melodic with Jazz and Folk music. For example, Rebecca Pidgeon's Spanish Harlem sounded beautiful.

To resolve this dilema of a one dimensional speaker, ie sounds good only with jazz and folk, I called up many audiophile dealers and asked them there opinions. I listened to two of them, and this is what I did:

1) Changed my MIT interconnects and speaker cables to Tara labs Master Gen. 2 Int. and Analysis Plus 9 speaker cables.

2) Purchased a Rel Strata III sub woofer.

As a result of these changes my system sounds more to my likening. They still don't have the slam or bowel moving bass that the Definitive Tech's had, but they are more natural, warm and compelling.

In summary, if you are considering these speakers, know you musical preferences. These speakers will not disappoint, and the rest of my system is still trying to "catch-up" to them.

The rest of my system:

Proceed CDD transport
Proceed DAP with volume control

Adcom GFA 5802 amp.

Good luck!

Similar Products Used:

Definitive Technology BP2002 TL's

These are wonderful speakers. They have incredible detail while still sounding extremely smooth and lyrical. They are the most musical speakers I've heard in the price range. It is very difficult to find a truly detailed and precise speaker that isn't at all harsh or clinical. These magical speakers really sing. I have been very very happy with them and recommend them very strongly. I agree with the last reviewer, you have to adjust the ratings for the "1" ratings they were given by the tin ear contingent.