Are B&W Nautilus 804's too bright

I had Nautilus 805's and found them on the bright side as well, I think many feel the same and it's mainly due to the metal tweeter. Room acoustics and electronics also play a big part.

They are quite power hungry speakers, especially if you're trying to fill a large room. The Nautilus precedes the Signature, and then the Diamond. There are crossover upgrades in the newer versions that smooth out the highs a bit. However, like I said, I blame the metal tweeter. Have you looked into other speakers?

I use mine with Rotel RC-1090/RB-1092 and a B&W ASW800 sub - all seems balanced to me but then B&W voices their speakers with Rotel/Classe equipment.

They are not too bright many people are just too old.... just kidding

Really play a drum set or ring hit a cow bell in your room and you will know what bright is .

Many people like a dark colored speaker and find balaned sound to be bright. I for one like a neutral speaker but would choose bright over dark any day.

With that being said I have found (I owned the 803,703) that B&Ws bass improves a good deal with added headroom from your amp. But you amp should really be good enough depending on your listening volume. All in all the 804 and down could use more bass in larger rooms.

It all comes down to personal taste. As long as you like your speakers it does not matter what people think.

Thanks for the advice.

It also got me thinkling that there are other issues that are affecting my sound. First, this is one large rectangular room. It is a family room but it continues into a kitchen. So it is 13 feet wide by 36 feet long, with stone floors, a rug, 8 feet high smooth ceilings and with furniture. So I really don't think that I realized the effect that causes. I do have Arc room correction on the Anthem D2, but that is a big space. I need to redo my Arc set up measurement points.

Second, I probably really do need a good fast sub for the space for a depth of sound and to compensate for the room size and the sound reflections. The old sub I have now is poor quality.

As to power, I thought that the McCormack DNA HT5 was a warm well powered amp, but maybe I need more power or higher quality? It is supposed to be 5 channel 150w per channel. I did use a Rotel 1075 5 channel amp before and replacing it with the McCormack was quite an improvement. If not the McCormack, what would be the right amp?

I do like a speaker with detail and neutrality as opposed to warm and colored and lacking in detail. I want to hear the seperations of instruments, etc.

Thanks for the feedback and all suggestions are appreciated.

sorry, the McCormack DNA HT5 is 5 channel 125 w per

Lowering the 804's a bit will tame any brightness. They are a fine speaker.

What do you mean lowering the volume? On the speaker height they are monitors on the floor.

Sorry..Slightly lower stands will deal with the brightness.

As with any good speaker, associated equipment and proper setup are a must.

They can either sound really good or really bad depending on the rest of the system.

I found the 804's difficult to live with although inviting in a dark listening room with a few drinks in me. I ended up with some Zu Druids, which are non fatiging unlike the B&Ws and more my speed. The Zu Essence, on sale now no less, may take the middle ground with nice forward ribbon tweeter highs yet less likely to fatigue highs. The Zu Druid replacement is now the Zu Soul Superfly on sale over Thanksgiving weekend.

Try a tube preamp instead of a processor which is geared for sourround and movie soundtracks. A nice CJ or ARC tubed preamp linestage will tame the glare.

Poloman makes a great suggestion. I am using a VTL 5.5 -->Krell KAV2250 --> N804's. Source is Project 2Xperience and Arcam CD93. The VTL has a thearter bypass which is a nice feature. As I see it, The Krell provides all the punch and power the 804's need and VTL kinda keeps eveything under control. My wife and I are very pleased with the sound we get. On the lowering the speakers, I actually raised mine which improved the bass clarity. I think that's something you'll have to experiment with. I should note that we have a dedicated listening room with good dimensions and a few treatments. Good luck.