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B&W 802 S3 vs. Nautilus 803 or 804's

Trying to decide if I want to make a change....I am leaning at staying with B&W eventhough I have looked at a few others. I utilize a Krell HTS 7.1 with Krell KAV amps. I am utilizing a CAL c10 for music.

HT is great...no complaints. Music is very good..system has great detail without being bright, a good soundstage and more than adequate bass, but there always seems to be a bit too much dampening (like a thin sheet over the speakers).

I have listened to the Nautilus 804 speakers in the showroom (with a very similar set-up to mine) and they seem more lively without giving up anything. I didn't find them bright in any way, but how will they sound once I get home? I thought of checking out the 803's, but I am in a relatively small room & don't want to have issues with too much bass. Any thoughts?

I have also taken a look at monitor audio gold 60's and a pair of the Kef reference speakers. Unfortunately, all at differenet places have set-ups that I am not familar with. The monitor audio 60's were nice, but just didn't seem real engaging. The Kefs sounded great...with a good soundtage, bass and clarity. They just sound a bit different than the B&Ws (not sure how to explain). Not really sure they are worth the higher cost than the N804's, however. Any experience with these?

thank you, macct
macct
3 responses Add your response
dollysowner
47 posts
 
In the "for what it's worth" department, here are my views. From 1989 to 1994 I owned a pair of M802S2's; in 1995 I went to Matrix 800's, and in 2002 I went to Signature 800's. The Signature 800 is the flagship of the Nautilus line.

I believe that with N803's, and probably N804's, you'll find a huge improvement in musicality over the Matrix speakers--which themselves were no slouches. As the N804 is a floor-standing N805, I'd go with the N803 if you can. I'm a big fan of B&W, and I feel that, without a doubt, the Nautilus line are the best speakers B&W has ever made.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
I agree the M802S3 is a nice speaker. You can find nice pairs for well under $2000, which is a bargain.

For the Nautilus line I would either get the N805 with some excellent stands like the Sound Anchors; or jump all the way up to the N803.

I've always liked B&W, but the N804 is the exception when I consider how much it cost. I have the impression (right or wrong) that they made the N804 to fill a gap in the product price line. They just scaled down a N803 and used the smaller drivers from the N805 and CDM9NT. It was not designed from scratch to be a speaker that size. I played around with a pair of N804 for months and could never get them to be as musical as other speakers I own and have available to me, that list for as low as half of the N804 price. The N804 is a good speaker, but a good $3500 speaker? In build quality maybe...but musically?
cdc
1,660 posts
 
Sugarbrie, what $1,800 speaker do you like better than N804? I have found speakers I like better but they start at $4,800.
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