B&w 803s. Vs nautilus 802

here is a nice discussion comparing the 803S to the 804S. I know that you did not ask for this but this discussion reveals several characteristics of the 803S that might interest you. Also, several posters did a comparison with the 803D version & have compared/contrasted the 2 speakers. I think that it might worth your time to read these posts:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=736201

The N802 is a very good speaker & I would say that it is 1 notch below the best of the Nautilus series speakers of that era (which was the N800 even tho' there was the N801 which had the 15" woofer. The 15" woofer made it impractical in 99% of the homes as it would overload the room severely & make listening impossible). The N802 speaker is not to be underestimated in terms of your amp's ability to drive it. If you do get the N802 you'll probably have to change out your amp to ensure that you can drive it correctly & optimally to get the best from it; otherwise, you'll be wasting your money. The N802 *demands* the very best electronics if you want to hear what it can do (a good friend of mine has these speaker & he + I have been around the corner or two coaxing the best out of his speaker so I know what I'm talking about + I've owned B&Ws myself). If you are not ready to overhaul your system to upgrade to the N802 buy a more modest B&W like the N803 or N804 - you'll get much better sound for less cash outlay. My assumption here is that you are not made of money; in case you are, disregard my comments completely.
FWIW.

I personally think that you will get lower-end reasonable sonics with your Cinenova Grande 300 watts per channel HT amplifier but this amp will not bring out the best of the N802 since it wasn't made to drive a load as difficult as the N802. I looked @ the Cinenova Grande 7-ch amp & noted that they used a 4000VA transformer divided equally amongst 7 channels. According to my calculations that amounted to 10A per channel. This 10A needs to be further divided to 5A per positive supply rail & 5A per negative supply rail. That's an OK amount of current for most other speakers but quite a bit shy for the N802. You'd need an amp with double the current delivery to make the N802 shine. My assumption is that your 5-ch amp is not better than the 7-ch (which had more info for me to work with).
However, your goal might not be to make the N802 shine; your goal might simply be to be a N802 owner. I don't know what your motivation is to get the N802....but your present amp will give you OK-OK performance. The N802 is a challenge to drive - my friend could not drive them properly with a Classe 400 in a 2-ch setup.

09-13-11: Joehernandez509
Thanks for that info .what if I bi amped with the cinenova ? My motivation is to have the best sound possible.

you'd get a dedicated amp to drive the bass drivers. yeah, that's the way to go.....

09-13-11: Budt
Whoever claims the 802N is fussy in the mids .......

Now, if they said the 802D was fuzzy in the mids

whoa! did you mean "fuzzy" or "fussy" in the 1st sentence?? Big difference.....

09-13-11: Stringreen
802 is a better speaker, however, it offers weak bass with little extension, fuzzy mids, and overpriced.

well, Stringreen, your comments are hillarious & quite out-of-line. There is definitely something wrong with your hearing &/or your amps that were driving the N802. The bass is *not* weak & is *not* devoid of extension, the mids are *not* fuzzy at all.

09-13-11: Budt
Whoever claims the 802N is fussy in the mids needs their hearing checked ....

I agree! (I believe that Budt meant "fuzzy").
I'm not a B&W fan but would like to give the devil his due. The B&Ws have many other issues which Stringreen could have named given that he lived with the N802s for 6 months but did not (meaning that he's clueless about this speaker).

After 4 months, the right tweeter needed replacement which B&W paid for...but which I did (very easy).,,but uncalled for with an expensive product.

Now, I'm quite sure that the Ayre amps you had were not up to the job. Ayre are good amps no doubt but that does not mean that they worked for the N802. Many people (like you) completely underestimate just how hard it is to drive the N802s. Again, all these comments from my personal experience with my friend's N802.

09-14-11: Goatwuss
Stringbean never had the N802 setup right.

That's right - he *never* did!

One important thing Stringreen: not trying to make you like B&W - that will never be my intention, just to be clear with you - but I'm sure that you do not like them for all the wrong reasons. That is my principal objection.

Maggies, Vandersteens, et all...but better yet...go to some live concerts.

Chief, I've listened to the Vandy 5As driven by Rowland Model 10s.
I've listened to the Maggie 1.6QR driven by a Musical Fidelity integrated (model # escapes me). I've also listened to the smaller Maggie - was there a 1.2 model? I've listened to many, many Martin-Logan speakers including the Statement E2 which Gayle Martin Sanders personally demo'd when he did a road-show some time back & I own ribbons myself.
I go to many concerts each year - as many as I can get away with given that there are growing children in the household that cannot accompany us parents to such concerts.......