B&W Nautilus 800's vs my Tannoy D-700's ???


I'm contemplating trading "up" to the Nautilus.

Will I be blown away by the difference (better) sound?

Right now, I'm happy.... got oodles of power with 2 MacIntosh 352's bi-wired to these Tannoys, as many suggest to get the best out of them. But....

I'm looking for audio heaven and think these speakers are now the weak link in my system.

Opinions please? And, thanks in advance.

Oh, one other thing...I can't find anyone in all of Atlanta who has the 800's set up in a listening room! What do I do, buy these speakers on the basis of all the good reviews? Has anyone out there compared high end speakers they have with something else not yet purchased? How did you do it?

John
jbatlanta
IMO of course, but why on earth change from Tannoys??? Why not upgrade to another Tannoy range, say to a GRF Memory, or save up further for the Kingdom range?
The sound is excellent on all accounts -- particularly, I find dynamics and imaging and tonal balance, all first rate. Plus they are hi efficiency and have very good drivers.

Remember however, I mostly listen to, and judge by, classical music (natural instruments).
Unfortunately I never could afford the bigger Tannoys (that I wanted) -- but if you can..!
you are already there..mac and tannoy are one of the best combos in the history of audio.
The above two posts are correct. Tannoy and McIntosh are a great combination. I auditioned the B&Ws for my McIntosh 2102 amp and they were not the least bit impressive.

Oddly ehough, having also auditioned Tannoy, I bought the Kef Referance 205s. To me, they were the best match.
I'm in the process of selling my B&W 802 series 3 Matrix speakers, to be replaced with Tannoy D700 or D900s. (you may want to drop me a ilne if you're selling the D700s). Anyway, I think its entirely preference. These speakers are very different from eachother - that the biggest point. I would bet few folks like both... The B&W's are too accurate and revealing for my taste. The Tannoys are more musical and provide bigger sound. I'm a pop music fan, so the Tannoys are my choice...
Well thanks guys, after all this research and hearing a majority of opinions about my D700's, I'm convinced to keep them (nobody has said, "Oh Yeah, the B&W's will just blow you and your Tannoys away".... which is what I thought I'd hear.

Soooo, I think I'll just try adding the Tannoy Supertweeter ST-100's to the system and see what that'll do.

Dangerisland....I'd go with the 900's if you have the space, and especially if you don't have subwoofers.

I chickened out and bought the smaller 700's when measurements seemed like the 900's would have totally dominated my room. Now I have stereo subwoofers with their filters set to add just the very lowest frequencies that the 700's can't produce, and it does sound good! Still, I wonder if just having the 900's wouldn't be better and simpler.

Wish I could bring a pair of Nautilus 800's in here to compare, though.
i have the D700's w/ mac power and pre and am really happy with the combo. insane low end and beautiful mids; no need for a sub unless your listening room floor is slab and even then probably not.
forget it, you're done.
I had a friend ovr who own some Tannoy's. He has one of the 15" models paired with Mac 275's. I run tube amps with N800's. He was impressed, but stated that the midbass riffs stand out a little more with the Tannoys, but, he liked the imaging, highs, and spatial dimension on my system compared to his. A Stereo review or some other magazine described the Tannoy 15's models as having an added bass bump from 150-300hz, which in part, adds to the efficiency to the Tannoy's. My room is completely measured and acoustically treated, matched with some german tube amps.

If you like what you have already, I would stay with that, otherwise, going to B&W N800s would require you to match amps and carefully treat the room, a hassle for some. These are things I have done to allow me to enjoy my B&W's.

Ciao,
Audioquest4life