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B&W suggestions - N803 vs. 804S

Good afternoon. I'm looking to get some good speakers and have been to a local shop to demo the current B&W 800 series. I really like the sound, and can certainly hear what happens as you progress from each model up. My target price range is a bit below entry level floorstander for this series, thus have started looking for a used or demo model.

What I'm seeing is an affordable used N803 from the previous Nautilus line that selling in the late '90s, and the 804S, which has been selling from the mid-2000's until now. From what I understand, they will be upgraded again this year.

Given I'm looking at two different models for roughly the same price, N803 and 804S, I'm wondering if anyone can offer some suggestions on these. Were the technical improvements in the 800 series over the Nautilus series good enough to warrant the step down from 803 to 804?

Note I'll be setting up in a midsize room (12x20) with the speakers on one end, away from the wall. My current Denon receiver puts out 90wpc. I will upgrade to a higher-powered amp in the future, but for now am planning only the speaker purchase.

Thoughts?
nichomoff

Showing 1 response by lewinskih01

lewinskih01
906 posts
 
FWIW, I own 804S and at the time of purchase I also auditioned 803S. The difference was just some more bass extension and didn't justify the price tag for my room. Note even the 803S isn't full-range either, so I'm running my 804S with a REL Storm sub and that covers the whole range.

I have not heard the N803, though.
You'll need a larger amp with the N803. My 804S are driven well with 75 Wpc tubed amp. Tubes and B&W aluminum tweeter work really well together, in my view.

Horacio
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