I have owned a pair of B&W 805 matrix speaker for quite a while. If you are still searching for your speakers, I have not heard anything that reproduces the voice as well as these do for the price. I run these speakers with a Proceed Amp 2 directly from my cd player. I have tried a number of tube preamps and solid state preamps with this combo. I you are still interested, look for a pair of used 805 matrix. They'll be a good deal. The B&W CDM1 sound very similiar for even less money. I'd also recommend listening to a pair of Proacs, but these are more money and I would recommend listing to a pair of Meadowlark Kestrels. The Kestrels are great speaker for the money.
Best Small Speaker NOT B&W's 805N?
We auditioned B&W's Nautilus 805's in our living room and they sounded great. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't like the aesthetic styling of the B&W's and would prefer a more tradional looking box. We'd like to listen to some alternatives before making our final choice and would appreciate some help. Our living room is sonically awkward, because it is large and very bright. The windows and the furniture are situated to take advantage of some lovely views; but this makes speaker placement difficult. Still, we can create a quite nice near-field listening environment so long as the speakers we use are roughly the size of the B&W 805N's. We listen mostly to jazz, particularly piano and vocal. We would appreciate suggestions for 'best' speakers that are similar in size to the B&W's but with a more traditional look to them. Thanks in advance for your help! Kurt ield . look of the tweeter sitting on top of the box We have a living room in which the furniture layout prohibits anythin auditioned the B&W 805 Nautilus y wife and I