Hifiho, I agree with you, What BW should have done on the Nautilus 803 speakers. Instead of using 2 6 1/2 woofers, which to me, are part of the reason the Nautilus 803s lack bass. BW should have just used a 10 inch or 12 inch woofer, instead of using 2 6 1/2 woofers, then the 6 inch Yellow kelvar midbase and the tweeter at the top. I think using a 10 inch or 12 inch woofer, then the Kelvar midbase and the tweeter, is much better design, then using 2 6 1/2 woofers, then the yellow kelvar midbase and the tweeter. I just think, using 2 6 1/2 woofers is not going to give you the bass response, that a 10 inch or 12 inch woofer will give you.
BW Nautilus 802, blow away Nautilus 803
I got to tell you, I heard the BW Nautilus 802 speakers and the BW Nautilus 803 speakers last week. The Nautilus 802 speakers are light years better then the Nautilus 803 speakers. On the 803 speakers, the bass is terrible. It did not blend in at all, with the Yellow Kelvar midrange driver. Also, I felt the 803 speakers were to laid back. Then at the Stereophile show, I heard the Nautilus 802 speakers. The Nautilus 802 speakerssounded incredible. The midrange was amazing. It sounded so sweet and articulate. The bass was fast and tight. I also notice, the Nautilus 802 and Nautilus 803 speakers use a different crossover. On the 802 speakers, the 2 8 inch woofers basically act as subs and send the bass to the yellow midrange driver. You will notice, if you put your ears to the 802 speakers, all the sound basically comes out of the Yellow midrange driver. No sound comes out of the 2 8 inch woofers on the Nautilus 802 speakers. On the 803 speakers, the 2 6 1/2 woofers do not act as subs. They crossed it over, where you hear the midrange come out of the yellow midrange driver and you will hear bass come out of one of the 6 1/2 drivers. So it sounded like bass coming out of one of the 6 1/2 drivers and all the mids coming out of the Yellow midrange driver. I didn't like this type of crossover. The speaker sounded awkward. I like it on the the 802 speakers, where the bass and midrange come out of the Yellow midrange driver. It sounded much better like that. See i dont like it, where speakers use a woofer, where you just hear bass out of it. When i say, you hear just bass out of it. Lets say you play a song with singing and you put your ears to the woofers, you will just hear bass. You wont hear any singing or the midrange. Only bass comes out of the woofer. I like it, when the woofer acts as a sub, or sometimes, where you willhear bass and midrange come out of the woofer. I used to have these Canton Ergo 81 speakers. They used 2 8 inch woofers in a MTM design. You would basically hear bass and the mids coming out of each 8 inch woofer.This speaker sounded nice. Now if the woofer was bigger then 8 inches, like a 10 or 12 inch woofer. I wouldn't want the mids to come out of it. Another speaker that uses the same type of crossover as the BW Nautilus 803 speakers is the Legacy Focus. The Focus speakers uses 3 12 inch woofers at the bottom of the speakers, with 2 midranges and 2 tweeters at the top of the speakers. They basically had it, where the 12 inch woofers just have bass come out of them. No mids or singing come out of it, while all the midrange comes out of the midrange drivers at the top. As I was listening to the Focus, it was so obvious, the bass didn't blend it at all, with the midrange drivers at the top. I just think, when you have the woofers, just have bass come out of it, while all the mids come out of the midrange drivers, the speakers don't sound coherent. The bass doesn't blend in with the midrange drivers at the top. Legacy should have had it, where the 12 inch woofers act as subs, and send the bass to the midrange drivers at the top. That way, the bass would have blended in so much better, then the way the Legacy did it. Another speaker who does this type of crossover, like the BW Nautilus 803 and the Legacy Focus, is the Energy Veritas 2.8. I just don't like this type of crossover, where they have the woofers, just act as bass.