I saw "THE" Nautilus speakers yesterday. WOW

[Ash]

Yesterday I was a happy man! :B

I travelled to a neighboring country for work and I decided to stop by the B&W dealership there.

To my surprise the first thing I saw there was a pair of the "Snail" Nautilus speakers (blue colour) displayed behind glass. It was breathtaking, absolutly beautiful.

The saddest thing was that the unit had some damages in the the bass drive and the mid drive, as it looked that pushed in and fixed (ouch) :E !!

The other sad thing was that the shop did not have sufficeint amplification to drive those speakers, so they were only for display for the time being! :cry:

However, I got to listen other pretty serious setups.

The first system I tested was "Signature 800" coupled with Classe "CA-2200" power amp, and a "CP-500" preamplifiers, and "CDP-100" CD Player.

Testing this system was important to me because I wanted to base the experience I get from them to plan or direct my future highend HiFi system. Since I have N805s, the main thing I was trying to test in this system was its ability to handle bass and the quality of the bass, and whether the overall improvement in sound is worth the huge increase in cost??

Ofcourse this was the best system I ever heard, however, I don't know why, but I expected more out of it. It could be that it was driven by only 200W per channel. The overall sound was amazing, however, I found it to be lacking in the lower frequencies. I had a few CDs with me that I choose spicifaclly to test different abilities of the speaker. Some tracks were aimed at the mid and high frequncies (the speakers performed amazingly in those areas, I heard details I never heard, actually the total sound was sooooo much better that It took alot of effort to skip a track, I was hooked). However, when I played the tracks to test the bass capabilities of the speaker, I noticed that the bass was actually weak. I mean, the bass drives were not even moving!!!!! Is that normal???

I knew that something was wrong, perhaps the amp was set at a high crossover. So I told the dealer about this, but he wasn't able to help me because he didn't know how to setup the amp properly.

I wanted to be blown away from all aspects when auditioning this speaker, as this would set my long term planning for any future upgrades, and to say the truth, perhaps this expereince will make me consider the lower models in the 800 series.

I have also tested a home theater system in the shop comprising of 802D, HTM2D and SCMs all around and two ASW850. The amplification was "Theta Digital" again this system was also amazing, I specially noticed that the high frequencies were relaxed and smooth when compared to the old series. The bass was insane (in a good way) because of the subs. However when I compared the 802D (in setreo) against the Signature 800, the Sigs were difinately the better speakers. The sound that came out of those speakers were amazing (even though the bass was weak). I liked the mids and the highs of the sig more that the 802D, the speaker was more musical and involving. I didn'd find myself attached to the 802D like I was to th sigs.

just wanted to share this with you guys :

[Andrew M Ward]

Wonderful and frustrating...

Sounds like you had a good and bad experience... of sorts. One thing I have noticed about the new series of 800 speakers is a very tight very fast group of bass drivers. This can be difficult for some listeners.

The new Rohacell drivers are so fast and light that the bass is super tight. All the low frequency is there, just check your SPL meter and the spec. it's just delieverd in such a way that the usual distortion associated with low frequency is not present.

Thus we think we're not hearing low frequency.

Give it some time, relax and have another listen, you'll get associated with the performance, then you will no longer tolerate the sloppy overblown lows we're mostly used to hearing...

[Andrew M Ward]

However when I compared the 802D (in setreo) against the Signature 800, the Sigs were difinately the better speakers.

Wow!

Be aware that you are the only person (on the planet) (tag you're it) that likes the old 800 against the new 800... Period...

The difference in the tweeter is "Night and day" not even close...

The low frequency I explained already, as you become accustom to high quality delivery of audio signals you'll let go of your desire to hear bass distortion...

it's a measurable fact: The new 800 series plays lower with less distortion.
It's a measurable fact: The new 800 series plays higher with less distortion

these are measurable facts... the old series is not better. Perhaps you like it because you are familiar with the old 805 sound

Perhaps...

Just my 2 cents

[Ash]

Andrew,

Perhaps what you say regarding me liking the "800 Signature" because I'm used to the old 805 sound is true. But to tell you the truth it could also be to many different factors. Both systems were driven by to different amps. The sigs were in a purely stereo setup (Classe), where as the 802D were a part of surround amp (Theta) setup. This could have influenced the sound of both setups. Furthermore, when I was testing both speaker I was sitting much closer to the sigs that when I was testing 802D.

Whatever reasons, I won't conclude my opinion from just that expereince, I will test the new series more and then make an opinion.

[johan]

Cool it Andrew, there is no need to be upset just because Ash liked 800 better than 802. At this high-end level you cant compare speakers set up in different rooms with different equipment. The most important thing is to have balance in your system, from source to speakers and a good interaction with the room. That is what makes "night and day" differences. I'm sure if Ash would have moved those 800's by a half meter or so he might even would have think that the bass was to much. Or, if it were the 802's that were hooked up with the Classe gear he'd might have prefered those over the 800's. What it comes down to in order to make systems like these really shine is not about diamond, aluminium, rohacell, kevlar etc.. It's all about synergy, balance and matching. That's a HEARABLE FACT!!!

[Rolex]

Well, there could be a couple things at work here. Perhaps the 802D's weren't broken in fully? Second, the classe amp is not nearly enough power to drive the signature 800's. Keep in mind, the retail of the sigs is around 20k, and the retail of the classe amp is around 5k. I think they deserve better power. I also know what the 802D's are capable of. Put some 500 watt mcintosh mono blocks on those speakers, and you will hear a completely different setup. Also, I agree with johan. You can't really make a fair comparison unless both speakers are used in the same system, in the same room. It is all about synergy. I'll bet the classe has better synergy with the sigs than the Theta has with the 802D's.

At any rate, they are both fantastic speakers. They just need power to really come alive.

[Fraise]

Wow!

Be aware that you are the only person (on the planet) (tag you're it) that likes the old 800 against the new 800... Period...

if you read closely he mentioned the sig 800 vs the 802D....not the 800D

i had a very similar experience with the sig 800's too only instead of a classe amp they were driven by a pair of halcros with a halcro preamp. I thought there was a little bit lacking in the low end but it could just be thats how its supposed to sound and i'm not used to it.

[Ash]

Fraise,

I felt that they were lacking as well. However, I decided that it has to be due to amp being only 200watts. Because a speaker this expensive cannot lack so much!

[johan]

Dont say "only 200 watts". There is no such thing as long as we're talking about quality brands. 200 is just fine, that was not the reason for poor bass output. I say it was definately placement-room issues, or maybe your preferences. The 800's can never match 802's with an 850 when it comes to bass amount, no fullrange speaker can, but the 800's can produce serious amounts of bass when called for. But it has to be in the recording, a thin recording will never sound bassy, B&W dont build speakers to impress, but play a bassy record and they will explode!

[js24]

some professional reviewers say the sig800 does not really have super bass output and this is fixed in the new 800D ... oh well....

200W maybe enough but when I heard N800 with some AR tubes- oh my god it barely breathed.. even classe omicron mono wasn't that great (sounded underpowerd)
but MC402 made it get up and dance

I just don't like classe gears..... it's just me, so don't throw rocks at me

[Ash]

Johan,

the only reason I'm saying this is that I don't think that the sound was normal at all. I know you think that the bass was decent and its probably me and not the speaker. But don't you think its strange that the bass drivers were not even moving (or barely moving) with Prodigy playing (very heavy bass tracks).

It's true that the sigs800 were placed in an open showroom, but I don't think that is the main reason for this.

Furthermore, I'm not the type that likes boomy or undefined bass, I really like the bass to be tight and defined. However, I know weak bass when I here it. Also I'm not comparing the bass coming out of the sig800 with the 802D & 850, cause I know that the bass from both systems can't be compared.

Thats why I concluded that I did not get a good audition because I believe that something was wrong, I believe in B&W and I doubt that their Flagship product would sound like that (in terms of bass).

I mean the sound coming out of my 805 was much more impressive for its size, in comparison to the sound that was coming from the sig800 compared to its size and price. There has to be something wrong with the dealers setup!