I’m breaking in a brand new pair of 805S’ I’ve got on demo from a local dealer. Been itching to compare them to the Nautilus 805s that have seen service in my room for the past 16 months.
Set the 805S’ up on stands last night, did not change location or positioning from the Nautilus setup, connected the bi-wiring and fired up the system…
Out of the box:
* Focus is improved, creating a more sharply defined image. Everything just seems clearer and more easily discernable. I’ll not state the oft quoted, “The curtains have been parted.”, or the ubiquitous, “A veil has been lifted!”. Let’s just say it’s less blurry.
* The soundstage appears slightly larger, both in width and depth. Not too sure of this though, could be attributable to the improvement mentioned above.
* There’s better integration between the mids and the highs. Angela Hewitt playing the Goldberg Variations is less pingy when she hits the high notes on the piano. They blend in better and don’t stand out as glaringly as they oft do on the Nautilus 805s. My room tends towards the bright, so the change is most welcome.
* Vocals are more intimate. Emotion and phrasing gain in subtlety. To steal from the other senses – the shape and texture of the sound is improved.
* The Kevlar and its surround need some serious flexing, for the bottom end is not as articulate as the Nautilus 805s…yet. Let’s hope we get them too loosen up before my 2 weeks probationary period expires.
It’s not a moot point, even out of the box they are DEFINITELY an improvement on the Nautilus 805s.
Set the 805S’ up on stands last night, did not change location or positioning from the Nautilus setup, connected the bi-wiring and fired up the system…
Out of the box:
* Focus is improved, creating a more sharply defined image. Everything just seems clearer and more easily discernable. I’ll not state the oft quoted, “The curtains have been parted.”, or the ubiquitous, “A veil has been lifted!”. Let’s just say it’s less blurry.
* The soundstage appears slightly larger, both in width and depth. Not too sure of this though, could be attributable to the improvement mentioned above.
* There’s better integration between the mids and the highs. Angela Hewitt playing the Goldberg Variations is less pingy when she hits the high notes on the piano. They blend in better and don’t stand out as glaringly as they oft do on the Nautilus 805s. My room tends towards the bright, so the change is most welcome.
* Vocals are more intimate. Emotion and phrasing gain in subtlety. To steal from the other senses – the shape and texture of the sound is improved.
* The Kevlar and its surround need some serious flexing, for the bottom end is not as articulate as the Nautilus 805s…yet. Let’s hope we get them too loosen up before my 2 weeks probationary period expires.
It’s not a moot point, even out of the box they are DEFINITELY an improvement on the Nautilus 805s.
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