I wish I never listened to the new D's! minor ramblings

[sikoniko]

A week or so ago I was at my dealers and sat down to listen to the 802d's. These speakers were amazing. very high level of detail and realistic representation of instruments. On one track I heard, when the drummer hit the kick, you could hear the plastic of the head. amazing. I did notice that these at low levels, there was a lot of detail missing. It wasn't until they were cranked that the speaker really started to shine. It makes me believe that these really need a good sized room. These were hooked up to all krell gear.

Last week I went to another dealer that had the 803d's. They were hooked up to a pioneer receiver, acting as a pre and bryston amps. the poor speakers sounded colored. They still sounded good, but definately needed a better pre.

neither of these speakers made me feel fatigued.

I sat down to watch LOTR, ROTK thursday night on my system (N804's). For the first time I began to feel as though the highs sounded rather harsh and difficult to listen to. This is something I never noticed before, as I always loved the highs on my speakers. I definately cant afford the diamonds so I dont have any option to move up. I really wish the new series came in red cherry. that was dumb of b&w. again I say, I wish I never listened to the diamonds...

[Pieter]

Dan: On one track I heard, when the drummer hit the kick, you could hear the plastic of the head. amazing.

Yup, that’s the beauty of high end.

Dan: It makes me believe that these really need a good sized room.

A point too often brushed aside.

Dan: For the first time I began to feel as though the highs sounded rather harsh and difficult to listen to. This is something I never noticed before, as I always loved the highs on my speakers. I definately cant afford the diamonds so I dont have any option to move up.

I say, you may think you’re on firm ground, but the fact of the matter is you’re already declined on the slippery slope...I can hear those cogs turning in your noggin, even from as far afield as South Africa. You’re a lost knight in the ever elusive quest for the Audio Grail!

Damn! This hobby is both curse and balm.

[audioqueso]

I've found that the highs of the Nautilus series are very bias towards certain amps. When I first listened to the 805s, I thought the highs, though relatively smooth, seemed a little too harsh. Going from a Krell to a Rotel amp (at the dealer) made the 805 speak a completely different language. In my home, my 805s went from a Marantz a/v receiver to a Rotel amp. And even though the Marantz is only an A/V receiver, the highs were outstandingly bright compared to the sound produced by the Rotel. So I've learned from a short experience that the Nautilus really change their sound depending the amp.

[audioqueso]

Oh yeah, why was my post relavant... what amp are you using for your Nautilus 802s? lol

[RNKC]

I wish I had never found this forum - now guy guys have me convinced I need to buy the 803D instead of trying to pick up a pair of N803!

[george_k]

Hmm this might get me into trouble...

I went in to demo the 700 series last week. My dealer deals in Quad and B&W. I saw some curious looking tall black panels which I though were acoustic panels at first but after closer inspection I noticed "QUAD" written on the base of the units. The only other electrostats I've seen before were some martin logan's which are usually alot slimmer.

Anyways, he plugged them in, put in the black album (I only had black album and the recently released pearl jam compilation with me).The only words that describe the sound is "audio nirvana".

As a treat he put on the new 802D's next...the short version of the story...I didn't like em but I don't think they were properly broken in.

I found that the 802D's really colored the sound. I've seen the new 800 series promotional dvd and I remember B&W stating that they aim to reproduce the music without adding anything.

I couldn't really detect a difference in the midrange comparing the two given the source material I had on hand. The most significant differences IMO were in the frequency extremities. I played Unforgiven on both speakers and noticed that on the 802's the bass notes really rumbled this wasn't the case with the quads the bass notes were well articulated. I gather the rumbling is likely due to the use of speaker cabinets. I also found the highs on the 802's just a tad bright but honestly I don't think they were broken in. I couldn't tell which of the two had a larger soundstage because the demo room was rather small.

I would definatly recommend, seeing as how were are all speaker entusiasts first and B&W enthusiasts second, demoing a set of 989 quads they will definately be in the comparison list once I can afford to get myself into that kinda price bracket.

[RebelMan]

Hmm this might get me into trouble...

Perhaps just a little.

Audio is a subjective hobby, passtime or whatever it means to you and everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, expressing your preferences about another brand in a brand specific forum, such as the B&W Club, might not be completely appropriate. Not to mention getting off topic.