New 705 or Used N805

[Somphon]

I was made the offer for used N805 excellent condition for the same price as a new, after discount 705.

I saw in the manual that the N805 was lab tested in 1999, but the guy told me he only bought it not long ago. They're still in excellent condition.

I only had a change to listen to brand new 705 for several hours. As they were out of the box brand new, I could not really judge what it will become.

Do you think its worth it? Or should I just get the new 705.

Thanks

[tboooe]

As always, people here will say, buy whatever sounds good to you.

I will tell you my experience though:
I heard both the n805, new 705 and 805S. The 7 series definitely has a signature sound. To it was more straightforward, thin, and a little harsh. I feel as if the 7 was made for rock music or loud listening. To me, the 8 series sound warmer with more depth to the music. I thought the n805 sounded better than the 705 and the 805S sounded better than both of them.

Again, these are just my opinions.

[Aussie Geoff]

Somphon,

The 805s are a significant step up over the 705s, quite a bit more musical sounding. They are also harder to drive - the 705s can be driven buy many recievers, whereas the 805 (for most peoples ears) requires higher quality amps as it is a more difficult load and more revealing...

But for my money it would be the 805s a sa instant no brainer buy!!

Geoff

[Somphon]

Geoff, I was comparing the Nautilus 805 to the brand new 705.
This particular N805 has very good deep bass. The 705 is very musical and also has good bass but a bit fat to my ears. Then again, as mentioned, the 705 I heard was brand new.

I heard by many that the tweeter on N805 is harsh. On this particular one seems a bit fine, and I hate forward, bright speakers.

the 805S I demo for over 4 hours is very low on bass, but high quality bass it was. You are right, its forward and bright. the N805 is warmer and some how more to my taste.

[xk8boy]

Somphon, i personlly would save up a few more pennies until i could aford the 805S. though I sure the N805 are great speakers, but why spend money now and then upgade later.

[Somphon]

xk8boy, thanks for your comment,l but there's a $1200 difference between the preowned N805 and the new 805S here. I was thinking the same but the 805S I demo sounds great but it didnt sound musical to me. Very detailed and accurate, but I think it may tire me out.
It could be the demo speakers was not broken in yet.

[tboooe]

somphon, how about a used pair of 805S? that should cost around $1600 without stands. I am bit surprised to hear you say the 805S did not sound musical to you. My impression is that sounded better than the n805 but of course all of this is very subjective. Did you AB test the n805 and 805s? Was the test done at the same time with the same amp, cables, etc?

In the end, if you like the sound of the n805, get them. You cant go wrong with any of the bw speakers.

[Somphon]

tbooe, I can't fine any 805S used here in Thailand. They only just start selling them mid-January. I seriously doubth anyone who dished out $2,500 (less 10%) discount are willing to part with it this soon and at this price.

I demo the 805S at the B&W dealer with top end equiptment. its too analytical for me I guess. But I only listen to them for several hours and they were quite new. I really hate listening to equiptment at dealers!

That got wondering, why are people parting with 805S so soon. From what I saw in the press, it was launch in New York and London mid-Jan also.

Or do you mean the old Signature serie? $1600 would be a good price.

[xk8boy]

Somphon, please explain what you mean by analytical? speakers dont add details to music, but poor speakers will mask them. what kind of music do you listen to?

[KvHagedorn]

I own N805s and listen to 705s at work all the time. The N805 wins hands down, in my opinion.. and it should. That cabinet is shaped as it is for a reason.. awesome backwave control and dampening of resonances. The tweeter pod also makes for a much more open sound. It's a no-compromise design, whereas the 705 is not.

[Briz vegas]

I have owned a pair of 705s for 12 months now running through a Marantz 7300ose. I was finding the sound a little harsh at the top end until I moved the 705s ever so slightly closer together and reduced the toe in a fraction. Now I think they are great. Its amazing the benefits you can get with a little tweaking. I added a Rel Strata 5 to my system last month and I could not be happier with the overall sound. The extra bass extension makes the 705s sound even better. I'm a happy camper.

[Somphon]

sk8boy, I mean that they are just delivering lots of details without getting the emotion side of music. But that's what I hear.
I think the problem was these speakers are still too new to listen to. The dealers does not take the time to break them in for demo. Unlike Sonus Faber and McIntosh dealers where they run their system all day long to burn new demo unit and leave the system warmed and ready.

[xk8boy]

Somphon, interesting what you say, i tend to associate emotion of music based on the amp/source components. this is properly not helping your decision.

However, a pair good speakers will aways be good speakers. they dont become bad speakers because there's a new model out. With that kind of thinking, I would go with the N805. No disrepect to owners of the 705s, or the 700 series, but the 800 series is targeted at one level above and sooner or later you're going to want to upgrade to them. so why not start early. when its time to get one of those bad boys 801/802/803/804 you'll have one matching set to use in a HT setup.

[jlee]

Somphon, interesting what you say, i tend to associate emotion of music based on the amp/source components. this is properly not helping your decision.

However, a pair good speakers will aways be good speakers. they dont become bad speakers because there's a new model out. With that kind of thinking, I would go with the N805. No disrepect to owners of the 705s, or the 700 series, but the 800 series is targeted at one level above and sooner or later you're going to want to upgrade to them. so why not start early. when its time to get one of those bad boys 801/802/803/804 you'll have one matching set to use in a HT setup.

The only problem I have with the N805 is that terrible 3000Hz crossover... I don't know what B&W were thinking... maybe they wanted to get more bass out of the speaker so they put more load to the tweeter (from 3Khz to 4Khz)... the N805 (and HTM2) both suffer from midbass coloration because of this and the cabinet design. They fixed this on the Signature 805 (crossover at 4KHz) and the new 805S.

For that reason, I would actually recommend the SCM1 wall mounted. I was biased against this speaker on paper because of it's poor "on paper" bass response, but I didn't take into consideration that it is measured just like the rest... once u actually install it on a wall, it has just as much bass as a N805, but it's highs and mids are actually better due to the cabinet configuration and wall placement. It is produces a tremendously satisfying tight bass... one of the most underrated 2 ch. speakers if you ask me. The SCM1 was a sleeper in the B&W line as a 2 ch speaker because most purchased it for 5 ch. surrounds.

[Somphon]

Well, I've decided and bought the 4 months old N805 for $1580.00. Dont know if it was a good deal where you're from. I'm satisfy with the speakers so all is good. Next up...new CD player!