After about a year or more of going back and forth listening to 803D's and 802D's, I have finally sold my N803's and NHTM1 and replaced them with a pair of 803D's and a HTM2D center channel.
I picked up the new speaks yesterday. Heavy and larger, and all I can say is it's a good thing that I have a "dolly" in the house.
Physically, the 803D's are slightly wider deeper and about 3.9 inches higher than my old Nautilus 803's. The HTM2D is also sligtly wider and almost 3 inches deeper. Luckily it fits on the same B&W center channel stand.
My memory banks tell me that the N803's needed a considerable break-in time before I could defintively state that they were well worth the extra $$$ spent upgrading from my CDM 7's.
I know that the new diamond speakers will sound better over time, but right out of the gate there is no hesitation to declare that the 803D's are just so much smoother from top to bottom than the Nautilus series. More bang in the mid-bass and absolutely superior top end detailing along with that classic B&W mid-range that draws all of us to these speakers.
I know that they will only get better, and I am willing to put in the many hours of blissful listening to hear them break in over time.
By the way, I have noticed that there have been a number of threads about suggested amplifier upgrades for the 803D's and 802D's. I demoed the diamonds with a series of Mac MC402's and 501's and various Bryston and VTL amplifiers. My current amplifier is a Cary Cinema 5 (5 x 200W @ 8 Ohms), and I know that it is not my imagination that the 803D's run more effortlessly with this amp than did my N803's. I will likely upgrade the front 2 channels (or 3 channels) down the road, but for now I can quickly and simply state that if you have a decent amplifier, a speaker upgrade will get you more listening pleasure than a new amplifier.
I picked up the new speaks yesterday. Heavy and larger, and all I can say is it's a good thing that I have a "dolly" in the house.
Physically, the 803D's are slightly wider deeper and about 3.9 inches higher than my old Nautilus 803's. The HTM2D is also sligtly wider and almost 3 inches deeper. Luckily it fits on the same B&W center channel stand.
My memory banks tell me that the N803's needed a considerable break-in time before I could defintively state that they were well worth the extra $$$ spent upgrading from my CDM 7's.
I know that the new diamond speakers will sound better over time, but right out of the gate there is no hesitation to declare that the 803D's are just so much smoother from top to bottom than the Nautilus series. More bang in the mid-bass and absolutely superior top end detailing along with that classic B&W mid-range that draws all of us to these speakers.
I know that they will only get better, and I am willing to put in the many hours of blissful listening to hear them break in over time.
By the way, I have noticed that there have been a number of threads about suggested amplifier upgrades for the 803D's and 802D's. I demoed the diamonds with a series of Mac MC402's and 501's and various Bryston and VTL amplifiers. My current amplifier is a Cary Cinema 5 (5 x 200W @ 8 Ohms), and I know that it is not my imagination that the 803D's run more effortlessly with this amp than did my N803's. I will likely upgrade the front 2 channels (or 3 channels) down the road, but for now I can quickly and simply state that if you have a decent amplifier, a speaker upgrade will get you more listening pleasure than a new amplifier.
Comment