Nautilus 805/htm2 Reviews, Info, and Q&A

[sikoniko]

I am putting the htm2 speaker in with this review because it is the only center that matches these speakers.

The 805 is the cheapest of the Nautilus speakers, if you do not include a stand in the price. When I brought these speakers home initially, I didnt really have very high hopes. I prefer the sound of a full range speaker over a bookshelf. I was upgrading from a pair of dm604's that I have had since 1997.

I must say that I was surprised by the difference in clarity between these speakers. These speakers are very accurate. The first thing I heard when I got them plugged in was "When we were soldiers" and the sound of gunfire was amazing.

At this time, I had a matrix htm matched up and I thought it was adequate. I can remember taking home a nautilus htm2 to try out. I was very doubtful there would be much of a difference.

One of the first movies I watched to do the comparison was gladiator (in dtses). The opening scene had me sold on this speaker. The seemless integration with the 805's was amazing. The soundstage was very impressive. I can recall that when I plugged in the htm2, there was a whole section I was missing in the mid. Much like my demo of the 603 years before, it was simply amazing what I was missing in the matrix htm.

While the sound was great, I always felt that it was thin compared to the full range speaker. When you add the price of the b&w stands it comes fairly close to the price of the 804. I realize that I did not pair these speakers up with a better sub, and that may have been my problem with the speakers, but I could not get past the stigma of rather having a full range speaker which would take up about the same amount of floor space and cost close to the price of the 805 w/ a stand. I believe b&w really needs to reconsider the price of their floor stands.

To keep w/ a review of the htm2, I will breifly touch on my upgrade to the 804's. After upgrading to the 804's, it was amazing to me how lacking the center was when paired w/ these speakers. I am a big supporter of having a properly matched sound stage and the htm2 was just too thin when paired w/ the 804's.

I would only recommend the htm2 if you are purchasing the 805's, or the scm1's which I have not heard but have read that they are very similar. The htm2 is a great center and provides an excellent soundstage for the 805's, however is not enough for the bigger brothers of the nautilus series.

[DrBoom]

Same thing here, started out with 805's as fronts, but I'm a floorstanding fan myself too
So after a few months I got 804's and put the 805's for surround duties.
But by then I'd already bought the HTM2 to go with the 805's.
Now I can live with the sound of the HTM2, but I'd still prefer the HTM1 and I plan on getting one in a few months maybe.
The only bad part is, the HTM1 doesn't really fit in my rack, since it is 78 cm wide and my rack is only 70 :roll:
So it'll be sticking out 4 cm on each side, which is a pity cuz it doesn't look good that way.
Nevertheless, I plan on getting an HTM1 before they stop the current 800 series and release the 800 Series 2 (whenever that may be).

The 805 is a great speaker, and sound very much like the 804.
I just prefer floorstanders, and the 804's do have great bass though it doesn't really go that deep, but it's delivered with a lot of punch.
They also have a wider soundstage than the 805's.

[Aussie Geoff]

Sikoniko,

Another thought / perspective. While I found the 804 etc to be clearly a cut above the 703 etc range - with the 805 to 705 comparision I was less convinced. The 705 was very good value with a clean sound that was easy to extend and balance out with a subwoofer - while the 805s, while even more transparent, seemed tobe "not quite right" in the mid bass area - though maybe they needed more amplificaiton or something. Net is in Aussie we are lloking $2500 for the 705 and $4500 for the 805s and I couldn't see the difference in sound quality to justify the $. However for the 703 ($5700) vs 804 ($7500) it was (to my ears) no contest for the 804 ...

Geoff

[Mark_C.]

The 804s definitely have an advantage over the 805s because of its FST midrange. Somehow, the mids seem deeper on the 804s than the 805s. That being said, I have the 805s in our HT and the 804s in a standalone two-channel system. I could sell the 804s tomorrow and still be very happy using the 805s both for HT and stereo. Don't underestimate these speakers. For bookshelf speakers, they are amazing. The same can be said for the HTM2. Oh, and there's no law that says you have to buy the overpriced 805 stands. I know the HTM1 is a great speaker, but the size! Someone at B&W said, "Let's turn the 804 on its side,'' and it was done. Why not do the same thing with the 802? (Please note sarcasm.) Except for custom intalled HT, I find it hard to imagine anyone having enough room for the HTM1.

[victort]

My experience has been positive. I bought the 805 Signatures (They are not the same as the Matrix 805) with the HTM2 and the Rotel 1098 Preamp and the 1075 AMP. They function beautifully together in both home theater and music. I am a new member and I love this forum. Thank you all for your input.

[sikoniko]

My experience has been positive. I bought the 805 Signatures (They are not the same as the Matrix 805) .

Would you do a review for us on your signatures? im curious of the differences between the regular 805's, sigs, and 804's and Im sure others would like the info you could provide too. Just include it on this thread.

[victort]

When auditioned the 805 Signature a year ago I also tried the 805 matrix, the Dynaudio 1.3, and the Revel M20. The 805 signature were next to the 805 matrix so I sampled both at the same time. They were hooked up to a 2 Classe mono blocks and Classe PreAmp and Classe Cd player.

I used a Thomas Hampsons Cd of Mahler songs because I wanted a speaker to reveal and show the delicate balance between the sound of the piano and the voice.

I also used the chesky stereoreview cd to make sure that the speakers can represent all the sound levels accurately.

I must say, what a revelation and I am not exagerating. It has been a year now since I bought them and I am still impressed especially by their ability to project vocals and midrange.

You will read on a number of threads about how CD Players, Cables, AMPs, can make a difference in sound. I believe that it does play a role but not a major one to justify the cost. I found that components in the $1500-3000 tend to have quality material used in them and anything above that would maybe add an additional 10% improvement to the sound and not more to justify the cost.

What does make a difference to the overall sound in my opinion through experimenting over the past year, looking at what studio engineers use in their studios, in addition to auditioning speakers in demo audio rooms and at home are:

1) Speaker Placement (with the 805s its 2 to 3 feet from the side and back wall).

2) Room acoustics (A much ignored factor in comparison to the cable discussions in forums and something I will work more on this year)