B&W nautilus 802s vs wilson watt puppy 5.1

[georgev]

Hi there,
Help pls.
I have the option of upgrading my current CDM 9NTs to either 802's or Wilson Watt Puppy's 5.1, I would really appreciate thoughts from those who have heard both close to each other or any experience with both.
Thank you.
George.

[aarsoe]

George

If it was me I would go with the B&W and with all the money you save you could upgrade the rest of your entire gear... :W

Seems to be a very strange choice given the huge price difference..
In all seriousnes there are many other things to considder. The Wilson's are as I know it pretty picky about what you put in front of them, so check if you have the ability to drive them at all..

[georgev]

They are both previously loved and are almost the same price.
The amplifier is a Proceed HPA power amp(250wpc into 8ohms, doubled into 4). Front end is Mark Levinson and so is the pre amp.
I have slowly sort of built the system up and the last step(is there one in this quest) are my front speakers.

[Aussie Geoff]

You've got to listen to be sure

Hi,

I have heard the Watt Puppy 7 and the 802s. They are very different speakers - the 802 is sweet and musically lyrical whereas the Watt Puppy 7 was more in the driving and clinically detailed space. Both very good and in my view down to personal taste. However the 5.1's are 2 generations behind this so I don't know what they sounded like or of they were as good.

An important point - are you talking about he current generation B&W Nautilus 802 or the older Matrix 802s (no where near as good)

I would highly recommend taking your own high quality CDs and doing compariative listenning.

The other thought is that the current Nautilus 802's are good if you want to expand as you can get a full range of matching centre and surround channels, wherras the Watt's will be more of a challenge...

Geoff

[georgev]

Thanks for that input. My thoughts were sort of along those lines. They are current generation 802s. The reviews on the Wilsons have been astounding, hence the vaccilation.
How is the lower end of the Wilsons cf the 802s?

[Dmantis]

2 excellent choices in speakers.

Wilson audio is reguarded as the reference standard.What everything should be measured to.They are detailed and very true to the sound.

B&W also is highy reguarded as a reference standard.Very different sound speakers.I have found only flaws in B&W when playing rock music.Classical and jazz I feel there is no better(unless your talking about Dynaudio,but thats another story).

Side by side is the only way to truely decide.Me personally I like the B&W N802s.I like the entire line.Sweet.

Dan

[JOY DIVISION]

I have a friend who has a EFE Technology T-60 and he confesses that it was right up there with the Wilson Sophias. The price he paid was probably half of that.