I had the chance to check out some of the highest end speakers a few days ago. I looked at a few brands, and their models. The brands that I looked at were McIntosh, B&W, and Canton. All companies have speakers in the lower price range, but they also have some models that have MSRPs of more than $5,000. The main competitors were the Canton Digital 1.1 which has an MSRP for $15,000, but you can find it for less than $10,000 overseas. Then the last competitor was the McIntosh SL-6 which had a sticker of $2,500 at the time. Well, the truth is, you can't go wrong with any of these speakers. These are all highly respected brands. Only if Bose made speakers in this price range, then you'd go wrong, but luckily they don't. The speakers were all ran through a Krell KAV-500i. Anyway, here's what I found:

Price:
Well, the price I guess is steep. But if you can afford it, go for it! The B&W Nautilus 801 is a magnificent piece of equipment. You may think I'm crazy, but this is actually bang for the buck. This compares to other speakers by other exotic brands (Can't remember names), and those speakers run for $10,000+. Well, you don't have to really worry with the B&W Nautilus 801 about most things. Something that I found surprising was that some mid-fi and hi-fi (Expensive) speakers by brands such as JMLab and Canton couldn't handle high-current recievers/amplifiers that exceeded 125Watts per channel. Well, the B&W Nautilus 801 is no worry. It can handle from 50Watts...and beyond! It can handle perfectly at 1,000Watts of power. Don't be afraid to give it more than 200Watts, it will handle with perfection at 1,000Watts! The McIntosh SL-6 was another story, it can handle from 50Watts all the way to only... ... ... 150Watts! If you have a very powerful amplifier with more than 150Watts per channel, you may get a bit worried. The Canton also had no problems with power at all. Some of their mid-fi models are severly crippled by this lack of power, but the higher end, or shall I say hi-fi models can handle much more smoothly. The true rivals in this price range were the B&W Nautilus 801 and the Canton Digital 1.1. Both are excellent speakers with excellent sound reproduction, but it looks like the B&W Nautilus 801 were able to win out. The B&W Nautilus 801s are actually quite short, and the Canton Digital 1.1s are much taller, so if you want something that's tall and impressive, go Canton. Both brands have very respectable (matching) center channels. However, B&W wins out with the HTM1 Nautilus. So if you want a truly spectacular front stage, B&W will be an awesome buy. If you're afraid to spend so much money, go for Paradigm or McIntosh.

Looks and Styling:
The B&W Nautilus 801 is a very unique looking speaker. There are no others like it. It looks like a subwoofer cabinet. Then on top, there is this circular black structure which holds the 6" midrange driver. Very cool looking indeed. It's a very unique style, some may dislike it, but I surely love it. The B&W Nautilus 801 will make your friends' mouths drop wide open, not only with the looks, but with the sound.

Durability:
The B&W Nautilus 801 is a very solid and strong design. It shall last you for a long time. Some people still have the 801s ever since they were developed. This shows that the B&W Nautilus 801s should last you for a lifetime, or at least many years to come. B&W doesn't make low quality speakers like Bose does, so you really shouldn't have any problems.

Sound:
Can I say... I couldn't say a thing... I was speechless. The handling and performance of the B&W Nautilus 801 was well, amazing. There aren't any other ways of describing this sound. Bose superior? SURE. Haha, the sarcasm. If any Bose freak ever heard the B&W Nautilus 801 or the Canton Digital 1.1, they would say... "Uh yeah, Bose is still...ummm...superior." Well, the B&W Nautilus 801 is near perfection. This is one of those speakers that you will be excited to hear every single day for years to come. Expensive? Sure. Anything like it in the price range? Not that I've seen. Well, it has a 6" midrange driver, and a whooping 15" bass driver. That will give you superior sound, that has so many details. You haven't heard music if you haven't heard the B&W Nautilus 801. The Canton and McIntosh were both good, but the B&W Nautilus 801 was better overall. The sound was incredibly realistic, natural, warm, crisp, and every other good adjective that the mind can come across. I didn't like the McIntosh because of its weak power, and also the high range on it seemed a bit exaggerated. The McIntosh had three woofers along with three 1" tweeters. The tweeters gave more high-range that I wanted to hear. It made the SL-6s seem a bit... bright. The Canton Digital 1.1 was perfect, but they are hard to find, and also you won't get them for under $10,000 in the US. The high-range in the B&W Nautilus 801 seemed a bit weak, but the other ranges were all hit with precision. The Canton hit the whole spectrum very nicely, but the sound quality was surpassed by the B&W Nautilus 801. So, in this $10,000, we now see who is king. The B&W Nautilus 801 easily steals the crown, and the crowd too...

Bass:
Bass is in the B&W Nautilus 801 is not lacking. There is a very large 15" woofer. Well anyway, I use powered subwoofers in my systems. So do other audiophiles, you won't find a system by an audiophile without a powered subwoofer. Well, the bass on the B&W Nautilus 801 is good for all users.

The Verdict:
The B&W Nautilus 801 is king. It is worth every penny. You can't go wrong with the B&W Nautilus 801. So, if you are ever in the $10,000 range, you don't need to think twice, the B&W Nautilus 801 will be a great selection. The McIntosh SL-6 speakers were excellent, and I would love to have them at home attached to my Marantz SR-14EX. However, they are quite expensive. They have a great sound though, but powert handling is a major drawback. The Canton Digital 1.1s are good, but they still didn't compare to the B&W Nautilus 801. They are also not easy to find. I tried a lot of my CDs with the B&W Nautilus 801. Every song seemed so different, so much better. The imaging was clearly superior, and I felt like I was right there. I'm sure that these will amaze you every day if you buy them. Good luck, and happy listening!

THIS REVIEW IS:

SOUPCRAZE CONSUMER FRIENDLY CERTIFIED

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 10000