Moving on up... the next level of sound
Written: Aug 22 '02
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Pros: Phenomenal Sound, Pleasing aesthetics, showpiece quality looks and sound
Cons: Heavy, expensive. Commitment to the hobby required to take full advantage of them
The Bottom Line: The B&W Nautilus 802 is a wonderful speaker for music and HT. The cost and space requirements probably make them practical for only the most dedicated to the hobby.
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| Everclear22's Full Review: B&W Nautilus 802 |
Please see my review on the B&W Nautilus 804s for some background info on my initial speaker purchase.
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-BFA-36CB5D0-37DEDD2C-bd4
Now that you have seen my Nautilus 804 review, you have a pretty good understanding of where I am coming from. The store where I purchased my Nautilus 804s have a great program where you can trade in your speakers (within a year) for full value for another set of speakers. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, I wanted to compare the B&W Nautilus 802s to the B&W Nautilus 804s before my year ran out.
I was very familiar (and happy) with my 804s for the year that I had them. I had even compared the 804s to the 803s at the time of purchase and felt comfortable sticking with the 804s. But once again, I did not want the 'trade-in' period to expire without further exploring my options.
I talked to my salesperson and told him I wanted to compare the Naut 804s to the Naut 802s. I had him setup a listening room with both speakers ready to go, and similar equipment to what I had at home. I wanted to listen to BOTH speakers at the store since I know that the room can make a big difference on how the speakers sound. I was not expecting a significant difference. The Nautilus 804s are very accurate and produce a wonderful sound....
I started my listening session with the 804s and my reference CDs. It was the familiar sound, actually even a little bit better since they have better room treatments then I had at the time. Same pluses... Very clear and musical. Details that cannot be heard with lesser equipment. A truly great speaker and a wonderful sound.
We switch to the Nautilus 802s. Wow! The change in quality was different compared to my comparisons before. The difference here could best be described as 'smooth'. The 802s seemed to make the sound reproduction feel more effortless. Instead of the speakers pushing out sweet sound, they seemed to exhale the sound. With this effortlessness came an opening up of the soundstage. It actually felt like we were now in a larger room. It was quite an exciting experience!
Of course, I went ahead and did the upgrade and have been a happy owner of the Nautilus 802s for quite some time. My wife had a cow when I finally brought home my pair. They are significantly larger than the 804s and that has it's own issues. You need more room on either side of the TV and you need to pull them out further from the wall to get full advantage. If space is a concern, the 804s may be a better fit (without having the room to 'breath', these speakers lose much of their imaging strengths).
I also eventually bi-amped these speakers. The additional low frequency extension means that the AMP 5 (although 'adequate') was not taking full advantage of the speakers. Bi-amping the speakers have made another leap in performance, but have required me to purchase a separate amp to drive my surrounds.
As you can see, these speakers are not quite as 'plug and play' as the Nautilus 804s. But if you are willing to put the time and effort into making them work for you, you will be very pleased with the transparency and sophistication of your audio system.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 3500
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Epinions.com ID:
Everclear22
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Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 10 members
About Me:
An HT enthusiast who has spent much time (and money) bringing the theater experience home.
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