Nautilus and Metal Domes?

I experienced a similar problem, with a different systen, though.
My dealer gave me a different interconnect between my Cd2 to the 82 to try,(I think it's a Van De Hull - DIN-variety, of course, completed by my dealer): it sounded more pleasant, less harsh, and still very transparent: just the way I liked it.
Needless to say, "cable-plays" are an endless story, with lots of trial & error, but it may be worth the effort.

Regards
Urs

I have a very similiar system to yours (just don't have the XPS). I have just added NAPSC and Hicap and have found that the harshness I was experiencing before has mainly gone. I have a carpeted room with a reasonable amount of furniture so plenty of acoustic disturbance.

You might find that pulling the speakers away from the rear walls further might improve the top end. I noticed at the dealers when auditioning that 4-5' opened up the top end alot, I am stuck in a small room so have them 18" off the rear walls which is far from ideal. Also what are you mounting you CDX on, I had a big jump in performance when I went to my DIY stand from the previous.

Matthew

Matthew

Please don't take this personally but given all the song and dance about the Nautilus technology I think the tweeter's crap. I blew up one and imploded 2 in the year I had them. My dealer accused me endlessly of just prodding them with sticks, but at least he replaced them under warranty. I'm sorry to say that when you take one apart its obvious they cost about 50p to make, regardless of any R&D.

That Kevlar midrange is a marvel but with a 250 the 805s needed a lot of work to tighten the bass and improve the treble. With a 180 the problem could be worse.

DNM speaker cable helped me, perhaps you could try that. Also I'd get the 804s onto granite plinths from hne, Base platforms (if you have a level floor) or Mana SoundBases.

BTW 11-0'clock on the dial for me = blow up!

Alex

I use a full Naim system with N 804's. The B&W's can be a nice pairing with Naim systems, and if you search the forum, you will find many useful posts on these issues. For what it's worth, here are my main suggestions.

The B&W's, like many speakers with metal dome tweeters, can be a bit bright in certain instances. The exact positioning of the speakers makes a huge difference with these designs, both for the overall tonal balance, and in particular, the angle of toe-in effects the high frequency balance. You might try to have them less directly angled at the listening position for a broader soundstage, and a bit less treble energy.

Secondly, the B&W's do take quite a long time to fully break in. In my case, I found that the treble became very open and extended without the propensity to harshness only after a full summer of use. The supplied spikes for the speakers are certainly not the last word in support. You might experiment with supports. In the US, SoundAnchors makes dedicated stands for the B&W's that are highly regarded, and reasonably priced.

I found that my system sounded best with my NACA 5 single wire run feeding the bass terminal, rather than the treble terminal. I use a short run of NACA 5 as a jumper instead of the supplied B&W jumper to go from the bass up to the tweeter. This wiring gave more control and power in the bass, and might tip your tonal balance a bit farther down from the top. Finally, the B&W bass drivers can come a bit loose on the front baffle. I tighten mine about once every three months to get a tighter bass response.

Best wishes and good luck.

Cheers,
Garth<