250 and B&W Nautilus 804 - Need advices

Just say NO!

Plenty of people are happy with B&W nautilus and naim together. I don't like the combination, but you shouldn't listen to either of us. Speakers are such a personal taste, they are not an item to choose solely on someone elses recommendation. It's like having a complete stranger choose your home's new colour scheme (without having seen your house). If you are globally happy with the charectar of the present set up but would like more of the same, keep your speakers and buy an 82.

Why don't you suggest your friend buys the B&W's?

duncan

Email: djcritchley at hotmail.com

I just flogged of my DM 602:s (not exactly 804:s, but anyway). For this occasion I connected them to my Naim electronics. They sounded MUCH better than with the Denon AV receiver they've been hooked up to before (not surprisingly).

If you like the 804:s with whatever electronics used to demo them, I can't se why they wouldn't work in your Naim system.

Said that, I would probably do like duncan and get a 82 instead!

Hi Gabby Yoon
I used to have a 102/250 driving Nautilus 804s and the sound quality from that combination was good. In particular classical music with strings was excellent. In actual fact my current system which is quite different does not product Yo Yo Ma's Back cello concertos with quite the same dynamics - with the 804s, you could really hear and feel the bow against the strings.
However, they were less successful on rock music where they were quite clinical and less involving. In terms of musicality and involvement my current Shahinian Arcs are much better.
In summary, I would say if you tend to listen more to classical music then the 804s are great. However, if you prefer to rock then possibly select another pair of speakers.
I hope that this is of some help.
Good luck
Raphael

Thanks for your lesson of wisdom and advices,
which will be seriously took into consideration in my decison. Yes, I admit that rather than thinking to change my speakers, I'd better to get a 82, but two questions are independant.

One point I was curious about was whether or not 804s are keen to communication of musical emotion. Many said that they are excellent in hifi terms...

To Duncan : My friend is running now a B& W matrix model he want to replace. Me, I don't want his B&W. Agree with you that speakers depends a lot personal taste. But others experience can always help.

Gbay.

[This message was edited by gaby yoon on FRIDAY 21 November 2003 at 15:16.]

quote:

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One point I was curious about was whether or not 804s are keen to communication of musical emotion. Many said that they are excellent in hifi terms...

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Gaby,

I found B&W in general too slow for my kind of music. ( pop, rock, electronica, world and jazz ) but work well in classical music. They get the sweeping balcony view of live music well.
so, your music taste can dictate your speaker choices, too.

N805 is probably the best all rounder and easier to place in the room than their floorstanders. ( you still need to deal with their wondering trebles, however )

I find the divergence on B&W speakers quite bewildering. Gaby - the answer to your question is that these are excellent loudspeakers but they do need some current. I drove a pair using a NAC52/NAP250 and the results were very impressive. As folks say here, they reveal wonderful detail in the music and are particularly good when listening to classical pieces. I found, however, that the speakers didn't seem to produce such a pleasing sound with rock. I felt that this was due to the speaker impedance dropping to a low value and that the amplifier may be getting a little overworked. I added a second NAP250 in a biamp configuration and the results were spectacular! Eventually I traded up for a NAP500 and suddenly the 804s were at the mercy of something that can deliver current - and loads of it! I would still have the 804s now if it wasn't for the fact that I managed to pick up a pair of the rather excellent NBLs. The difference here was the speed of the drivers - I truly could tell that the NBLs were designed to work with Naim electronics. Since then I have heard the brilliant Nautilus 800s - these are simply jaw-droppingly good. Powered by the NAP500 they reveal detail that I have never heard before. My dealer tells me, however, that they have managed to finding the NAP500 clipping when listening at higher levels and Hifi+ reported that adding a second NAP500 made the 800s work even better. My conclusion, therefore, is that the Nautilus range has tremendous potential but you do need great electronics and tremendous current delivery to make them work properly - there are other speakers around that aren't so demanding but, IMHO, I think that the B&W range deserve more appreciation than they get on this web site! Have a listen to them and see what you think.

Hi Gaby Yoon,
Further to my earlier post, I do tend to feel that the Nautilus 804 that I used to have did not have musical emotion in the same way that my current Shahinian Arcs have. I would therefore agree with your thoughts that perhaps the 804s are more hifi and less musical emotion.
However, I think that NigelP's point is well made. I was driving my 804s with a NAP250 and in terms of power requirement or rating, the B&W literature did suggest a much more powerful power amplifier. I know that a 250 is much more powerful than its simple power rating but even then, perhaps it is still a little bit too low for 804s.
On another different note, I must say that back up from B&W was excellent. I called and spoke to them on a number of different things and they were absolutely brilliant and helpful. I also actually, somehow, managed to blow both my super-tweeter things in the 804s and the repair cost was actually remarkably reasonable - less then £100 for the both. So hats off to B&W who can join Naim as being companies who really support their customers.
Happy listening
Raphael

I think the NAIM B&W combination is very, very good indeed. The 804 is a tad slow on the bass perhaps, but a simple amp can easily drive it to a pleasing sound, if the amp is good enough, like a NAIT5 foor example. Offcourse the 804's deserve a lot more, but they're not that hard to drive. An 805 signature is probably the most bueatiful speaker I've heard on a NAIM set, and is very, very good. Better than the 804, since it doesn't need that much of current, since the bass/midrange consist of just 1 driver.

In my opinion, the combinations does sound very good with rock. It is the music I play most, with some other styles in less amount, but I play virtually everything (exeptions, offcourse).

Honestly, if you have a choice (sadly, you don't) betweeen 804's and 805 Sigs, I'd choose the 805's. They are better speakers overall, if you are willing to lack a bit of low end. Me, I'm going for these, and hopefully see myself buying a set of 802's in a decade or so.

804's are very much reliant on the amp that drives it, more is better, clean is very clean, emotional is emotional. They are very 'clean' and if you dislike that, don't get these peakers, your money is better spent elsewhere .

If you like naim/spendor combo i think you will be not happy with b&w.

try to listen.

Simone

[This message was edited by Simo on MONDAY 24 November 2003 at 19:09.]