Nautilus 803 & 804

Hi,
I've heard 180 driving 804 at the dealer demo and it seems to be in control although music used on demo was simple two piece accoustic guitar. It might be diff. story with complex mix. I was thinking of getting 804 or 803 myself and I have 180 so your 250 should be capable of driving either.

Hope this help?

Km

quote:

---

Originally posted by adamk:
Having demoed a lot of speakers in the process of purchasing the 805's I am not interested in anything but nautilus as I think they are an excellent speaker.
My query is which upgrade:........
and then others claim 135's as the minimum requirement. I like my music (rock 1970 to present) as loud as the next person, but I presently rarely get past 10 o'clock on the volume control with the 805's.
I therefore presume the 250 has got plenty of juice to spare.

Although the 803 is the better speaker I do not want to handicap myself by needing to upgrade the amps .
Would appreciate any comments.

---

Your NAP250 is a GOOD match for the 805 but NOT for the bigger B&W that need around 150 W to sing properly. I have demoed many B&W speakers with NAP250 (currently use Matrix 805V which is the model before yours) and found that the only model that still match my NAP250 is the N805 and the 805 Signature. For higher models you need those NAP135s as a minimum.

Adam-

Either the 804's or 803's are a very nice upgrade above the N 805's. Your system would allow for either speaker, however, one other issue you may want to consult with a good local dealer on is the size of your room. Not only do the B&W's reward high quality sources, which you certainly have, and high current amplification, which you also have, but they are also intended to be "free breathing" in their locations in a room. So, if you are hoping for a near wall location, I would recommend the N 804's, which I use to great effect with a system somewhat similar to yours. Somewhat counter to expectations, the N 803's are actually easier to drive than the N 804's, but the extra bass weight could be a liability in a room your size if you are not free to experiment with positioning, particularly off the rear wall.

Good luck.

I own a pair of N803s. I'm currently in the process of building up my system around a NAP180. I've given them a shot on a Nait 5, Nait 5 (pre) + NAP180 (power) combo, Nakamichi AV-10 120WPC receiver and just today a Musical Fidelity A300 integrated (150WPC). All of the above drive the speakers with ease, although the Nak & MF seem to have a lot more spare volume - although all go as far as I need so I haven't bothered pushing them further.

I've been fairly suprised how well my Nakamichi stands up to the competition. I was however impressed with the new sound the Naim equipment brought, which is why I'm now leaning towards sticking with Naim, although I felt the LF sounded a bit flat, but hopefully this can be changed with a NAC102 and possibly a new CD player when I can afford it. I was a little disapointed with the MF, expecting that its power (and price over the Nakamichi) would bring me closer to what I heard when I first demoed the speakers (big bucks Krell, Mark Levinson), but it's obviously a long long way off - probably partly due to the CDP
I actually demoed some 804's at Grahams with a NAP250/CDX2, sounded very nice - certainly not lacking in bass, but didn't get the chance to compare with the 803 as I didn't think they were in my budget at that point

So all in all, I don't think you'll have many problems driving them with a 250, and I certainly haven't noticed much of a difference (normal listening) between the high power amps I've used and the NAP180. Quite a few people on this board have 803's, two with 180's I think so it can't be that bad!

Best regards,
Francis