Incredible dynamics and sound realism.

Weight more than 100 kg. Difficult to make my wife accept such "washing machines with one eye on top" in our living room.

First of all : Most amplifiers will NOT be able to make the B&W Nautilus 801 work properly. There are probably just 2 - 3 models on the market that can do : Check out the Electrocompaniet NEMO, especially developed for the 801's at the request of some Studio in England close to a famous zebra-crossing (does anyone know who that could be ?).

The 801's demand a huge current capability from the amps, that only a few can handle. Also, they work well with 1 amp, but MUCH BETER in a Bi-amplification configuration.

I have been using them for some time with a pair of Electrocompaniet NEMO... By the way, my setup is the following :

Electrocompaniet EMC-1 CD player.
Electrocompaniet EC 4.7 preamp
Electrocompaniet XLR cables
Electrocompaniet NEMO.
B&W nautilus 801
Speaker cable : have not found the optimum yet. Any suggestion ?

I have now for some time the chance to use the Nautilus 801's with two pairs of NEMO's. WOW ! This makes 2'400 watts / 8 ohm. By the way, the NEMO's are rated each 600 W/8ohm, 1200 W/4hm, 2400 W/2ohm ! Stable down to 0.5 ohm.

The result is incredible with most good recordings (low quality recordings become even worse on this setup as all details come alive, sound better in my car). Perhaps one weakness is that a certain sound level is necessary to make the music come alive (close to "real level"). But then : the music is THERE, in my room.

Listen and you'll see...

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Are you crazy ?

natural sound

i can't afford them

Heard these briefly and wanted to place a quick comment.
At this level of performance, I believe you can only judge the entire system that you are listening too, ie., almost impossible to review only the speaker unless you have the luxury of swithcing in and out amps/pre-amp etc etc.

The System that I heard was Linn CD12, Linn top-of-the-line AV preamp and Linn Klimax mono amps...

I am still dreaming of the sound...Maria Callas' voice sounded, well, soft and exquisite. The music around her rose and fell naturally, none of the faulty dynamics you find on most CD driven equipment...I was touched.

I have no idea if they do everything right, and that's a valid question at this price level. But Maria and I have shared a moment that i hope to always treasure.

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eggleston works andra, ProAc Future One

-Absolutely no equals
-No listening fatigue what-so-ever
-Incredible imaging

-Better have a high quality amp to drive them

Kevin can take his degrees and wipe his arse with them. I listen to these every day in my home and love every minute. I've got 2 in front, 2 in back, the Nautilus HTM1 center, and a Sunfire MKII. Everyone that's listented to this setup has been nothing short of amazed. I think the reason that Kevin doesn't like these speakers is b/c 1) He can't afford them after wasting his $$$ on all of those degrees or 2) The audio company he works for is worthless complared to B&W. Ha! Being the AUDIO GOD that he thinks he is, he could at least fill us in on the piece of crap system he's got in his parents' garage...
At any rate, when I put this system together, it was a dream come true... even though it took a while to budget for and then fine tune it....
AND since Kevin is "Not one of us", as he so eloquently put it, he can take his god-like knowledge (or so he wishes) and build a perfect system for all of us mortals....

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I must confess, I have been in the audio (now A/V ) business for over 20 years, and while I do not work at a dealer that carries B&W, I must clear up some novice misconceptions expressed in prior reviews. I have listened to the N801's extensively, and all of the high end tizz, bloat in the midrange or bass and any other criticizm that has been aired on this review site is due to bad associated equipment, horrible room acoustics or speakers that are not broken in. It never ceases to amaze me how people attribute room and equipment variables to a speaker. The N801's are incredible, and all of my colleagues from around the country think so as well, regardless of whether they sell them or not!

This post was encouraged by Kevin. Sorry guys, you are probably sick of responses to Kevins post rather than specific reviews for the 801. However, I feel the need to express one point that comes to mind. I too have studied in electronic engineering although not anywhere near to the degree that Kevin suggests. However I have worked for an exclusive production facility as a sound engineer and rely much more heavily on my ears for assessment, rather than technical measurements. I guess what I am trying to say is that the most impressive education on audio reproduction available does not guarantee you are blessed with full range ears, and the knowledge of how to use your ears along with some understanding of how the brain uses them can be as powerful/more powerful than years of research into acoustic measurment.
Kevin, measure every aspect of these loudspeakers that you can. I'm sure B&W have already. Just as I am sure they have much more money and equipment and education on acoustic engineering than you. The proof is in the listening. Afterall, how do you measure the timbre of a Timpani? What instrument can you use to tell the difference between Steinway's concert grand and baby grand pianos within a passage of music? If you cannot hear the lower frequencies from these speakers, your ears may be letting you down.

Ruthlessly accurate but require huge power to perform this way.

Big, heavy, and wattage hungry.

One of the best speakers I've ever heard. Comparing them to the WATT/Puppy is truely amusing, they blow away every wilson exept maybe the X-1s and think of the money you save on electronics. They are far more accurate than aerial 10ts as well, at least when I heard them. But even though I liked them more than the aerials, I am grown up enough not to run straight to the aerial page and give the 10t's 1 star like some ignorant little a**wipe. The politics involved in this league is truely astonishing.

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Dunlavy SC-IVs.

frequencies above 500 Hz

frequencies below 500 Hz, and lack on dynamic capability, obvious compression and conical distortions at high volume levels,(350 W RMW, <.0015% THD, Vgain 29.0 dB from reference signal)

JP, I want to know what you mean by saying that you're offended by the reviewer who misquoted the price of the speakers as $5,500 instead of $11,000. Please explain. Are you so arrogant that you think you are actually getting superior quality products just because you're paying the price of a small car to get them? I don't want to second guess you, but people who feel that they can compare their audio systems based on how much they spent on them are simply dumb... as in IQ 120 dB (12 x 24 room) and not show high distortion, power compression effects, cone cry, and can at least play below 80 Hz while staying within +0/-5 dB of their volume at a midband frequency... say 1 kHz -- without a subwoofer helping them! These B&W's cannot do this, yet they claim to be full range. I find them to be like most all Brittish loudspeaker products... weak, cream filled, and expensive.

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all that you've ever heard of

Everything

None

I finally took the plunge and bought a home theater system consisting of Nautilus 801 as my front main speakers, HTM-1 as center, and Nautilus 805 as surrounds. I use Lexicon MC-1 as preamp/processor and Krell KAV-1500 as the 5-channel amp.

Well, all I can say is that I am extremely happy with the way my system sounds. The 801 speakers are simply amazing, if not incredible. It is worth every dime that I paid for them.

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I think that most of the reviews of this speaker that seem negative have been written at the mercy of a poor litening environment and sub-standard equipment.

this speaker can't just be hooked up to any ol' amp and set free. You need top quality amps and cables.

Also, the room that this speaker is placed in should be large and equipped with sound baffles.


The typical listening environment in a stereo shop is not an appropriate place to audition this fine speaker. It takes time to make the listening environment right for the B&W Nautilus 801. It takes as long as 400 hours for this speaker to "break-in" and "loosen-Up"

This is, without a doubt, the best reference quality speaker made today.

big big sound

bass to strong,lack of coherency.

Would like to hear this speaker in a concert hall. Way to much sound for average listenin room. To much bass,way overpowering.Im am not saying they would not sound good in a very very large room,with a lot of amplification min. 800 watts per side.

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