Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: B&W Nautilus 802 Speakers by Arnel

Model:	Nautilus 802
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$8000
Description:	3-way, 34Hz-22KHz +/- 3dB, Nautilus tweeter, 6" FST woven-Kevlar midrange on Nautilus head, 2 x 8" woofers on Matrix cabinet, 91 dB spl, 8 ohms, 70 kg (each!)
Manufacturer URL:	B&W
Model Picture:	View

Review by Arnel ( A ) on February 14, 2002 at 07:38:23
IP Address: 61.135.161.251

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I went to a party at my friend's place last night who has the B&W N802. My first visit to his house last year was in fact what introduced me to this gorgeous speakers. However, it was last night when I had some serious listening session w/ these beauties.
I read lots of negative stuff about the N802 on this forum. The most common complaint is that the treble seems to "stick out" of the rest of the spectrum. After last night's listening, this is my opinion:
Yes, N802 has this tendency. I say "tendency" because it all depends on what you feed it. Listening to today's popular albums in the likes of Britney Spears (pity this beauty, her songs all sound the same!), I definitely notice that the treble is detached and pretty dominant.
But turning to my trusty "audiophile recordings", this explicit brightness turns into something I like so much -- clear depiction of ambience! Listening to Dave's True Story "Sex Without Bodies" (Chesky), I figured that the sound I get from my Sonus Faber back home does not give me enough of the recording's ambient information... it just seemed too dry. The N802 gave me more sense of the space and reverberation, although I figured the recording in itself is on the dry side.
Valery Gergiev's take on "The Rite of Spring" (Philips) gave me one of the most powerful sound from a classical recording I've ever experienced. The N802 just won't give up to the intense dynamics, and delivers full-throttle while maintaining composure. What struck me, though, is the openness of the sound and the way it communicated the superb ambience of the Marinsky Theatre at St. Petersburg where it was recorded. This, again, is because of the superb tweeter.
Oh yeah... and for the first time, I was able to justify my recent purchase of SACD titles, after comparing the CD and SACD layers. It's true that it takes a good tweeter (NOT necessarily beyond 20KHz!) to appreciate the night-and-day difference that SACD makes.
The way many dealers demo the B&W N800-series speakers (bad room, bad recordings, bright equipment, NO break-in -- I don't know why B&W allows for such incompetent dealers), it's not surprising that some people find B&W speakers terrible. If I were to describe its sound in a word, it would be "revealing". It will just let all your system's and recordings' faults through.
As this is not a professional review, I beg your pardon for not giving you a complete picture of the N802's sound (although I summarized my observations in the "Product Strengths/Weaknesses" description) based on last night's listening. If I did, then this would be much lengthier.
I just wanted (as always) to make some points clear about the B&W stereotypical "brightness".

Product Weakness: may be too revealing of faults (keyword: bright) IF your system is not up for it; bass response might be too "light" for large rooms
Product Strengths: transparent sound; superb tweeter is very revealing of recorded ambience; quick transient response from bass to top octave; shelved-down bass response is friendly to most domestic setup except really small rooms; best midrange I've heard!

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Classe
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Classe
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Sony SCD1
Speakers:	None (he owns only the N802)
Cables/Interconnects:	van den Hul
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Many
Type of Audition/Review:	Friend's System

Product Weakness:	may be too revealing of faults (keyword: bright) IF your system is not up for it; bass response might be too "light" for large rooms
Product Strengths:	transparent sound; superb tweeter is very revealing of recorded ambience; quick transient response from bass to top octave; shelved-down bass response is friendly to most domestic setup except really small rooms; best midrange I've heard!