Review New to me speakers

[JDl]

Hey guys.
I just picked up a pair of B&W 805 Nautilus Signature Limited Edition speakers in this pretty groovy black swirly finish called "Tigers Eye".
Apparently they have upgrades to the crossovers. Other than that they're the same as standard 805 Nautilus.
Anyway they are definitely an upgrade in sound quality over my old 805 Matrix.
They have a more coherent sound, a sweeter midrange and top end. Better bass response and a little more separation of the different sounds.
Drums sound better.
And they look fantastic, to me anyway.
They partner very well with the Marantz Model 30.
I would definitely recommend the 805 N to anyone who's after a smallish bookshelf speaker.

 

[Messiah]

Not seen that finish until Googling ‘Tigers Eye’’.

Looks quite nice.

 

[R2D2]

Hey guys.
I just picked up a pair of B&W 805 Nautilus Signature Limited Edition speakers in this pretty groovy black swirly finish called "Tigers Eye".
Apparently they have upgrades to the crossovers. Other than that they're the same as standard 805 Nautilus.
Anyway they are definitely an upgrade in sound quality over my old 805 Matrix.
They have a more coherent sound, a sweeter midrange and top end. Better bass response and a little more separation of the different sounds.
Drums sound better.
And they look fantastic, to me anyway.
They partner very well with the Marantz Model 30.
I would definitely recommend the 805 N to anyone who's after a smallish bookshelf speaker.

Love to see a picture of them? Congrats.

 

[JDl]

Love to see a picture of them? Congrats.

 

[JDl]

Here they are.
I also got a new cabinet thingy for my amp my 508.20 and my 206, that's now used as a transport into a Chord DAC 64, which although quite old sounds great to me. I got it for a song, because it's all of lights don't work.
I got quite fed up with the tall hi-fi rack, because as I say there I could see the underside of my amp at the top. There was such a large gap between the shelves on it, seemed like a waste os space.
Oh yeah and a couple of extra CD racks and now not one single boxed set on the floor
And all the coloured lights are from Temu, dirt cheap .
I'm a sucker for colour.

 

[R2D2]

Here they are.
I also got a new cabinet thingy for my amp my 508.20 and my 206, that's now used as a transport into a Chord DAC 64, which although quite old sounds great to me. I got it for a song, because it's all of lights don't work.
I got quite fed up with the tall hi-fi rack, because as I say there I could see the underside of my amp at the top. There was such a large gap between the shelves on it, seemed like a waste os space.
Oh yeah and a couple of extra CD racks and now not one single boxed set on the floor
And all the coloured lights are from Temu, dirt cheap .
I'm a sucker for colour.

Awesome! 👍

 

[R2D2]

I nearly bought a painting like yours on a cruise ship recently:

I did buy it at auction but pulled out when I discovered how much to ship and frame it was. Thomas Kinkade was the painter.

 

[JDl]

Awesome! 👍

Thanks.
I know the best advice is not to buy 'blind'.
But I really loved my old 805 Matrix, so I knew that the later Nautilus was gonna have a similar sound.
I did research and the consensus is that the 805 N has an improved cabinet design for the reduction of standing waves, has a sweeter midrange, better off axis performance and is generally just an improvement over the older Matrix.
I'm listening now to Primus, which while not everyone's cup of tea, they are absolutely top notch instrumentalists.
Les Claypool is one of the most accomplished bass players ever, the drummer Tim Alexander, is just awesome and the guitarist again is awesome. There really aren't many bands with that level of skill, and their recordings are always done to very high level of excellence.
Anyhow regardless of that, these 805s sound beautiful to me. Perfect size for my listening room and they integrate with those two PV-1 subs perfectly.
The secret to using subs properly in a 2 channel set up is to use active subs and to not be afraid of the high level speaker connection method.
Most people, who don't know what they're doing, just want to be able to plug them in with line level RCA connectors but that's not going to give a properly adjustable and seamless integration with a stereo set up.
This system does sound good.
And although some people say if your stereo speakers can't produce the bass, then they're not good enough.
That's fair enough, but in my view having a bookshelf speaker that goes down to about 42 Herz or 50 or whatever and then adding a dedicated bass speaker that's been optimised to deal with the lower frequencies and is in a separate cabinet makes for better clarity, in my view.
A sub doesn't need to be set to a level where it's overpowering.
Get the levels right and it can sound very good indeed.
This is all subjective of course and just my own thoughts on the matter.
The main thing is that we're all happy with our choices of system components and I certainly wouldn't want to join in with any..."my way is better than yours" kind of debates.
Anyway as I said, I'm giving these 805s a good listen and I'm real happy with the sound they give.
It seems just right for my listening room, or living room.

 

[R2D2]

Thanks.
I know the best advice is not to buy 'blind'.
But I really loved my old 805 Matrix, so I knew that the later Nautilus was gonna have a similar sound.
I did research and the consensus is that the 805 N has an improved cabinet design for the reduction of standing waves, has a sweeter midrange, better off axis performance and is generally just an improvement over the older Matrix.
I'm listening now to Primus, which while not everyone's cup of tea, they are absolutely top notch instrumentalists.
Les Claypool is one of the most accomplished bass players ever, the drummer Tim Alexander, is just awesome and the guitarist again is awesome. There really aren't many bands with that level of skill, and their recordings are always done to very high level of excellence.
Anyhow regardless of that, these 805s sound beautiful to me. Perfect size for my listening room and they integrate with those two PV-1 subs perfectly.
The secret to using subs properly in a 2 channel set up is to use active subs and to not be afraid of the high level speaker connection method.
Most people, who don't know what they're doing, just want to be able to plug them in with line level RCA connectors but that's not going to give a properly adjustable and seamless integration with a stereo set up.
This system does sound good.
And although some people say if your stereo speakers can't produce the bass, then they're not good enough.
That's fair enough, but in my view having a bookshelf speaker that goes down to about 42 Herz or 50 or whatever and then adding a dedicated bass speaker that's been optimised to deal with the lower frequencies and is in a separate cabinet makes for better clarity, in my view.
A sub doesn't need to be set to a level where it's overpowering.
Get the levels right and it can sound very good indeed.
This is all subjective of course and just my own thoughts on the matter.
The main thing is that we're all happy with our choices of system components and I certainly wouldn't want to join in with any..."my way is better than yours" kind of debates.
Anyway as I said, I'm giving these 805s a good listen and I'm real happy with the sound they give.
It seems just right for my listening room, or living room.

We have 2 B&W setups with B&W PV1s in them and love them. I like your style too.

 

[JDl]

We have 2 B&W setups with B&W PV1s in them and love them. I like your style too.

Oh wow, thanks so much.
I went through a period of collecting some hand made glass.
It's important to me to appreciate art and the skill that goes into producing it.
Do you know, to become a true glass master artist can take decades and it's a sad thought to think many of the skills that have been built up here in the West could be lost in a few generations.
For me ownership of art objects, isn't about owning things just for the sake of it.
It's about true aesthetic appreciation which means knowing how things are done and understanding the hours of work and skill that result in a beautiful object.
I particularly like glass, because of the way it interacts with light, it never tarnishes.
Additionally, because it has to be in a molten state to be worked, it's all done with steel implements of various types.
It really is an incredible art form to me.
A bit off topic, apologies.

 

[R2D2]

Bit of topic too apologies but just wanted to highlight this deal here:

Nearly New - Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Bookshelf Speakers - Black Gloss

All of our Nearly New products are usually customer returns or Ex Display items and they have been professionally checked by our dedicated Service Department prior to being advertised. All products are supplied with a full manufacturer’s warranty, giving you the ability to buy with confidence...

petertyson.co.uk

 

[JDl]

Bit of topic too apologies but just wanted to highlight this deal here:

Nearly New - Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Bookshelf Speakers - Black Gloss

All of our Nearly New products are usually customer returns or Ex Display items and they have been professionally checked by our dedicated Service Department prior to being advertised. All products are supplied with a full manufacturer’s warranty, giving you the ability to buy with confidence...

petertyson.co.uk

Wow.... that's pretty good but way out of my budget capabilities, ha ha.
I was lucky enough that I owned an old Marine Chronometer that I bought several years ago.
I restored it, listed it on eBay about a month ago and 2 hours later a German guy bought it from me and I made £700 on it. That gave me enough to buy my 805 signatures.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

The finish is really nice - enjoy.

 

[JDl]

Thanks very much.
I'm testing now, they sound excellent, I'm impressed.

 

[JDl]

I nearly bought a painting like yours on a cruise ship recently:

I did buy it at auction but pulled out when I discovered how much to ship and frame it was. Thomas Kinkade was the painter.

Mine are all prints. The two on the back wall and the bigger one above my CDs are prints of paintings by Arnold Bocklin, a Swiss painter who worked in the 19th Century.
Death is the main theme in many of his paintings, I think because he lost five of his fourteen children soon after they were born and three more, died before he did.
"The Isle of the Dead" is a very famous painting of which he did several versions.
I discovered it because it's on the cover of Rachmaninoff's "Isle of the Dead" CD by Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy.