B&W Matrix vs Nautulis

This thread is so interesting!

I have seen Matrix 801 speakers around for absurd prices in the past couple of years. At one point, a local guy wanted to sell me a pair for something like $850, but we never got together as our schedules didn't mesh.

I presumed the Nautilus would be superior, but wanted them anyway. If nothing more than to have one of the best of the past. Now it seems, maybe they are better than the Nautilus.

I will say that a trend in the high end of the past five years has been towards detail and neutrality, often at the expense of musicality or ease of listening. It must be that other people feel as I do, and are not exactly happy with the sound today in all cases.

i agree completely
had a pair of 802 siii's and loved them
have traded mahu speakers in and out including genesis, revel f30's and now revel studios
i like the studios a ton BUT they can be fatiguing
i never had any fatigue with the b&w's
i also auditioned a set of nautilus 802's in my house against the 802 siii's
no cometition, i just felt the siii's were so lively and smooth!
i sometimes debate selling my studios and going back to 802's but the problem is the looks
im not so crazy about the looks and my wife hates the look
oh well
just my thoughts

I owned a pair of S2's for awhile. I sold them and built another system later with the N801's. I used BAT solid state amps and BAT's vk40 and vk50se preamp and Wadia cd player.

I found that the matrix s2's were fun enough. However, The N801 tops the matrix s2's by a wide margin. Clarity, drive, size of soundstage, driver integration were all much better. To my ear, clarity is not a bad quality for a speaker to have. I get really frustrated when I feel I'm missing some of the music and details. I felt this way with the s2's.

When I installed the N801's, I immediately felt I was hearing everything there was to hear from my cd's.

The problem with the N801's is that they require a major investment in electronics and are difficult to perfectly position in a room. But when it's right, perfectly right, they are hard to beat. I found them intensly satisfying in the way they resolved music as a whole. Butbwith different electronics, I could imagine my experience would not be the same.

Avnut-

You make a very good point. The N801's definately require extremely top notch source and especialy amplification. In fact many feel they should be bi-amped only.Placement is key of course, as with any speaker, but the N 801's like the M 801's do require room to breath. My dealer experience with the N 801's was interesting in that they ran them with an all Krell source, I believe the top of the line CD/Pre amp combo(20K) affair. yet, amplification was a pair of Conrad-Johnson Premier 140's tube amps wired for mono at 280W/ch. I came away feeling that they were not quite right sounding..perhaps the room acoustics, or the placement of the speakers being about 10ft apart, or perhaps that even though the CJ's were high powered, they still being tube amps may not have been the best choice for the big 801's. But, all this said, I think proper matching and the fact that they require very expensive amplification to display their best, make the M 801 much more enjoyable to listen to and own..Just my 2c!:)--ken

Rocky, Most people believe that newer must mean better. Not always because some products are made cheaper and manufactures cut corners to make more profit "$$$$". I've listend to the Nautilus line extensively and fill the Matrix speakers some how conveys a more musical presentation than the Nautilus line.I just believe that B&W made something really special when they made the 801-series two or three. This speaker will always be a classic and if set up correctly is very hard to beat at any price!! That midrange is one of the best there is bar none!!!