B&W Nautilus Tweeter Grills - Lose 'em


I figured out how the Nautilus tweeter assembly disassembles (accidentally), but sufficed to say, it is very easy to take the tweeter tube apart, without going into the speaker cabinet proper. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY THIS IS THE 805!!!!!! Tweeter assembly MAY be different on the floorstanders)
I was able to disassemble the tweeter tube, while looking at the grill, to see if there was any way to take the metal grill out of the picture. First, you remove the "shroud" (part grill, part tweeter assembly)(the grill to the joint with the gap, about 1" in length), simply by twisting it counter-clockwise against the main black part of the tweeter housing. WHen it turns, the shroud, tweeter, and rear silver part of the tweeter tube (toward the rear of the speaker) will all be moving as 1. About 1/4 turn, and it comes right off, leaving the tweeter/tweeter tube (1 piece) itself in the main black stationary part of the tweeter assembly, the part that makes contact at the bottom to the main speaker enclosure. Once it was off, I could see that the grill was a separate assembly, and just pops off (try rotating it first, just to see where the lip is).
READ THIS PART DO NOT SKIP< YOU MIGHT BE SORRY <
BUT once I disassembled the tweeter assembly, I could see that it wasn't even necessary to do so, in reality, I could have just taken the grill off without actually taking the WHOLE tweeter apart. Oh well, I ligned it up, 1/4 twist clockwise, and it was back on perfectly. Sound is much improved, which you will easily able to A-B', since the metal grill is "pulled" into the right place (just don't snap it back on) by the tweeter magnet. I heard much cleaner highs, less grain. It looks cool, too, not at all "altered". I havent snapped mine back on, and dont plan to do so. As always, your mileage may vary, but I did it, no problems at all, and it sounds better on my 805s. Glad to be sharing this one.
gthirteen
G13, thanks for the tip. Can't say I'll rush over and start messing with my 805's today, but when the time is right perhaps I'll take the plunge. In the meantime, I just switched over to the Musical Fidelity HT600 5 channel amp, and a B&K pre-pro. The MF is really something special. It's kind of similar to a good tube amp, but doesn't run out of steam when pushed really hard. It is very compatible with the B&W's. What are you using currently?
Audio Refinement Complete integrated amp. The removal of the tweeter grils is really, really easy, I just went through alot of trouble to find out how easy it is. I can't say enough about how much smoother it sounds without the metal grill in front of the tweeter. I'm sure that most people prefer the sounds of the 805 (and most other speakers) with the grill cloth removed. It sucks, because you can't do this for the Nautilus 800s tweeter.(notice how the Nautilus flagship has no metal grill). I think it looks better -like I said before, it looks not at all like the speaker has been modified, altered, or otherwise less then like it should look for a $2k pair of monitors. It is very easy to put the grill temporarily back in place, and hear what you left behind, because the tweeter magnet actually pulls at the metal grill. I wish I had a digi camera, I could post a picture. I know is sounds sketchy, but it is sooooo much smoother. Anyone that wants to try it, email me, and I'll talk you through it if my directions weren't as concise as you'd like.
I also found a significant improvement in the upper-extension, detail, and lowered noise floor by placing one 3mm white Marigo dot at the "12:00 O'Clock" position on the tweeter housings of my Nautilus 805's. This is very easily done by removing the grill and simply attaching the dots. These Marigo dots and the the Walker High Def. Links have transformed the performance of these speakers in my system.
Dem, what are the dots, who sells them, and did you find that the tweeter grills off sounded better than on (without the dots)?
Slightly off topic but I removed the unsightly metal grilles from the tweeters on my avalons and noticed similiar results. The only thing I was told by Avalon(not sure what type of tweeters are used by B&W) but that the titanium dome is less then the thickness of a human hair and to be VERY CAREFUL, not to damage the dome or it will be ruined. Cheers:-) Tim
Gthirteen, the Marigo Dots are a "constrained layer damping system" of small "dots" of various compositions designed for specific applications. (Marigo can give you information on specific applications or give me your fax number and I can fax you several application diagrams). I use the 3mm white dots on the base of NOS tubes and tweeter flanges. I use one 30mm dot on the back center of the 805's and two 30mm dots on my REL Stadium cabinet. I use the larger 40mm dots on the walls of my room (if you have ever struck your fist against a typical sheetrocked wall, the flexing is somewhat similar to a bass drumdead flexing, and these larger dots damp the walls and give you a resulting faster and tighter bass response.) There is a good review in Absolute Sound that is listed on the Marigo website. On the 805's, I found that the dots still makes a great improvement even with tweeter grills off, and it is very easy to experiment with this because the dots are easily removable. I place the dots directly above the black foam surrounds on the plastic (or aluminum) flange. (As a side note, I had heard that the 805 grills were designed to be easily removable because B&W was quite aware of the improvements rendered, but would not recommend it due to the easily damaged tweeter diaphram.) I get my dots through Music Direct (800-449-8333)and they will sell 1/2 sets if you do not need a large number of a particular type of dot treatment.
For an already high resolution system, I would rank the Marigo Dots as a "must-have". Each time I have demo'd them with friends, they have immediately ordered dots for their systems. I really have trouble believing these little dots can improve the sound, but they do! Fortunately they are not expensive. Good Luck!
B&W voices their Nautilus speakers with the tweeter grills on so they do not recommended that they are removed. Also, as a previous poster said, the metal diaphram is very fragile and can easily dent if prodded. The entry-level 300 and 600 series don't have any tweeter dome protection so why would their flagship range if they were concerned with the performance aspects of it.
This is one of the best tweaking I did on N805, N805 gets more musicality, cleanness, shading, & resolution, continuousness. It's a must try. i don't need to upgrade for a while. Cheaper B&W speakers don't have this kind of grill as they already have had cheaper typical plastic grills.
I just bought a set of new grills for my 805s that the prior owner had removed and damamged. I called B&W UK, since I live in England and ordered new ones for about $50. I reccomend that if you have children to leave them on, as children could stick a finger(s) into them. Also I am afraid of banging the tweeter with vaccumm claeaner handle and damaging the delicate driver. I have noticed no diference in sound quality witht hem of then on. IMO anyway.