best bang for buck on used ht speakers? maybe b&w?

Baran:

I nearly have the same as you and upgraded over time. I have the Pioneer Elite 94TXH as it had 140 wpc for my 602s..I bought a pair of CDM 7NTs and replaced those fronts with those CDMs and it made the world of difference especially in the bass dept. I was also lucky enought to score a B&K reference 200.7 (seven channels at 200 wpc) to use pre outs on the Elite...MAJOR DIFFERENCE...the B&Ws loved the added juice. If you can find a multi channel power amp and use the pre outs off the Elite your speakers will love you as well as your ears.

Depending on what level you're looking to go to I think the 800 series could be overkill. Here's why. Your CDM1s are probably fine for home theater use, and in my humble opinion the center channel and sub are the most important speakers to get right in terms of impact/enjoyment factor.

I'm not a fan of B&W speakers overall although I respect them a good deal. But I have to say a friend of mine had a Matrix setup and had the Matrix HTM center channel speaker (the one with one midwoof and the tweeter mounted on top -- see link below), and that speaker just sounded dead on balls perfect for TV and movies. No chesty colorations, plenty of grunt for deep male vocals, no discontinuities in sound from left to right so prevalent in many centers with two midwoofs flanking the tweeter, etc. If I were you I'd keep my CDMs, find a used Matrix HTM and possibly upgrade the sub (not sure how good your is, but maybe look at something like a Hsu STF2) and just enjoy. I'd bet there's enough house sound synergy between the Matrix HTM and your CDMs to be more than compatible.

Here's a link to some images in case it's helpful:
http://www.google.com/search?q=b%26w+matrix+htm&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=mUewT-3qLYGX6QGk87SjCQ&ved=0CH8QsAQ&biw=1024&bih=591

Anyway, for what it's worth and best of luck.

would it be best to get a newer 805 and a good sub. than the used nautilus or s series and keep my older not so good sub? i hear that the highs and mids are better on the book shelf 805's than the higher up of the series. i wouldn't know. i love the 800 to 802 look. but too much for home theater applications? lets face it. the left and right channel in home theater are more about mids and highs, the sub takes the rest anyway. or am i wrong?

I think upper bass still plays a role in home theater...and as a result a bigger speaker will handle the 75hz-120hz range with greater authority than the 805 will. And while the sub can go up that high...it will likely have a tendency to be boomy up that high and not as clean as an 800-802 series. my two cents.

I can say from my experience that the matrix series works well for HT. My setup is 802s for mains, HTM for center, 805s for sides. The consistent voicing of the speakers works very well in the room. For subs, the JL audio mates well with the matrix series. But as others have posted, the more high current power the better for the B&Ws.

Also, I wouldn't hesitate to use the 805s with the JL audio F112, which had a wider FR.