I have B&W 804s and have found their apparent problems to be highly correlated to what they are being fed. You have the Nautilus version which is a model earlier than mine. I am using Parasound JC-1/2 electronics with a HSU subwoofer and the sound I am getting is amazing. I use a Bryston D/A converter off a CA 840c, which eliminated a lot of the upper mid-range harshness in female vocals that often get blamed on the B&W. These do well with Class A amplification, the cleaner the better.
You may not care much for B&W for whatever reasons, but I caution you that perhaps some of the issues may not be just the drivers. That being said, in your price range perhaps you could consider a pair of 803Ds. These more modern versions have a lot of driver and crossover improvements over the Nautilus versions and can be had used for just above your price range.
You may not care much for B&W for whatever reasons, but I caution you that perhaps some of the issues may not be just the drivers. That being said, in your price range perhaps you could consider a pair of 803Ds. These more modern versions have a lot of driver and crossover improvements over the Nautilus versions and can be had used for just above your price range.