What are your general thoughts of B&W speakers

Never could warm up the B&W midrange in the 800 series. I'm guessing it's something about those Kevlar drivers that just sound kinda flat to my ears. They seem to lack the life and openness of other speakers I've heard in that range.

As for alternatives, I think the new Joseph Audio Perspectives would be very worth an audition, and with typical discounts should be right near the top of your range. Others I'd recommend hearing would be Usher CP8571, Vandersteen Quatro Wood, Merlin VSM, and whatever Nola, Marten, and Reference 3A have in that price range as well.

Have fun with your search, and best of luck.

The original Nautilus speaker (snail) was introduced in 1993. The Nautilus 800 series was introduced in 1998.

I would love to finally HEAR the B&W diamonds for myself so i can come to my
own conclusions. My 1st high-end speaker was a B&W 801 matrix, and the clarity in the midrange plus the DEEP BASS response was hard to beat for $5K (New) IF you had some excellent components upstream. The treble was a bit hashy (not surprising given a lot of CD's available in those days and the technology available to play them). BUT LATER ON i got to hear the same speaker sound very different and MUCH smoother with an advanced cdp and Pass Aleph amplifiers.
SO it is difficult for me to understand why B&W has not advanced MUCH further on in developing an even more transparent speaker in 2012. Of course now $5,000 only buys the smallest 800 series loudspeaker in the line instead of the largest (the 805). If the 801 was the "audio end of the road" for a stereophile reviewer back then, and the 802D2 got a rave review a few months back in the Absolute Sound, they must be doing something right. Not that they don't now have a lot of competition, but over the years the competition borrowed an awful lot of ideas from....(B&W...).

French-f

I think the answer lies in the fact the B&W appears to be more focussed on HT than on traditional high end audio/stereo. Just my impression. Can you imagine how expensive a 5.1 system is with 802ds all around?

I'm not sure how much you are really missing with the diamond driver. I have 804(s) and 803(d) and there is not a tremendous difference between them (upper-mid to high). The "d" is a bit smoother with nicer space. Program material and amplification matters a lot more. Plus, there have been numerous other improvements in crossover components from the Matrix versions through the Nautilus to the current "d" versions that also make a difference.

I own a pair of 803 Diamonds and prior to purchasing them was able to directly compare them to the 804 & 802 Diamonds in the showroom. For me, in my room, the 803 Diamond was the ideal solution. They have a very noticeable advantage in bass output and ultimate SPL capabilities over the 804 line and give up very little to the 802 Diamond.

For me, I went into the dealer with full intentions of getting the 802 so it wasn't really a matter of cost for me but after hearing the various models the 803 was a better fit in my room which is rather small at (12x9). The front firing port design of the 803 was the deciding factor for me over the 802 as it would allow me to position the speaker closer to the rear wall.

I am powering my 803 diamonds with a Pass Labs x250 which is complimented by a full Ayre front end and the results are impressive to say the least. I will be moving up to the x350.5 line at some point but not because they are under powered now but more to do with me wanting more Class A power.

I do not experience any of the negative affects mentioned previously in this thread in terms of of the speakers being too bright or to mellow. Please note, this coming from someone who sits only 7ft away from the speakers front plane.

If you want a speaker that is true to the source without added spices or false ingredients then you owe it to yourself to check out these speakers.