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Nautilus owners upgrade to what?

Hello all, just wondering anyone who has owned B&W Nautilus and sold them for something else that they liked better. I see people here selling their B&W so there must be something they are trading upt to. Every dealer who sells B&W invariably points me to B&W. These dealers also sell: Thiel, ProAc, Monitor Audio, Paradigm, NHT, Wharfdale, DynAudio.
As one B&W dealer told me, once people hear B&W that's what they want to buy. He was saying if B&W started selling at Circuit City, he'd be out of business.
cdc
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
I agree with DrrDiamond. I listen to a lot of live classical and perform quite a bit as well. The B&W's do come close to what I hear in the concert hall. I also agree that many audiophiles are looking for something other than accuracy, whether they realize it or not. I have a friend who is neutral towards B&W. He probably has not been to a live concert in 30 years. But since he is happy with his choice, so who am I to differ. I like his choice as well, though not as live sounding to me. There are lots of great speaker brands out there. B&W are a safe bet because of the great resell value.

I actually prefer the 1990-98 B&W's over the current generation. (Original CDM-1, Preference 4,5 &6; and all the last generation Matrix 800 series.) I like the first-order crossovers. The newer crossovers work good with home theater setups, but sound a little shut in to me with classical two-channel.

emster
75 posts
 
obviously, it depends on your other equipment as well as your music preferences, but I have B&W Nautilus 803 as well as totem mani 2, revel f 50 and aerial 8b. I like/love them all, but for different moods. The aerial is a little smoother than B&W, the Revel a little better at revealing the top end, and the totem is strong in the midrange. I kept the B&W, so you can judge for yourself, but I would audition the others based on situations. Good luck.
bmpnyc
713 posts
 
LM Frog, you really use 250 watts with your B&W 805's?
Jeez, my Musical Fidelity's 120 Watts seems like an ass whup when I crank it up on mine.
cdc OP
1,868 posts
 
Thanks all for the input. That's interesting about the high markup on B&W. So overall it sounds like my 804's are a pretty good product.
I will try some of your suggestions -Karma and Audio Physics, Revels, and ProAc Futures maybe. I also found a dealer who carries Dunlavy so will try them out.
Will have to do some searching for the Piega, Totems, and Avalon as these aren't so common in New England.
My amp is a 120 wpc Musical Fidelity and I think the B&W could soak up 200 wpc when it comes to rim shots and thumping bass. Budget is around $5,000 max. The 802's sounded great but I can't justify the $5,000 premium over the 804's.
kthomas
911 posts
 
Oh, c'mon, sure you can! Money is fleeting, but those 802's will be "forever" :-)
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