N805 after all these years?

[wgb113]

My first exposure to HiFi was a pair of N801s driven by McIntosh separates at a local (no defunct) dealer HiFi House when I was in college. I was there to audition my first pair of speakers in the $250ish pair range. After listening to a few songs on the B&W/McIntosh setup the Paradigm Titans didn't stand a chance! This was the mid-90s, I was a broke college kid home for the summer and just getting into gear, and I was RUINED!

On the way out I remember a pair of N805s catching my eye - just from a design standpoint they were sweet, though I never stopped to listen. I ended up with a pair of NHT SuperOnes which gave me many of my first HiFi goosebumps that has kept me on the chase all these years later.

So here I sit, nearly 3 years (a long time for me) into my relationship with my KEF LS50s. Prior to them I had a very different system with a pair of Dynaudio BM5AmkII active speakers. I wanted to get into vinyl and my pro-sumer setup wasn't very analog friendly. I sold them off and bought a Parasound A23, upgraded my Benchmark DAC 1 USB to a DAC2 HGC and bought the LS50s.

Initially there was quite a bit of buyers remorse. The LS50s didn't go down much at all - subs would be needed. In came two cheap-o Dayton SUB800s but for the life of me I couldn't get them to blend well (without using speaker-level connections) so I sold off the Benchmark and Parasound combo for a McIntosh MA6300.

Sure it was entry-level, didn't have auto-formers, etc but it was finally a McIntosh! More importantly it allowed me to dial in some bottom end for my small room near field setup. The KEFs have performed better than I could ask for. I really am happy with them.

It's just that...itch. I think it was a random auction site search session that lead me to a pair of N805s in rosewood that were in great condition and only 30 minutes from the house. Local pickup only. With stands. No dented tweeters or scuffed cabinets. I watched. No bids. I bid and win. Go to pick them up, everything looks good, get them home, I finally have Nautilus line B&Ws in the house, hook them up and...no sound out of one of the woofers.

Bummer!

I take them back the next day, seller refunds the money, says she'll get them fixed and put them back up.

I was so close. SO close! Now I'm searching everywhere. Rosewood was nice but I always wanted the cherry and would rather have black ash as my second choice.

I find a pair in cherry that look to be in great condition, with stands, only slightly more than I had paid a couple of weeks ago...but they're 4.5 hours away! I contact the seller and, as luck would have it (we are close to St. Patty's Day) they'll be within an hour of my place in the near future. We exchange a few emails.

I'll be picking them up Monday.

So, fellow B&W enthusiasts, I see the diamonds are getting all the love lately - but can the 20-ish year old N805s still hold their own against a technologically advanced speaker like the KEF LS50?

Would love to hear your thoughts. I'll give you mine over the course of the next week.

Bill

[joey_v]

I think you made a good choice. Your first love

[Iostream]

The N805 is still a fantastic speaker, pair it with a small REL sub and they are hard to beat for anywhere near the price. Enjoy.

[BrianT]

GREAT choice, you will love the 805N with a good sub.

Brian

[Jimmy64]

Bill

Imagine my smile while reading this thread. I am the seller that met with you Monday while saying goodby to my beloved B&W 805N. I'm sorry it was such a short meeting and we didn't even have a chance to discuss AA or our other gear. Hopefully we can do that another time.
I hope you will be happy with the 805s. Everyone says adding a good sub takes these speakers to a level that's hard to beat for the price. I never did because I'm not a sub guy for the rooms I've always used these in.
It was a pleasure to meet you and thank you for giving my 805N a new home.

Jimmy

[wgb113]

HA! Jimmy - small world! It was great meeting you as well. The 805s are dialed in and I'm digging them so far:
http://www.audioaficionado.org/membe...-main-rig.html
The two subs I have were fine with the LS50s that only went down to @ 80Hz in my room but I've had a tougher time getting the blend just right with the 805s so a sub upgrade may be in my future.
Take care and know that your 805s are well appreciated.

Bill

[Kelvinz]

I've had my 805ns for a few years now they've served me well !

[David S.]

It has been about 10 years, but one of the most natural sounding systems I've ever owned (or heard) consisted of the following:

Electrocompaniet ECI-4 integrated amp driving a pair of Nautilus 805, with a Von Schweikert "Tower of Power" subwoofer. Had the 805s mounted on Osiris stands such that seated ear level was between tweeter & midrange, and filled the midrange phase plugs/bullets with putty. That setup did EVERYTHING really well in my particular room.

[wgb113]

@David S. that might be my only complaint so far, the B&W stands put that sweet spot between the woofer and tweeter about an inch too high when seated. I'm experimenting by adjusting the rear spikes out further to give them a slight tilt so that they're firing down at me.

Still experimenting with toe-in as well.

Bill

[Dr Tone]

You are talking an inch, the tweeter isn't shooting a laser beam. I wouldn't tilt them. Play with the toe-in to tune the treble to your liking if you feel that inch is an issue. Barring the center image stays stable.