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B&W Speakers Bowers & Wilkins Greatest |
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#1
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The evolution of the Nautilus line?
Now that I've stumbled into the AAF's B&W Speaker Board, and have now read the posts in a thread asking how long people have owned their B&W speakers, I'll admit to having no idea that there was [apparently] more than one advancement/iteration in the Nautilus line.
All I know is that the Mrs. and I visited a high-end audio dealer outside of New Orleans (NOLA) that had several different rooms containing various stereo systems ... but the one that "caught our ear" was the room with the B&W Nautilus loud speakers in it. That was circa 2004 and we, subsequently, purchased a pair of mint dark cherry N802s that we could ... almost afford, and had the factory boxes palletized and air-freighted to the Louis Armstrong International. Later, we made a road trip to Jackson, MS, and purchased a pair of flawless dark cherry N805s. Luckily for us, all four survived Katrina without a hitch and they have had a special place in our hearts ever since. Although I think that I'd be a bit reticent to "hear" how the line has advanced -- due to a lack of means necessary to buy a new pair -- I would really love to read about the evolution of these wonderful loud speakers. If anyone who's well-versed in the B&W Nautilus line would care to share their knowledge with us, we would love to read about it. Thank you for your time.
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Bill in the Hills OUR VINTAGE MAC: MAC4100, MAC4200 | AMPS: MC452, MC300 | MAC PRE/PROS: MX151, MX130, MX121 | B&W SPEAKERS: (2) N802s, (2) N805s, (1) HTM3S | NEWER EQUIPMENT: Oppo 203 & 105D, Sony X800M2, Denon CDR-W1500 | VIDEO DISPLAY: 65" LG OLED | IMPORTANT NOTE: Zero High-speed internet connections Last edited by 70sMac; 08-10-2020 at 04:14 PM. |
#2
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Bill..., if you mean the original 'Nautilus' speaker B&W brought out in the 90s, its most recent development is found in the new speaker company that Laurence Dickie, creator of the Nautilus, started some 15 years ago: Vivid Audio.
Better and more refined sound and much more easy to drive than the old Nautilus, which by the way, still sells surprisingly well after a career of almost 3 decades. If you mean the diamond series of the B&W 800 series, then we're now at series 3. I've heard series 1, 2 and 3 extensively, and the newest series is the best by quite a margin. If you plan on hearing the 803D3 or 802D3, you owe it to yourself to demo the comparably priced Vivid Audio Kaya45 and Kaya90. They even give more insight into the music. Ymmv. Good luck!
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Stereo: Hegel H590, Grimm Audio MU1, Mola Mola Tambaqui, Burmester 948 - V3 & V6 racks, Vivid Audio G2 Giyas, REL Carbon Special (pair), Silent Angel Bonn N8 Ethernet Switch & Forester F1, Wireworld Platinum Eclipse IC and SE SC, Furutech Digiflux AV: Hegel C-53, Marantz AV8802A, Oppo BDP-203EU, Pioneer Kuro 60", Vivid Audio C1 & V1w's, Wireworld Platinum Eclipse, SE & E Second system (veranda): Halgorythme preamp and monoblocks, Burmester 061, Avalon Avatar, Sharkwire & Wireworld cables |
#3
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What does that "N" suffix mean?
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If you're interested in the thread I just referenced, here's a link to it: https://www.audioaficionado.org/show...?t=135&page=18
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Bill in the Hills OUR VINTAGE MAC: MAC4100, MAC4200 | AMPS: MC452, MC300 | MAC PRE/PROS: MX151, MX130, MX121 | B&W SPEAKERS: (2) N802s, (2) N805s, (1) HTM3S | NEWER EQUIPMENT: Oppo 203 & 105D, Sony X800M2, Denon CDR-W1500 | VIDEO DISPLAY: 65" LG OLED | IMPORTANT NOTE: Zero High-speed internet connections Last edited by 70sMac; 08-10-2020 at 04:30 PM. |
#4
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B&W production years:
1966 B&W electronics is founded. 1969 - 1975 DM70 Continental ("washing machine", 11 element mid-high frequency electrostatic drivers, dynamic low frequency driver) followed by DM70 improved (new electrostatic drivers). 1976 DM6 ("pregnant kangoroo", Kevlar midrange, phase alignement). 1977 DM7 (separate high frequecy enclosure on top of the low-mid frequency enclosure). * 1st generation series 800 (pre Nautilus): 1979 -1986 original 801 (with battery powered overload protection), followed by 801F (reinforced midrange enclosure, audio powered overload circuit APOC) and 801FS (new tweeter). 1987 - 1991 Matrix 801 series 2 (fluid cooled alu tweeter). 1992 - 1997 Matrix 801 series 3 (improved fluid cooled alu tweeter, improved frequency dividing network). 1993 original Nautilus * 2nd generation 800 series (post Nautilus): 1998 - 2004 Nautilus 800 series (800N series, alu tweeter) 2005 - 2009 800 D series (800 D1 series, Diamond tweeters for 800, 801, 802 and 803) 2010 - 2015 800 Diamond series (800 D2 series, Diamond tweeters for whole range, no more 801) * 3rd generation 800 series (50th anniversary): 2015 - current 800 D3 series (completely new construction, 800 D3 appeared 2016 as 50th anniversary model) Martin Last edited by meltemi; 08-29-2020 at 08:59 PM. Reason: 803D added |
#5
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Very Nice list
Martin..... Thanks very much for the B&W timeline. Going by your list, it would seem that we own the 802Ns and the 805Ns.
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Bill in the Hills OUR VINTAGE MAC: MAC4100, MAC4200 | AMPS: MC452, MC300 | MAC PRE/PROS: MX151, MX130, MX121 | B&W SPEAKERS: (2) N802s, (2) N805s, (1) HTM3S | NEWER EQUIPMENT: Oppo 203 & 105D, Sony X800M2, Denon CDR-W1500 | VIDEO DISPLAY: 65" LG OLED | IMPORTANT NOTE: Zero High-speed internet connections Last edited by 70sMac; 08-10-2020 at 07:56 PM. |
#6
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When did the "Nautilus" design actually change?
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Here I was thinking that all of 800-series B&W speakers were based on the Nautilus internal design...was I wrong? I'm sure it seems like a silly question to those in the know, but you have to admit that even the new 800D3s -- which my wife and I had demoed for us less than a week ago -- look very similar to our older 802Ns. Yes, the cabinet no longer has a "flat" face, but the tear drop midrange is still there and the tweeter, be it "diamond" or "aluminum," look pretty similar (overall). Is it simply a case of B&W changing the overall design of the largest part of the speaker, the cabinet, and sticking with the tried-and-true tear drop midrange and "Mister Microphone" tubular tweeters? Your description of the "3rd generation 800 series (50th anniversary)" indicates that the 800D3 was completely redesigned in later 2015...so please clue me in on why I should no longer refer to the the B&W 800 series as "Nautilus" speakers?
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Bill in the Hills OUR VINTAGE MAC: MAC4100, MAC4200 | AMPS: MC452, MC300 | MAC PRE/PROS: MX151, MX130, MX121 | B&W SPEAKERS: (2) N802s, (2) N805s, (1) HTM3S | NEWER EQUIPMENT: Oppo 203 & 105D, Sony X800M2, Denon CDR-W1500 | VIDEO DISPLAY: 65" LG OLED | IMPORTANT NOTE: Zero High-speed internet connections |
#7
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Quote:
Where are the Signatures (tigers eye maple) in this timeline?
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Main > Aurender N10/N100 / Antipodes K50 > Aries Cerat Kassandra mk2 - Playback Designs Dream DAC > D'agostino Momentum HD > PS Audio P10 > D'Agostino S250 > Sonus Faber Aida / REL S812 Six Pack + 4 JL Audio F113 Fathoms > B&W Signature HTM > Anthem Statement D2v > Mcintosh MC205 > Focal 1000 (side surrounds) > Bryston TIW (rear surrounds) Secondary System > Aurender N100h> AMR777SE > D'agostino Momentum Integrated > Wilson Sasha DAW |
#8
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I did concentrate on the flagships of the standard lineup. Martin Last edited by meltemi; 09-14-2020 at 05:13 AM. Reason: error correction |
#9
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A message from the OP
Martin..... I think that you did a beautiful job outlining the evolution of the B&W 800 lineup. I couldn't have asked for more.
Thank you very much.
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Bill in the Hills OUR VINTAGE MAC: MAC4100, MAC4200 | AMPS: MC452, MC300 | MAC PRE/PROS: MX151, MX130, MX121 | B&W SPEAKERS: (2) N802s, (2) N805s, (1) HTM3S | NEWER EQUIPMENT: Oppo 203 & 105D, Sony X800M2, Denon CDR-W1500 | VIDEO DISPLAY: 65" LG OLED | IMPORTANT NOTE: Zero High-speed internet connections |
#10
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Quote:
I just love my tigers eye signature is all.
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Main > Aurender N10/N100 / Antipodes K50 > Aries Cerat Kassandra mk2 - Playback Designs Dream DAC > D'agostino Momentum HD > PS Audio P10 > D'Agostino S250 > Sonus Faber Aida / REL S812 Six Pack + 4 JL Audio F113 Fathoms > B&W Signature HTM > Anthem Statement D2v > Mcintosh MC205 > Focal 1000 (side surrounds) > Bryston TIW (rear surrounds) Secondary System > Aurender N100h> AMR777SE > D'agostino Momentum Integrated > Wilson Sasha DAW |
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