43 replies to this topic

[:)]

noticed on their facebook page, tivoli hifi now have the B&W nautilus on their premises !  

http://www.facebook....1...1572&type=1

like the cabasse la spheres that visited audio trends. we're probably incredibly lucky to have a speaker of this sort in the country.

has any one had a listen ?

[myrantz]

:), on Jul 22 2011, 02:52 PM, said:

has any one had a listen ?

Drool... I'm buying Saturday Lotto later.

If I win div 1 I'm gonna retire in Victoria....

[terry j]

the ugliest silliest looking speakers ever made??

[myrantz]

terry j, on Jul 22 2011, 03:24 PM, said:

the ugliest silliest looking speakers ever made??

But at least you get to see it's uglyness in person... Tivoli got guts.. And Audio Trends for that matter too.. That's the way to do business i think...

Melbourne must be doing very well, much better than WA anyway... Hiaz.

[:)]

treblid, on Jul 22 2011, 05:34 PM, said:

But at least you get to see it's uglyness in person... Tivoli got guts.. And Audio Trends for that matter too.. That's the way to do business i think...

Melbourne must be doing very well, much better than WA anyway... Hiaz.

yeah beauty as always in eyes of the beholder, and boy have I seen some shockers ! dead set ugly speakers in my time, but for me these look quite something, a work of art. good on them for setting them up, like audio trends with the la spheres its probably a once in a life time get to listen and experience something like this. and hope I do get the chance

[ajm]

terry j, on Jul 22 2011, 05:24 PM, said:

the ugliest silliest looking speakers ever made??

Top 5.

Would be interesting to know how much of the looks are aesthetics and how much is as a result of the overall design.

[com5984]

not sure about the looks but would love to listen

[JohnA]

terry j, on Jul 22 2011, 05:24 PM, said:

the ugliest silliest looking speakers ever made??

No but i do know which are

[:)]

well blow me down ! I got a chance to experience these with a B&W night just come back from

took a couple of pics, really the crappy iphone doesnt do them justice,

http://www.dtvforum....t...st&id=11966
http://www.dtvforum....t...st&id=11967

these are absolutely gorgeous things in the flesh. very organic and not at all as large as what people might think. but boy they are for sure a statement speaker and quite something to behold. what is amazing is that his is a 20 year old design. with their tube loaded all aluminium drivers. and being a fully active design with a full gaggle of electrocompaniet amps. can see the heritage of B&W and how the current B&Ws have evolved from these. Heard these on a couple of tracks a classical piece and dark side of the moon ! thoroughly enjoyable

great to hear the 802 Diamonds straight after these in another room,
http://www.dtvforum....t...st&id=11968

these driven off the electrocompaniet cd player, pre amp and 250R power amp, an absolutely lovely speaker, working a treat in the room they have their.

was very good turn out for the night, with a lot of people going around having a listen in the various rooms. had a chance to check out the new pm1 speaker as well, which will post about in the pm1 thread. also wandered around to the cinema room where they had a scope setup running.

great to have a listen to various speakers B&W speakers and good on tivoli for hosting the night

[adwaski]

:), on Aug 10 2011, 10:01 PM, said:

well blow me down ! I got a chance to experience these with a B&W night just come back from

took a couple of pics, really the crappy iphone doesnt do them justice,

http://www.dtvforum....t...st&id=11966
http://www.dtvforum....t...st&id=11967

these are absolutely gorgeous things in the flesh. very organic and not at all as large as what people might think. but boy they are for sure a statement speaker and quite something to behold. what is amazing is that his is a 20 year old design. with their tube loaded all aluminium drivers. and being a fully active design with a full gaggle of electrocompaniet amps. can see the heritage of B&W and how the current B&Ws have evolved from these. Heard these on a couple of tracks a classical piece and dark side of the moon ! thoroughly enjoyable

great to hear the 802 Diamonds straight after these in another room,
http://www.dtvforum....t...st&id=11968

these driven off the electrocompaniet cd player, pre amp and 250R power amp, an absolutely lovely speaker, working a treat in the room they have their.

was very good turn out for the night, with a lot of people going around having a listen in the various rooms. had a chance to check out the new pm1 speaker as well, which will post about in the pm1 thread. also wandered around to the cinema room where they had a scope setup running.

great to have a listen to various speakers B&W speakers and good on tivoli for hosting the night

That's the first I have heard of the Nautilus being active speakers. I'm sure i have seen the Nautilus running off 3 x classe amps per speaker and not just electrocompaniet. By the way I love the look of these speakers. They are class all the way ;-)

[sol381]

agree with    not as big as you might think.. had a listen to these a few years back and wasn't blown away... much prefer the sound of the 802 and even 805.. for $80,000 i think they are a bit over rated.  have heard them with the electrocompaniet amps but the classe amps seems to sound a tad better.

[Drizt]

I like the look of them myself.  I can think of much uglier designs.

sol381, on Aug 11 2011, 06:42 AM, said:

agree with    not as big as you might think.. had a listen to these a few years back and wasn't blown away... much prefer the sound of the 802 and even 805.. for $80,000 i think they are a bit over rated.  have heard them with the electrocompaniet amps but the classe amps seems to sound a tad better.

I have heard that from others as well (not being blown away by the performance).  Nude (RIP) from SNA said the same thing.

[:)]

adwaski, on Aug 11 2011, 01:01 AM, said:

That's the first I have heard of the Nautilus being active speakers. I'm sure i have seen the Nautilus running off 3 x classe amps per speaker and not just electrocompaniet. By the way I love the look of these speakers. They are class all the way ;-)

Yep active, amazing hey for such an old design ! they take one amp per driver so yeah 4 mono amps per speaker 8 in total or 4 stereo amps. The driver requirement is 100 w apart from bass diver that needs 500w. On the night they were using the elecrocompaniet which is a traditional old pairing with b&w and what nautilus would have been driven with back in the day when nautilus first developed. Classe is part of b&w group so imagine used that way as well. Definitely speaker of lot of class

sol381, on Aug 11 2011, 06:42 AM, said:

agree with    not as big as you might think.. had a listen to these a few years back and wasn't blown away... much prefer the sound of the 802 and even 805.. for $80,000 i think they are a bit over rated.  have heard them with the electrocompaniet amps but the classe amps seems to sound a tad better.

Yeah sound from 802 & 805 diamond definitely different and on the night in their respective rooms they really sounded superb in my opinion. Hard for me to comment one vs the other unless hearing em off same system and same room. But yeah both 802 and 805 especially the 805 showed to me how fantastic a relatively simple passive system can sound.

To me see the nautilus more a statement product for them and now a design classic, eg like a merc gull wing. Yeah sure given a choice many prefer the more upto date current model. But doesnt take away from charm and amazing nature of the original. And am sure those that own and enjoy them just for what they are

[bensl]

i'm sure i remember seeing these speakers or something very similar in MYER electric (melbourne) maybe 10 years ago??  surely i must be mistaken?  it was before i got into hifi and i remember laughing at their shape.

mistaken identity?  anyone recall them?

[:)]

bensl, on Aug 11 2011, 11:00 AM, said:

i'm sure i remember seeing these speakers or something very similar in MYER electric (melbourne) maybe 10 years ago??  surely i must be mistaken?  it was before i got into hifi and i remember laughing at their shape.

mistaken identity?  anyone recall them?

Bensl you are quite correct the b&w person mentioned and I remember seing mysel to. Was very long time ago. When myer ran lonsdale street store with a demo room selling b&w. And there was only one singular speaker out the front in glass case for promotion. This is first time a fully functioning pair in Australia could actually listen to. And looked superb in midnight blue.

[Mining Man]

:), on Aug 11 2011, 08:36 AM, said:

Yep active, amazing hey for such an old design ! they take one amp per driver so yeah 4 mono amps per speaker 8 in total or 4 stereo amps...
~

Analogue (active) crossovers, presumably?

[:)]

Mining Man, on Aug 11 2011, 01:01 PM, said:

Analogue (active) crossovers, presumably?

No just know electronic cross overs, for the 4 way active setup, whether digital or analog I don't know didn't ask. But come will two nautilus boxes i saw that are the xovers.

[Mining Man]

:), on Aug 11 2011, 01:47 PM, said:

No just know electronic cross overs, for the 4 way active setup, whether digital or analog I don't know didn't ask. But come will two nautilus boxes i saw that are the xovers.

Would be nice to have a pure analogue path, all the way from the groove!  

Edited by Mining Man, 11 August 2011 - 08:56 PM.

[matt200sr]

Anyone know what a second hand pair of Nautilus 803's would be worth? the kind with 4 drivers incusive of the tweeter?
I know of a pair for sale for $5000 is this on the money? the finish is perfect and they are as new.

[:)]

matt200sr, on Aug 12 2011, 05:09 PM, said:

Anyone know what a second hand pair of Nautilus 803's would be worth? the kind with 4 drivers incusive of the tweeter?
I know of a pair for sale for $5000 is this on the money? the finish is perfect and they are as new.

probably depends on age / condition. re 803 wasnt a huge fan. as with 804 back then for the money, you might be better off putting the cash towards something newer eg the 805D !

[terry j]

JohnA, on Jul 23 2011, 09:07 PM, said:

No but i do know which are

There's sillier looking ones??

got a pic?

[:)]

terry j, on Aug 13 2011, 08:37 AM, said:

There's sillier looking ones??

got a pic?

I dont know terry, but trying to figure out since when were looks of anything ever a factor for you      

atleast they have a bloody good reason to look the way they do, ie its not form over function. Rather its their function that derives their form, with being tube loaded drivers and hence tubes for tweeter mid range and mid bass and personally I think they have done a great job incorporating the 3m tube thats required by the 12" bass driver into its snail shape.

but hey beauty is from perspective from a purveyor, I'm sure my most loved whatever someone else wouldnt touch with a barge pole  

[matt200sr]

:), on Aug 12 2011, 04:22 PM, said:

probably depends on age / condition. re 803 wasnt a huge fan. as with 804 back then for the money, you might be better off putting the cash towards something newer eg the 805D !

Thanks for your input they are in perfect condition and are $5k. I think they were 11k new but I am having difficutly sourcing originla rrp online. Do you think $5k is a fair price?