How does B&W Nautilus compare to the best of today?

Nautilus doesn't sound good with Classe. Back in 2002 (IIRC) when I was working in Hi-Fi business we had a loaner from B&W for a hifi show (we were authorised distributor of B&W and all the family of brands that go with it - Classe, Rotel to name a couple).

Luckily for me, we got them some 2-3 weeks before the show so we had enough time to try them out with various amps and from what was available to us, they sounded best with McIntosh amps.

When paired with the right equipment and placed properly in the room (our room was large, 70m2) they're truly fantastic on all levels. I used to come at night to have a listen on very low volumes as well as during a day hammering them with extremely high volumes. I played all kinds of music, well and not so well recorded ones and out of speakers I've heard so far (and quite a few of them more expensive) I'd still pick snails just because they were so listenable. Haven't heard the ones with diamond tweeter but one of our customers have had his upgraded and was very happy. Just my 2p from the road down the memory lane.

Now that it has been several years since this question was asked, I thought I’d bump it up to see whether anyone has heard these recently. The OP’s question still remains valid, IMO.


TIA.

Any new insight on the Nautilus after it turned 30 years old in 2023?

Audio_Karma said:

With this gear these speakers sounded better than Vivid Audio Giya or.. any other type of speakers too!!:b

If I ever hit the Lottery I will have this system in my house and never look back!

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I'm not sure how this is possible since the Giya is the much-improved version of the Nautilus. The Giya Spirit takes it to a whole other level. ;-)

But glad you liked the Nautilus.

sbo6 said:

I'm not sure how this is possible since the Giya is the much-improved version of the Nautilus. The Giya Spirit takes it to a whole other level. ;-)

But glad you liked the Nautilus.

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Giya G1 Spirit measurements are pretty bad, -5dB @ 10kHz. Not what one would expect from a premium product. Measurements aren't everything, but the review talks about the negative consequence of the depressed treble.

audiobomber said:

Giya G1 Spirit measurements are pretty bad, -5dB @ 10kHz. Not what one would expect from a premium product. Measurements aren't everything, but the review talks about the negative consequence of the depressed treble.

Vivid Audio Giya G1 Spirit loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

www.stereophile.com

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Many speakers roll off in the high end especially because of high frequency directivity. Here's another that starts at ~1.5KHz. https://www.stereophile.com/content/wilson-audio-specialties-alexandria-xlf-loudspeaker-measurements. I guess by your standards, the Wilsons are abhorrent.

I own the Vivids and have heard the XLFs many times. While measurements are interesting, it's how they sound and how they're set up in a room that counts.

sbo6 said:

Many speakers roll off in the high end especially because of high frequency directivity. Here's another that starts at ~1.5KHz. https://www.stereophile.com/content/wilson-audio-specialties-alexandria-xlf-loudspeaker-measurements. I guess by your standards, the Wilsons are abhorrent.

I own the Vivids and have heard the XLFs many times. While measurements are interesting, it's how they sound and how they're set up in a room that counts.

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I don't see what you mean. The FR graph you linked shows full output at 10kHz and beyond:
"The output of the soft-dome Convergent Synergy tweeter smoothly extends at full level almost to the 30kHz limit of this graph"

audiobomber said:

I don't see what you mean. The FR graph you linked shows full output at 10kHz and beyond:
"The output of the soft-dome Convergent Synergy tweeter smoothly extends at full level almost to the 30kHz limit of this graph"

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~5DB dip from 1.5KHz - 5KHz and 6KHz - 9KHz.

sbo6 said:

View attachment 133801
~5DB dip from 1.5KHz - 5KHz and 6KHz - 9KHz.

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That's just a crossover dip, flavouring, not a tweeter that poops out at 10K. Like a BBC dip, but higher. You're right though, it shouldn't be there if one values accurate frequency response. The bass looks pretty fat too.

audiobomber said:

That's just a crossover dip, flavouring, not a tweeter that poops out at 10K. Like a BBC dip, but higher. You're right though, it shouldn't be there if one values accurate frequency response. The bass looks pretty fat too.

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LOL, I see, let's call it flavoring. That's acceptable, but a natural roll off is not? ;-) OK.

Point is - I've heard both, they sound excellent (I prefer the Vivids), irrespective of what the graph shows.

Human hearing and equal loudness curve + your room matters more. Happy Listening!