Nautilus Imperious! - Speaker System
By now, readers will be wise to the fact that most of the best-sounding home-cinema systems come from specialist hi-fi speakers names. And in the hierarchy of premier league speakers are an elite handful of brands that are recognised superstars. One such is B&W’s Nautilus, and it’s with some excitement that we auditioned this rather special system from B&W. The star of the show is the new Nautilus 800, which is the third model to be based on the same general form factor and technology, following the Nautilus 801 and the 802. The new model follows far enough behind its predecessors to have benefited from further R&D, and a well-informed listening programme, and not to pussyfoot around the subject it comprehensively outperforms the other two models, setting new standards in the process.
The N800 also benefits from important changes, including a new generation of midrange units and tweeters, the latter with a frequency response that extends into ‘supertweeter’ territory, way above 20kHz. These drive-unit improvements are not included with matching the HTM1 and SCM1 centre and surround speakers, but they are similar enough to be a more than acceptable voice match.
Other trademark Nautilus features continue, including the sophisticated enclosure which features a deeply curved and prodigiously strong and well-damped multi-play main carcass with a Matrix internal structure to address internal resonances; a ‘surroundless’ midrange Kevlar driver in a low-diffraction curved enclosure which is decoupled from the main structure; and a metal dome tweeter in its own Nautilus tube housing, the tube effectively absorbing back radiation from the tweeter dome. The bass unit is loaded by a downwards-facing port with B&W’s tradmark low-turbulence surface treatment. The massively endowed crossover is housed in the base, screened from acoustic feedback and electromagnetic influences from the driver magnets. These are speakers built with an attention to detail rarely experienced.
The HTM1 centre speaker is a huge, heavy three-way, four-driver design with twin bass units, the midrange and tweeter arranged vertically in line, with an off-axis response behaviour not dissimilar to the N800. The SCM1, surround speaker – four of which were used as part of a seven-channel Dolby EX-/DTS ES-compatible test system – is based on the Nautilus 805, repackaged in a slimmer enclosure, which is front-vented and rebalanced to allow use with its back to a wall, or hanging from the supplied wall brackets.
Although physically imposing, their sound is surprisingly agile and responsive, more like a small speaker writ large than a true monolith. It has an organic quality, a smooth and progressive feel that is utterly beguiling. The N800 in particular, and the centre speaker, too, can handle power brilliantly, and the system as a whole is capable of extremely high volume levels. The real achievement, however, is that it can do this with such little drama. The system just goes louder and louder, and it is remarkable how easy and natural the speakers sound. There is no change in character as the volume increase, and the result is a sound with holographic presence.
Sonic imagery is first class. On its own, the N800 is far from being a ‘sweet spot’ speaker. Sit almost anywhere within reason and the sound still focuses sharply, a result of the unusually smooth and wide dispersion allowed by the sophisticated enclosure design, and by the vertical in-line disposition of the mid and treble drivers in the centre speaker.
Although, on paper, the component speakers could be more closely matched, in practice the system works with breathtaking unity. It is rare to hear one speaker or another working on its’ own. In most cases, the system images ‘out of the box’ generating a soundfield around the enclosures, and with consistent voicing, especially across the front three speakers. Audio effects of the kind that punctuate the usual warhorses - Matrix, T2 and Al for example – are reproduced with devastating range and definition, while the battle scenes from Gladiator reproduce with a great mixture of presence, resolution and power, with spatial effects realised well, thanks to a more open and lucid upper bass than most home cinema systems dream about. Quite simply beautiful.
