B&W Nautilus 804/805 experiences

[Goxy]

Hello everyone!
I decided to upgrade my first ever home hi-fi after almost 20 years, and enter the Devialet world with a used Expert 200, 2014 but in pristine condition.
It covers all of my needs with amp power and a standalone ad/da, with enough options for connections. And I have a perfect spot on the wall for it
I would like to pair it with an older B&W Nautilus 804 (805 is also of interest) and would like to hear
any experience/advice in that regard, if anyone still uses them or remembers when they did way back.

Some basic info: for the time being, it drives my old B&W 685 on stands, close to the wall. Listening plane is around 14 square meters, but it is in fact an open space apt which would all together be around 35sqm. I listen to music mainly from a Home PC (Spotify, Tidal, flac/wav files...) which is connected to the Devialet via coaxial s/pdif cable from a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 USB interface. Sometimes, for fun, I change the source to Ethernet or WiFi, which also work great. Other than that, there's a Marantz CD player via the digital s/pdif, and a TV via optical Toslink (for Netflix, MAX etc.). A nice turntable will be added to replace the old Fischer...

Thanks to everyone in advance!
Regards, Goran

[Jean-Marie]

Goran,

If you search for 804 in the search tool of the forum you will find quite a few messages and threads about users having 804 paired with Expert amplifiers and the general tone is very satisfactory.

It is to be noted also that for some time, Devialet was using Nautilus 802 in their shops as a reference setup.

[audio_engr]

Hello everyone!
I decided to upgrade my first ever home hi-fi after almost 20 years, and enter the Devialet world with a used Expert 200, 2014 but in pristine condition.
It covers all of my needs with amp power and a standalone ad/da, with enough options for connections. And I have a perfect spot on the wall for it
I would like to pair it with an older B&W Nautilus 804 (805 is also of interest) and would like to hear
any experience/advice in that regard, if anyone still uses them or remembers when they did way back.

Some basic info: for the time being, it drives my old B&W 685 on stands, close to the wall. Listening plane is around 14 square meters, but it is in fact an open space apt which would all together be around 35sqm. I listen to music mainly from a Home PC (Spotify, Tidal, flac/wav files...) which is connected to the Devialet via coaxial s/pdif cable from a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 USB interface. Sometimes, for fun, I change the source to Ethernet or WiFi, which also work great. Other than that, there's a Marantz CD player via the digital s/pdif, and a TV via optical Toslink (for Netflix, MAX etc.). A nice turntable will be added to replace the old Fischer...

Thanks to everyone in advance!
Regards, Goran

Hello Goran,

B&W and Devialet is a good match but one needs to work at it. I'm a B&W 802 user for now 35 years. Nautilus 804 with Devialet 200 would work well whereas 805 can be bass shy. You moving from 685 (a wonderful speaker) to a N804 will be a big jump as the B&W 800-series are all about precision, accuracy and authenticity. 
Good luck with your search and hope you find satisfaction once you have your setup. And we're always here to help you.

best wishes
- Arup

[Goxy]

Goran,

If you search for 804 in the search tool of the forum you will find quite a few messages and threads about users having 804 paired with Expert amplifiers and the general tone is very satisfactory.

It is to be noted also that for some time, Devialet was using Nautilus 802 in their shops as a reference setup.

Thank's for a hint Jean-Marie! Although I did try to find some more info on the first series of 804 Nautilus (1998-2004 non-S), I had no luck, maybe I missed something... Will dig a bit deeper!

[Goxy]

Hello everyone!
I decided to upgrade my first ever home hi-fi after almost 20 years, and enter the Devialet world with a used Expert 200, 2014 but in pristine condition.
It covers all of my needs with amp power and a standalone ad/da, with enough options for connections. And I have a perfect spot on the wall for it
I would like to pair it with an older B&W Nautilus 804 (805 is also of interest) and would like to hear
any experience/advice in that regard, if anyone still uses them or remembers when they did way back.

Some basic info: for the time being, it drives my old B&W 685 on stands, close to the wall. Listening plane is around 14 square meters, but it is in fact an open space apt which would all together be around 35sqm. I listen to music mainly from a Home PC (Spotify, Tidal, flac/wav files...) which is connected to the Devialet via coaxial s/pdif cable from a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 USB interface. Sometimes, for fun, I change the source to Ethernet or WiFi, which also work great. Other than that, there's a Marantz CD player via the digital s/pdif, and a TV via optical Toslink (for Netflix, MAX etc.). A nice turntable will be added to replace the old Fischer...

Thanks to everyone in advance!
Regards, Goran

Hello Goran,

B&W and Devialet is a good match but one needs to work at it. I'm a B&W 802 user for now 35 years. Nautilus 804 with Devialet 200 would work well whereas 805 can be bass shy. You moving from 685 (a wonderful speaker) to a N804 will be a big jump as the B&W 800-series are all about precision, accuracy and authenticity. 
Good luck with your search and hope you find satisfaction once you have your setup. And we're always here to help you.

best wishes
- Arup

Thank You so much for your reply Arup, much appreciated!
Yes, the small and cheap 685 did deliver some very good sound for its range and price, a lot more than expected.
My daily job is doing medium and large PA systems, either for a concert or a high class corporate, for almost two decades. System design and engineering, as well as mix and program realization. So I got used to fine-tune and mix shows on Meyer Sound, d&b, L-Acoustics, Nexo and similar. Spent some time in studios with VERY good monitoring as well. Yes, the "search" for the setup will require some luck, thank you for the wishes! 
So I guess when I'm home and want to relax, little 685, with Rotel RA05 and Marantz CD6000, all this time gave me just enough pleasure, whilst not "forcing" me to listen with my usual daily focus and concentration on sound, if you know what I mean. Still, when I needed somewhat precise information from that system, it provided not too shabby! If you ask me, remarkable for circa 1500e setup from 2008...
But the N804 (the whole Nautilus 800 series as well of course, but no room for that ) was always my teenage dream. And since I managed to save my hearing extremely well, but turned 40, it is time to venture deeper into home hi-fi. If not now, when, right!?
After hearing and seeing/playing with the Devialet Expert series, I decided  to go from there. Some seriously expensive and complex PRO audio gear goes trough my hands daily, and I can tell you that the Devialet amp is a reeealy good piece of electronic audio equipment! But you guys already knew that, a lot better than me!