B&W Matrix vs Nautulis

Have had the Matrix 802 S3s for 2 years. Last year meditated changing to the Nautilus line. The Ns are also excellent speakers but I didn't hear enough of a difference to make the switch.
The only speakers presently tempting me are the big Thiels. Maybe I will &, then, maybe I wont.

Hey guys...thanks for your responses. I also forgot to mention the ton on cash i saved (got back) by going back to
the matrix 801's. Used the Matrix line is quite a bargain.
Got my 801 Matirx for $2500...compared to $11,000 for a new pair of 801N's. Also if you notice there are a ton of
Nautulis speakers for sale here. Not the case with the Matrix series. I think that kinda says something dont you think? People tend to hang on the the Matrix series..i know i will this time around...thx

This thread is so interesting!

I have seen Matrix 801 speakers around for absurd prices in the past couple of years. At one point, a local guy wanted to sell me a pair for something like $850, but we never got together as our schedules didn't mesh.

I presumed the Nautilus would be superior, but wanted them anyway. If nothing more than to have one of the best of the past. Now it seems, maybe they are better than the Nautilus.

I will say that a trend in the high end of the past five years has been towards detail and neutrality, often at the expense of musicality or ease of listening. It must be that other people feel as I do, and are not exactly happy with the sound today in all cases.

i agree completely
had a pair of 802 siii's and loved them
have traded mahu speakers in and out including genesis, revel f30's and now revel studios
i like the studios a ton BUT they can be fatiguing
i never had any fatigue with the b&w's
i also auditioned a set of nautilus 802's in my house against the 802 siii's
no cometition, i just felt the siii's were so lively and smooth!
i sometimes debate selling my studios and going back to 802's but the problem is the looks
im not so crazy about the looks and my wife hates the look
oh well
just my thoughts

I owned a pair of S2's for awhile. I sold them and built another system later with the N801's. I used BAT solid state amps and BAT's vk40 and vk50se preamp and Wadia cd player.

I found that the matrix s2's were fun enough. However, The N801 tops the matrix s2's by a wide margin. Clarity, drive, size of soundstage, driver integration were all much better. To my ear, clarity is not a bad quality for a speaker to have. I get really frustrated when I feel I'm missing some of the music and details. I felt this way with the s2's.

When I installed the N801's, I immediately felt I was hearing everything there was to hear from my cd's.

The problem with the N801's is that they require a major investment in electronics and are difficult to perfectly position in a room. But when it's right, perfectly right, they are hard to beat. I found them intensly satisfying in the way they resolved music as a whole. Butbwith different electronics, I could imagine my experience would not be the same.