Stand Loudspeaker Reviews

Despite the setback of the tweeter, the Nautilus 805 is not time-aligned, as can be seen from its step response on the HF axis (fig.7). The tweeter output leads that of the woofer by an inconsequential fraction of a millisecond. Finally, apart from the resonant ridge associated with the tweeter's "oil-can" resonance just below 26kHz, the 805's waterfall plot (fig.8) is superbly clean, implying freedom from grain (as long as it is not driven too hard).

Fig.7 B&W Nautilus 805, step response on tweeter axis at 50" (5ms time window, 30kHz bandwidth).

Fig.8 B&W Nautilus 805, cumulative spectral-decay plot at 50" (0.15ms risetime).

This is astonishing measured performance for what is a relatively inexpensive minimonitor—it's not surprising LG liked the sound of the Nautilus 805. I conjecture that B&W's design team was trying to replicate the performance of their classic Silver Signature for one quarter the price.—John Atkinson