Speaker Emergency

[jwh]

Bought the new SF Cremona Auditors and my wife hates the looks!!! So I have a one week period to return and take something else from my hifi store. I'm probably going to go with B&W nautilus 805's. My question is that I use HT about 50% and often use surround for cd via my meridian preamp. I'm interested in the new signature 805 with the standard htm2 and base nautilus 805 for surrounds. The drivers are different I know, but, will the HT applications still be fluid? Should I just stick with all regular 805s? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[spacedeckman]

I would much rather have the SFs.

[bturk667]

Whose system is it, yours or your wifes?

[jwh]

My system, our home. Therefore, she has to live with them too.

[RGA]

Well you're moving from a floorstander to the N805 standmount which isn't the most solid in the bass department..even as standmounts go...of course you may gain some in fluidity and detail and speed...having not heard the Cremona that may not be the case in this instance.

I'm not a big fan of their appearance either, I owuld always choose sound first but then I'm not married. See you buy the butt ugly speakers BEFORE you get married.

The N805 is a great looker no question and the Signature is supposed to be a vast improvement.

Look. If you like the osund of the N805 even if you have it in second place that is not too terrible to go with second best if you get stunning looks. However if I were in your shoes given the big expenditure difference between N and Signature and you're still going to lack bass...and given that the Cremona is somehting like $7500.00US why not look at the B&W N802. Many consider the 802 the best of the Nautillus line. The speaker is also very nice to look at a bit artsy with interesting form. They certainly don't embarass themselves sonically either.

I'm no fan of slim line designs typically and after listening to the concertina lack any kind of dynamic presentation for quite a high sum...The N802 is the way I would have been leaning anyway.

It's hard when you have to purchase a speaker based on looks. B&W both looks good and sounds good.

The only other way your wife might like is Martin Logan. Provided you go with some of their higher up models you should be impressed.

B&W of course will be cheaper for surround sound additions. The N805 could perfectly go in as the rear. ML you need a bit more space and a lot more money.

[topspeed]

RGA beat me to it. That's exactly what I would do too. What a difference in sound signatures between the SF and Nauts! I've always found SF to be really laid back in their presentation while very few would characterize the B&W's that way. Totally different sound imo, but both are very accurate. N802's all the way.

Good luck

[Jimmy C]

the Cremona AUDITOR is the stand-mount version of the Cremona, correct? In THAT case, were talking a roughly $3500 speaker, not a $7500.

I haven't heard the Sig 805, but as the other posters say the basic house sound for both companies (Sonus and B&W) is quite different - that's your baby.

Also, I feel N805s (should you go that route) would be overkill... personally, I would spend the most on the fronts (and center) and get a lower-end B&W for the rear spatial effects. Maybe a sub would work well for you - placement options, compared to a floor-stander, would likely be greater. For HT, the sub would be almost mandatory with a pair of stand-mounts.

I didn't think the Auditor was ugly... as a matter of fact...

[jwh]

I'm acutally going from stand mount to stand mount as the Cremona Auditor is the newest bookshelf. Sorry if this wasn't clear.

JWH




Well you're moving from a floorstander to the N805 standmount which isn't the most solid in the bass department..even as standmounts go...of course you may gain some in fluidity and detail and speed...having not heard the Cremona that may not be the case in this instance.

I'm not a big fan of their appearance either, I owuld always choose sound first but then I'm not married. See you buy the butt ugly speakers BEFORE you get married.

The N805 is a great looker no question and the Signature is supposed to be a vast improvement.

Look. If you like the osund of the N805 even if you have it in second place that is not too terrible to go with second best if you get stunning looks. However if I were in your shoes given the big expenditure difference between N and Signature and you're still going to lack bass...and given that the Cremona is somehting like $7500.00US why not look at the B&W N802. Many consider the 802 the best of the Nautillus line. The speaker is also very nice to look at a bit artsy with interesting form. They certainly don't embarass themselves sonically either.

I'm no fan of slim line designs typically and after listening to the concertina lack any kind of dynamic presentation for quite a high sum...The N802 is the way I would have been leaning anyway.

It's hard when you have to purchase a speaker based on looks. B&W both looks good and sounds good.

The only other way your wife might like is Martin Logan. Provided you go with some of their higher up models you should be impressed.

B&W of course will be cheaper for surround sound additions. The N805 could perfectly go in as the rear. ML you need a bit more space and a lot more money.

[RGA]

I'm acutally going from stand mount to stand mount as the Cremona Auditor is the newest bookshelf. Sorry if this wasn't clear.

JWH

Sorry about that. Well that brings the budget way down.

Tell us what kind of LOOK your wife likes. People see beauty in different ways. For instance my Audio Notes(now that they no longer come with grills) have a retro look. They are plain looking and come in tons of colour options, dark cherry is mine, etc. But they look like speakers not something out of Batman Comics.

Reviews(I'm in there too) :p
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/reviews/review.pl?Action=FindCat&CategoryID=Speakers

Pro reviews
http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/review_read.asp?ID=475

The AN E D can be had for ~2500.00US NEW and is a full range standmount...though it is large for a standmount. Again though you can pick out your wood colour to match the decor.

They have a plain Jane look but the wife didn't like the exotic look so you never know. The AN K mops the floor with the concerto or the concertina in sound and man handles the N805 with ease as well IMO. But it does not win in the NEAT looks department.

Other advantages...should you ever go with tubes...the AN is dead easy to drive never dipping below 5 ohms and a relatively high 90db sensitivity. This is extremely impressive since it's a sealed design which typically are low sensitivity, tough to drive and have no bass. I have not found a standmount the size or price of the AN k that can match it in either dynamics or bass depth(~36hz depending on placement).

[jwh]

I was using Quad 11L before in the dark cherry. It is a beautiful gloss veneer.

JWH

[RGA]

Note the picture I provided - the new model no longer has grill cloths so you won't get those little holes in the four corners.

This picture makes the speaker look entirely different with it's different finish. This is the new model without the holes amd a kind of marbled Russian Birch. You have to scroll down and it's on the left. This new site won't allow a big enough picture which is odd. They also list several selections of wood. http://www.triodeandco.com/speaker_idx.html