Nautilus 802 to new 802D...how much of an upgrade?

[jlbrach]

I own an immaculate pair of 802 N and love them but wonder how much better the new 802D series is?Is it worth the 10,000 dollars to make such an upgrade?Has anyone out there made this move and what are the impressions?

[RebelMan]

A friend of mine made the jump from the N802 to the even more expensive 800D2. His initial impression was an improvement but not to the degree he had anticipated. Perhaps because of the higher expectations he had with such a large investiment. Since then he has relaxed his position and feels more confident of the cost difference. Personally I find a sizeable leap beween the two generations with the latest being more neutral, transparent, coherent and balanced. Some may find the new series a bit light on its toes when it comes to bass and low midrange reproduction but that's simply due to a greater lack of distortion and increase in accuracy.

[Wasatch]

If you are willing to spend that kind of money, I would suggest you look into another brand name speaker.

[Lee3]

I had all 3 versions for more than 2 years each in my system as it evolved. At the time I really loved the n-line, could never get the d line to not bother me in some way, and loved the d2/diamond line while i owned it. Quantum difference between the n-line and the pair of d-lines to my ears and really not in the same league.

The diamond (d2) line has a more refined tweeter and far more pleasurable to the d line to my ears. I think the diamonds are around $13k new (after discount) and around $10k used which is what I sold mine for. You can probably get ~$4k for your n-line so maybe not as much cash outlay as you're thinking? Is it worth it? That depends, but it would be a noticeable improvement in refinement.

[jlbrach]

I do appreciate the input,I recently upgraded my amp/cd combo to Mac 452/500 and absolutely love it and wondered what the upgrade of the speakers would be like....thanks

[Rod#S]

Originally Posted by RebelMan

A friend of mine made the jump from the N802 to the even more expensive 800D2. His initial impression was an improvement but not to the degree he had anticipated. Perhaps because of the higher expectations he had with such a large investiment. Since then he has relaxed his position and feels more confident of the cost difference. Personally I find a sizeable leap beween the two generations with the latest being more neutral, transparent, coherent and balanced. Some may find the new series a bit light on its toes when it comes to bass and low midrange reproduction but that's simply due to a greater lack of distortion and increase in accuracy.

I think more often than not our expectations outweigh reality a lot especially when changing/upgrading from one great speaker to another whether that be by the same manufacturer or not. In a lot of cases the changes are more subtle and we turn our glossary of words and phrases from radical change, night and day, etc. to things like opneness, adds more air, tightens up the bass, and words you mention like neutral, transparent, coherent and balanced.

What can often happen is we can pay a lot of money to get these refinements but because it's so much money we expect earth shattering changes.

[Wasatch]

Originally Posted by Rod#S

I think more often than not our expectations outweigh reality a lot especially when changing/upgrading from one great speaker to another whether that be by the same manufacturer or not. In a lot of cases the changes are more subtle and we turn our glossary of words and phrases from radical change, night and day, etc. to things like opneness, adds more air, tightens up the bass, and words you mention like neutral, transparent, coherent and balanced.

What can often happen is we can pay a lot of money to get these refinements but because it's so much money we expect earth shattering changes.

And then we have to justify the cost.

[jlbrach]

It is kinda like owning a mercedes and trading it in after a few years and expecting the new model to be head and shoulders better which it of course isnt....I did find a very dramatic improvement with my upgrade to the MAC MC452/MCD500 combo but I am not so sure whether or not the change from B&W N to the newer D models is quite so dramatic

[redm]

Originally Posted by jlbrach

It is kinda like owning a mercedes and trading it in after a few years and expecting the new model to be head and shoulders better which it of course isnt....I did find a very dramatic improvement with my upgrade to the MAC MC452/MCD500 combo but I am not so sure whether or not the change from B&W N to the newer D models is quite so dramatic

I guess that depends on what you upgraded the 452/500 combo from.

Sent from my iPhone

[jlbrach]

I went from a levinson 335 amp and 390s cd player