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English
Limited Warranty
Dear customer,
Welcome to B&W.
This product has been designed and
manufactured to the highest quality
standards. However, if something does go
wrong with this product, B&W
Loudspeakers and its national distributors
warrant free of charge labour (exclusion
may apply) and replacement parts in any
country served by an official B&W
distributor.
This limited warranty is valid for a period of
five years from the date of purchase or two
years for electronics including amplified
loudspeakers.
Terms and Conditions
1 The warranty is limited to the repair of
the equipment. Neither transportation,
nor any other costs, nor any risk for
removal, transportation and installation
of products is covered by this warranty.
2 This warranty is only valid for the
original owner. It is not transferable.
3 This warranty will not be applicable in
cases other than defects in materials
and/or workmanship at the time of
purchase and will not be applicable:
a for damages caused by incorrect
installation, connection or packing,
b for damages caused by any use other
than correct use described in the user
manual, negligence, modifications, or
use of parts that are not made or
authorised by B&W,
c for damages caused by faulty or
unsuitable ancillary equipment,
d for damages caused by accidents,
lightning, water, fire heat, war, public
disturbances or any other cause
beyond the reasonable control of B&W
and its appointed distributors,
e for products whose serial number has
been altered, deleted, removed or
made illegible,
f if repairs or modifications have been
executed by an unauthorised person.
4 This guarantee complements any
national/regional law obligations of
dealers or national distributors and
does not affect your statutory rights as
a customer.
How to claim repairs under
warranty
Should service be required, please follow
the following procedure:
1 If the equipment is being used in the
country of purchase, you should
contact the B&W authorised dealer
from whom the equipment was
purchased.
2 If the equipment is being used outside
the country of purchase, you should
contact B&W national distributor in the
country of residence who will advise
where the equipment can be serviced.
You can call B&W in the UK or visit our
web site to get the contact details of
your local distributor.
To validate your warranty, you will need to
produce this warranty booklet completed
and stamped by your dealer on the date of
purchase. Alternatively, you will need the
original sales invoice or other proof of
ownership and date of purchase.
Owner’s manual
Introduction
Thank you for choosing B&W.
Your Nautilus™800 Series speakers are
precision transducers incorporating many
innovative techniques unique to B&W and
capable of reproducing recorded sound to
the highest standards. So that they may
perform at their best, it is essential to take
time and care with the installation process.
In particular, you must regard the listening
room as an extension of the speaker. The
acoustic character of the room can have a
profound effect on the final sound quality.
Please read this manual fully before
unpacking and installing the product. It will
help you to optimise its performance.
B&W maintains a network of dedicated
distributors in over 60 countries who will be
able to help you should you have any
problems your dealer cannot resolve.
Unpacking (figure 1)
The product is extremely heavy and will
require more than one person to unpack
and position it safely.
We recommend you wear gloves and
strong shoes to avoid personal injury in
case of accident. Observe the normal rules
of good posture when lifting heavy objects
to avoid strain. Remove any rings and
bracelets to avoid damage to the surfaces
of the product.
• Transport the speaker in its packing
close to the intended position in the
listening room.
• Lay the speaker face down on the
floor, still in its packing.
• Cut through the straps round the
carton. The straps are under tension.
Stand to one side when cutting.
• Remove the lower packing tray to
expose the plinth of the speaker.
• Open the polythene bag and pull it
clear of the plinth.
• Stand the speaker upright and remove
the remainder of the packing.
• Remove the transit clamp from the rear
of the speaker, following the
instructions on the label.
WARNING: Do not lean the speaker on its
back when out of the packing as damage
to the terminals may result.
We suggest you retain the packing for
future use.
Check in the carton for:
• Midrange unit centre-bullet
• Brush
• 2 terminal link cables
• Cleaning cloth
Wood is a natural material and veneers vary
between batches. Although supplied as
single units, systems with consecutive
serial numbers (odd number lower) have
veneer-matched cabinets. Please be aware
that if more than two speakers are
purchased for a single installation, B&W
cannot guarantee they will all be veneer
matched.
Positioning (figure 2)
The speakers are provided with ball glides
on the underside of the plinth to facilitate
movement.
However, to prevent the weight of the
speaker causing damage to non-carpeted
floors, place a piece of felt or carpet under
the plinth and slide the speaker into
position. To manoeuvre the speaker without
tipping, push low down on the cabinet.
To find the optimum position in the room
may involve a certain amount of
experimentation, but as an initial guide:
• Position the speakers and the centre of
the listening area approximately at the
corners of an equilateral triangle.
• Keep the speakers at least 2m apart to
maintain left-right separation.
The proximity of the speakers to walls
affects the sound quality. See the section
“Fine Tuning” below.
Stray magnetic fields
The speaker drive units create stray
magnetic fields that extend beyond the
boundaries of the cabinet.
We recommend you keep magnetically
sensitive articles (television and computer
screens, computer discs, audio and video
tapes, swipe cards and the like) at least
0.5m from the speaker.
Connections (figure 3)
All connections should be made with the
equipment switched off.
There are 2 pairs of terminals at the back of
the speaker to permit bi-wiring. The lower
pair feed the bass and the upper pair feed
the midrange and tweeter.
The terminals are insulated to prevent any
likelihood of electrical shock, even when
the speakers are used with the highest
powered amplifiers, and accept a variety of
cable termination to suit most applications.
Bi-wiring is the preferred method of
connection and involves the use of
separate cables from the amplifier to each
pair of terminals. The separation of the
signal paths improves the resolution of low-
level detail and allows the user to optimise
the type of cable to the frequency range of
use.
Should you not want to bi-wire, perhaps
during the initial set-up procedure or
