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B&W speakers. Underrated?

A

Allaboutmusic

pfm Member
Hi,

I have noticed in a number of forums that there can be a negativity towards b&w speakers. Is this justified? Are they now overlooked and underrated?

My experience is of the lower range, 685 s2 which I think are very good value providing you have the correct electronics. Originally I drove them with a 90 watt marantz amp but it did not pair well, the amp specifically stated to be used only with 8 to 16 ohm speakers and so I am assuming did not have good current delivery.

I upgraded to a rega brio and it made a huge difference. I then decided to upgrade my speakers to neat motive sx3 which were better but definitely not night and day. However they are more than twice the price.

Since then I have moved and have a larger listening environment and also have an Elex-r, in the new room the Neats sound small and now the b&ws sound fantastic, particularly for the cost of them.

I am again looking to upgrade speakers and have been reading several positive reviews, particularly on the 800 series and 705 s2, the latter I am hoping to listen to when the shops reopen. However I feel in the forums the brand is now some what overlooked.

What do others think?

Thanks
 
Allaboutmusic said:
Hi,

I have noticed in a number of forums that there can be a negativity towards b&w speakers. Is this justified? Are they now overlooked and underrated?

My experience is of the lower range, 685 s2 which I think are very good value providing you have the correct electronics. Originally I drove them with a 90 watt marantz amp but it did not pair well, the amp specifically stated to be used only with 8 to 16 ohm speakers and so I am assuming did not have good current delivery.

I upgraded to a rega brio and it made a huge difference. I then decided to upgrade my speakers to neat motive sx3 which were better but definitely not night and day. However they are more than twice the price.

Since then I have moved and have a larger listening environment and also have an Elex-r, in the new room the Neats sound small and now the b&ws sound fantastic, particularly for the cost of them.

I am again looking to upgrade speakers and have been reading several positive reviews, particularly on the 800 series and 705 s2, the latter I am hoping to listen to when the shops reopen. However I feel in the forums the brand is now some what overlooked.

What do others think?

Thanks
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They are somewhat underrated as brands perceived as mainstream often can be. Their designs stem from years of research and the application of successful design to their mid and budget products, trickle down. I own CM8s. Excellent treble, superb Kevlar based midrange and articulate bass. With the right equipment they truly shine. They are well behaved speakers and suit my classical/jazz bent very well. They are speakers I could live with for quite some time. Despite their seemingly diminutive side they produce remarkable height and depth. They also have a fleetness of foot which means they are very good with a wide range of music. I also use a Yamaha amp which can be equally overlooked but they always produce well thought through products.
 
Ive only really heard the 700 & 800 series & occasionally the 600’s.
Decent & competitive within their respective price bands.
I guess there will inevitably be badge snobbery on forums, with mainstream brands such as B&W & KEF suffering at the hands of some more esoteric brands.
 
There is a small pub in Brighton called the Greys and they put on a lot of gigs. They use four B&W domestic sized monitors for their PA system. They are mounted on the ceiling and are driven by some horrendously powerful SS amp and it sounds superb.
 
manicatel said:
Ive only really heard the 700 & 800 series & occasionally the 600’s.
Decent & competitive within their respective price bands.
I guess there will inevitably be badge snobbery on forums, with mainstream brands such as B&W & KEF suffering at the hands of some more esoteric brands.
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I agree with the badge snobbery and some just wont listen to them because of this.Shame really.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
B&W make excellent speakers and always have done. It's just yet another example of how Chinese whispers by the "uneducated" on forums can spread, and hence something that's total bollox becomes widely believed.... there are many many other examples!
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Amen to that !

had some 303 for many years and very much enjoyed some 804s for a long time , at a demo of high end kit i met a fellow fishie who had gone back to his b&w after trying a few high end brands .. he`ll probably be along in a minute
 
With the obvious caveat that everybody's, rooms, systems and most importantly tastes differ wildly. I can only offer my personal experience.
I had wanted to try some of the large 800 series for a long time and recently had the opportunity. Disappointingly I found them to be completely underwhelming. My main gripe was that the mid range seemed to lack any form of dynamics and strangely the music never seemed to escape the boxes themselves. As in it was always obvious where the source of the sound was. They were the D2 Diamond version.
I have also had Blades in the same room, although a few years back now. I preferred them, but not by much. A totally different presentation with the top and bottom frequencies impressing but not forming a coherent sound across the whole range. Again they proved to not be what I was looking for in my room. So they did not stay much longer than the 800's.
 
The Nautilus marketing hooked me a few years ago, as did the whole Abbey Road thing.

I still have a pair of CDM 1NTs B&Ws boxed up in the loft - along with a centre CNT and matching rear SNTs, that I had in previous house for my home AV set up. I really enjoyed listening to them. As a stereo pair the CDM 1NTs were also great listening plus good looking (in a pseudo 30s Deco way), paired with Audiolab 8000 A/P and an MF X-ray CD. just too many wires when I moved and SWMBO wanted 'minimal'. IME they matched well with the rather bright Audiolab and MF components, offering some smoothness and warm tightness in the mid bass.

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So we went the SBT, actives/pre DAC route, and I haven't looked back. Should sell them on really.

I toyed with idea of some 805s before taking the actives plunge. A mate has a pair that i also enjoyed listening to. So you could say that I like B&W sound.:)

come to think of it, I am a bit of a B&W fanboi..

...as also have some of their PX7 wireless headphones PX7, P13 wireless IEMs, an A7 wireless speaker and a pair of MM1 desk top speakers on my desktop, which are probably played more than main hi fi these days with the WFHCV19 detail.

I am also intrigued to audition their more recently released Formation Duo wireless actives.

 
i had a pair of B&W CDM7SE's , must've been nearly 20 years ago. I had to sell them when the kids came along as the eldest knocked one over in her baby walker, they were great sounding speakers and really suited my set-up and what i was listening to, I thought the build quality was excellent too
 
I've a nice pair of B&W 800D2's for sale at the moment if anyone's interested. Piano black and immaculate.
In my time I've heard very few speakers I would have changed them for, but one of those very few came up, and I invested.
 
Over the years, I have listened to quite a few, but none really hit sonically what I wanted I guess. Maybe in some respects I found them a bit boring? The current 700 series 705 S2 has really intrigued me a lot, I just haven't had the chance to go get a proper listen to them, as I was wanting something for a bit smaller space. I happen to run across a pair of WLM monitors last week, and decided to buy them instead. I will still probably go and listen to the 705's after the Covid mess clears up, but they would have to be really something special I think to make me consider changing out the WLM's.
 
Have only heard the lower range years ago but heard some Diamond series recently and was impressed, backed up with a Rega Elicit and a P8, very nice indeed.
 
gregory lynch said:
Have only heard the lower range years ago but heard some Diamond series recently and was impressed, backed up with a Rega Elicit and a P8, very nice indeed.
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They can sound wonderful and there’s a lot of thought in those designs. The older bigger diamonds always reminded me of Daleks.
 
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