685 in my living room

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

I'm interested to getting a pair of BW 685 for my living room

which has an estimated dimension of 3m * 6m * 3m (height).

I am wondering if the speaker is able to perform well. Thank for any input.

Regards,

Alvin.

 

[matthewpiano]

Alvin, what other equipment are you using and what are your musical tastes? We can advise you much better if we know these things as well as any information you can give about your preferred type of sound. What speakers are you using at present? What do you like/dislike about them?

 

[the record spot]

As above. In and of itself, the 685 is a good/excellent speaker. What you partner with it in relation to the kind of sound you are looking to achieve and performance you hope to end up with are the deciding factors ultimately. Some find the 685 a tad bright, but they may be partnering them with similarly sounding equipment. Get the balance right and I'm sure they are excellent, but as MP points out above, a few more details wouldn't go amiss!

 

[manicm]

The 685s are not a bright speaker at all. I don't understand these statements. If your sources are good they'll shine.

In your room I would place them on the short (3m) side, 30cm clear of back wall, 40cm clear of side walls - still giving you a great 2m space between the speakers.

 

[the record spot]

The 685s - possibly more than any other standmount in the sub-£500 bracket - has had more "bright" comments against it than any other speaker I can think of in the last few years. Never heard it, but I think, as I said, that many of those comments are borne from partnering it with other equipments that is also at the tonally brighter/detailed end of the scale (Cyrus, Cambridge, Rotel, etc). Too much of a good thing, etc....

 

[Anonymous]

Hey. Thanks for all the promptly reply. My plan was to buy a nice speaker to replace

the current robertson audio speakers which is already damaged. Then, I will slowly upgrade

the electronics. Our family listens to diverse kinds of musics from television programs and CDs.

At the meantime, I'll be partnering the speakers with Nakamichi AV2s amp. I understand that the

amp is already quite old, therefore, its difficult to look for any kind of informations online. The amp,

with the current robertson speaker produces mellow sound to my own liking. Hopefully the speaker

is able to give improvement to the sound of higher frequency.

In my hometown, its difficult to audit the speaker together with my current amplifier. Therefore, I need

to be sure that the speaker is able to produce music that is of adequate scale of bass. I've tried connecting

my monitor audio br1 to the setup and the bass doesnt sound impressive. I've auditioned the bw dm601 s3

and i really like the bass a lot. Therefore, decide to give the 685 a try.

Thanks to all of you and have a nice day.

 

[manicm]

the record spot:The 685s - possibly more than any other standmount in the sub-£500 bracket - has had more "bright" comments against it than any other speaker I can think of in the last few years. Never heard it, but I think, as I said, that many of those comments are borne from partnering it with other equipments that is also at the tonally brighter/detailed end of the scale (Cyrus, Cambridge, Rotel, etc). Too much of a good thing, etc....

I have these speakers for about 20 months now and I know their characteristics - let's forget about said comments for now.

Like any good speaker they won't be tolerant of poor sources. My Arcam Solo Mini's CD is a good source in that way. I've thrown the harshest recordings around (try David Bowie's Scary Monsters out for size, heck, any of David Bowie's 1999 re-masters are gonna test your treble big time), and they've handled them with ease - no harshness or fatigue at all.

On the other hand, through my iPod and rDock, if the rip is poor, or a rip sounds harsh on the iPod, it's gonna sound harsh through the hifi and 685s (which is also why I stand by the Sennheiser CX 300s for the Pod).

 

[the record spot]

Yes, you know them with the kit you partner them with and maybe a few others through auditioning, but that speaks nought for all other possible combinations out there. Hence my comment and hence their ongoing validity. Applies across the board and not just to B&W 685s.

 

[manicm]

Well Matthewpiano had the 685s with his NAD 326BEE - he didn't like them - but not because he found them bright, but a bit dull from what I recall. He can correct me if I'm wrong.

In my experience, if you're experiencing harshness or sibilance in a system, it's almost always a problem in a source component - your speakers would have to be pretty bad to cause a major upset to the system sound. And I've experienced this first-hand by 1. introducing a new CD player, 2. introducing a new DVD player for combined music/movie playback. #1 was pretty bad - introduced major sibilance and poor stereo seperation. #2 I intially found bright (not harsh or sibilant) but got used to it and loved it thereafter. All without changing the speaker or amplifier.

 

[the record spot]

manicm:
Well Matthewpiano had the 685s with his NAD 326BEE - he didn't like them - but not because he found them bright, but a bit dull from what I recall. He can correct me if I'm wrong.

Okay, someone else finds them dull. A number of others find them bright at the top end. You don't. And I think there is a possiblity that they have a tonal nature that is on the brighter side at the high end. There is a point to this beyond you not being able to understand or accept the possibility here? The point which I think is being able to accept a different opinion without feeling the need to empirically state that your view's right and that's that.

manicm:
In my experience, if you're experiencing harshness or sibilance in a system, it's almost always a problem in a source component - your speakers would have to be pretty bad to cause a major upset to the system sound.

My only view on this is it all comes down to balance between whichever components are being used.

manicm:
And I've experienced this first-hand by 1. introducing a new CD player, 2. introducing a new DVD player for combined music/movie playback. #1 was pretty bad - introduced major sibilance and poor stereo seperation. #2 I intially found bright (not harsh or sibilant) but got used to it and loved it thereafter. All without changing the speaker or amplifier.

In my experience, a speaker can bear as much responsibility as anything else in the chain. I hear the new Q Acoustics 2050 can be a bit sharp at the top end and this from two reviews (WHF & HFW) both commenting on the same thing - assuming that everything else is "balanced", this suggests that your theory founders a little. Not necessarily, as ultimately, I think you can partner just about anything to go with one or two others and they'll work well.

I've changed everything round in this past two or three years here; new speakers, new amp, new CDP. I've tried at least two of each and a ton of combinations therein. Not one item bore more weight than others in changing the sound. So, IMO, I disagree and the comments I've read from others on here and online in general around the 685 allied with the review comments for the 2050 back up my views why.

 

[matthewpiano]

It all comes down to synergy at the end of the day. The tonal balance of a system is about the way in which the various parts of it work together, and this includes the electronics, the cables, the supports (especially speaker stands), and set-up/room issues. Furthermore the quality of each recording has a major effect too.

The 685s are excellent speakers but they are not perfect. Their tweeter isn't perfect and lacks the openess and fluidity of some others. I've listened to 685s (and, of course, 686s which use the same tweeter) on several occasions and have never found them particularly bright. The tweeter can give in to sibilance on occasion, particularly with percussion and can exhibit a slightly splashy quality but, to me, this is not the same as brightness. However, I can imagine that partnered with certain electronics and in certain rooms, this could veer into brightness. This isn't really a judgement against the 685s, but purely about the way the sound can suffer from poor synergy if they aren't partnered sympathetically. This is exactly the same for pretty much any loudspeaker design.

Oh, and yes I did listen to the 685s quite extensively over a 2 week period when I had my NAD C326BEE amp and, largely I thought it to be a successful partnership. To me the NAD is a better partner for them than the Marantz PM6003, although the overall tonality of the partnership was a bit on the dark side for me.

 

[manicm]

the record spot - we will indeed agree to disagree - I don't care about the consensus here on the forums as I can only speak from my own experience.

I agree with Matthew's last post here - to a very limited degree - about the 685s being a bit sibilant - but this is also heavily dependent on the source.

I can hear that sibilance through my rDock slightly, but if I play the same music through my original CD it is simply not there. (As an aside I've been playing with EAC again through my Dell XPS M1530 and B&W MM-1s - and though I achieved a AccurateRip bit perfect rip - the rips sounded a 'tad' harsher than playing the original CD through the laptop - but this is another discussion for another day).

It may be that I'm used to a certain sound as well - I like a slightly bright sound - again not to be confused with harshness or any level of sibilance.

I agree with Matthew that system synergy is important - again to a limited degree - if your source is the weak link - than bumping up the amp and speakers is a waste of time and money.

 

[the record spot]

Then you're preaching to the choir here manicm!

 

[the record spot]

Then you're preaching to the choir here manicm!

 

[Anonymous]

AlvinCWC:

Hey. Thanks for all the promptly reply. My plan was to buy a nice speaker to replace

the current robertson audio speakers which is already damaged. Then, I will slowly upgrade

the electronics. Our family listens to diverse kinds of musics from television programs and CDs.

At the meantime, I'll be partnering the speakers with Nakamichi AV2s amp. I understand that the

amp is already quite old, therefore, its difficult to look for any kind of informations online. The amp,

with the current robertson speaker produces mellow sound to my own liking. Hopefully the speaker

is able to give improvement to the sound of higher frequency.

In my hometown, its difficult to audit the speaker together with my current amplifier. Therefore, I need

to be sure that the speaker is able to produce music that is of adequate scale of bass. I've tried connecting

my monitor audio br1 to the setup and the bass doesnt sound impressive. I've auditioned the bw dm601 s3

and i really like the bass a lot. Therefore, decide to give the 685 a try.

Thanks to all of you and have a nice day.

Hi Alvin,

I had my heart set on a pair of B&W 601's a couple of years ago and went to audition them along with the MA BR2's and BR5's, expecting to walk away with the B&W's. To my (pleasant) surprise the MA's outshone the 601's and I ended up with the BR2's (as I couldnt afford the BR5's). These were partnered with an Okyo amp which loves to drive the MA's hard and has no problems with sufficient Bass. Previously, I had listened to them with Yamaha and Pioneer amps and preffered the B&W's. Its a bit of a 'granny sucking eggs' statement, but there really is no better test than auditioning the kit together. As other poster's have mentioned, a particular brand of speaker can sound quite different if driven by another amp, so if at all possible have a listen in the most representative set-up you'll have at home.

Nick

Nick

 

[Dalesman]

I've got 2 pairs of 685s which I use for Hi-Fi and Home Cinema.I must admit the speakers are absolutely fabulous and they perform well under all kinds of conditions.

I think you should trust your ears and have an audition as different people have differing opinions and just like with eyesight,hearing differs from person to person.

 

[Sabby]

the record spot:The 685s - possibly more than any other standmount in the sub-£500 bracket - has had more "bright" comments against it than any other speaker I can think of in the last few years. Never heard it, but I think, as I said, that many of those comments are borne from partnering it with other equipments that is also at the tonally brighter/detailed end of the scale (Cyrus, Cambridge, Rotel, etc). Too much of a good thing, etc....

RS I find it very unfair of you to comment on a speaker that you haven't even heard. The one maxim that is preached on these forums and elsewhere is "Listen first and then form an opinion". Of course synergy is very important and it takes a lot of effort, trial and error to get the right combination. But to dismiss a speaker based on heresay is not the type of comments you should be making.

 

[the record spot]

You'll find that that is precisely what I haven't done. If you take the time to read my comments properly.

 

[the record spot]

Sabby:
the record spot:The 685s - possibly more than any other standmount in the sub-£500 bracket - has had more "bright" comments against it than any other speaker I can think of in the last few years. Never heard it, but I think, as I said, that many of those comments are borne from partnering it with other equipments that is also at the tonally brighter/detailed end of the scale (Cyrus, Cambridge, Rotel, etc). Too much of a good thing, etc....

RS I find it very unfair of you to comment on a speaker that you haven't even heard. The one maxim that is preached on these forums and elsewhere is "Listen first and then form an opinion". Of course synergy is very important and it takes a lot of effort, trial and error to get the right combination. But to dismiss a speaker based on heresay is not the type of comments you should be making.

Why on earth is it unfair of me to make a comment on something I haven't heard when I'm not only making it clear I haven't heard it, but am balancing out the piece by then saying it very much comes down to balance with the other components? And, as per my earlier reply (brief as it came via phone), if you can tell me where exactly I dismissed the 685, feel free to show me where I said that please.

I did say that the speaker is "good/excellent" and stand by that - I doubt B&W make dross, it's won awards I think, and has consistently been well reviewed across the board. The other comments also stand. PErhaps you should be criticising me for saying that the speaker is recognised as being decent than otherwise.

Lastly, and again, I think the whole "no comments unless you've heard it" is baloney. Even at review, the gear is only representative with the review set-up(s). Once someone hears an item with different gear, the whole picture can change, hence balance/synergy, hence forming your own opinion, and very much hence why it's absolutely fine to comment thus.

What's really rich though is that I tend to be pretty careful and try to be clear when I'm making such comments to include "apparently", "according to", "by all accounts" (or the like) and to be picked up on something when it's pretty obvious all that's been airbrushed aside to cherrypick the above quote - and even then get it wrong - to suit your own POV is annoying.