B&W 603 S3 vs Wharfedale Diamond 12.3 vs KEF Q11 Meta

[adriks1]

Hello Hi-Fi experts!

This is Adrian and I'm looking into buying a decent set of floorstanding speakers.

I'm kind of set on getting them in White as I think it will work better in our living room. With this in mind I have been looking into these three options:

1. B&W 603 S3

2. Wharfedale Diamond 12.3

3. KEF Q11 Meta


Performance
Reading all reviews everywhere feels like the Wharfedale are the "best" out of the three? I'm very surprised that this B&W model doesn't have great reviews. It is very strange knowing the reputation and quality of their products.


Design
Design wise the most beautiful one imo is the B&W but want to make sure also that I get the best option out of these. If I have to go for the Wharfedale one... I'm worried that the sides of the speakers look a bit cheap with the painted wood in white.


Setup
I have an existing Sonos system with a beam and 2 play 1 so these floorstanding will have to be added to the system with the Sonos Amp that I already have. Would this work in your guys opinion?


Any help or tips on any of these topics would be massively appreciated.


Thanks!
Adrian

 

[Integralista]

Hello Hi-Fi experts!

This is Adrian and I'm looking into buying a decent set of floorstanding speakers.

I'm kind of set on getting them in White as I think it will work better in our living room. With this in mind I have been looking into these three options:

1. B&W 603 S3

2. Wharfedale Diamond 12.3

3. KEF Q11 Meta


Performance
Reading all reviews everywhere feels like the Wharfedale are the "best" out of the three? I'm very surprised that this B&W model doesn't have great reviews. It is very strange knowing the reputation and quality of their products.


Design
Design wise the most beautiful one imo is the B&W but want to make sure also that I get the best option out of these. If I have to go for the Wharfedale one... I'm worried that the sides of the speakers look a bit cheap with the painted wood in white.


Setup
I have an existing Sonos system with a beam and 2 play 1 so these floorstanding will have to be added to the system with the Sonos Amp that I already have. Would this work in your guys opinion?


Any help or tips on any of these topics would be massively appreciated.


Thanks!
Adrian

Hi Adrian, thanks for joining this forum!
Sonos amp is very convinient, well equiped with sound not oriented on audiophiles. If you are in this group, just fine. From three proposed speakers will be better match for Sonos just Wharfedale with less "meat" in bass area and not so detailed highs. Both B&W and KEF are more demanding speakers. Mainly Kef overal does not tolarate any shortcomming in the system and will show it exposed. B&W has very detailed and sparkling hights which need to take care for amp/speaker matching. I will recommend to consider also Q Acoustics 3050c which are also in white. They will be more happy pairing with Sonos amp. I have used in the past QAcoustic 3020 in bedroom and they were very good. BR. Juraj

 

[adriks1]

Hey Juraj,

Thanks so much for the fast response and appreciate the honesty.

Totally understand that Sonos is not for audiophiles. Just very convenient haha. I want to step by step upgrade to a better system but obviously have already invested in Sonos for a few years and I thought that I could start adding higher quality hi-fi elements little by little.

Just to understand this right, to be able to get B&W and KEF as options (which I assumed from your answer that are slightly better than the Wharfedale?) I would have to upgrade the amp?

Is there any amp that you recommend and do we know if it is possible to have 2 systems in parallel that are connected? Like Sonos amp to deal with sonos throughout the house then a higher quality sound system connected to another amp that is also connected to sonos amp?

Not sure if this makes sense but just double checking.

Thanks again!

 

[Integralista]

Hey Juraj,

Thanks so much for the fast response and appreciate the honesty.

Totally understand that Sonos is not for audiophiles. Just very convenient haha. I want to step by step upgrade to a better system but obviously have already invested in Sonos for a few years and I thought that I could start adding higher quality hi-fi elements little by little.

Just to understand this right, to be able to get B&W and KEF as options (which I assumed from your answer that are slightly better than the Wharfedale?) I would have to upgrade the amp?

Is there any amp that you recommend and do we know if it is possible to have 2 systems in parallel that are connected? Like Sonos amp to deal with sonos throughout the house then a higher quality sound system connected to another amp that is also connected to sonos amp?

Not sure if this makes sense but just double checking.

Thanks again!

Hi, yes Kef and B&W here are lets say more hifi speakers. And they deserve high quality amp and whole system. Step by step as you mentioned. But Wharfedale is also very good. It is more easy going easier to integrate in system. Inam not expert for multiroom system. I am sure some possibility of integration of Sonos sytem exist. I recommend to ask directly some expert in hifi shop where you have purchased your Sonos. Probably will also here react somebody with deep knowledge of multiroom systems. I am more "old style" hifi fan with two different systems in two rooms now. BR.

 

[adriks1]

Hi, yes Kef and B&W here are lets say more hifi speakers. And they deserve high quality amp and whole system. Step by step as you mentioned. But Wharfedale is also very good. It is more easy going easier to integrate in system. Inam not expert for multiroom system. I am sure some possibility of integration of Sonos sytem exist. I recommend to ask directly some expert in hifi shop where you have purchased your Sonos. Probably will also here react somebody with deep knowledge of multiroom systems. I am more "old style" hifi fan with two different systems in two rooms now. BR.

Ok great, thanks so much for your message. Understand completely.

 

[manicm]

Hello Hi-Fi experts!

This is Adrian and I'm looking into buying a decent set of floorstanding speakers.

I'm kind of set on getting them in White as I think it will work better in our living room. With this in mind I have been looking into these three options:

1. B&W 603 S3

2. Wharfedale Diamond 12.3

3. KEF Q11 Meta


Performance
Reading all reviews everywhere feels like the Wharfedale are the "best" out of the three? I'm very surprised that this B&W model doesn't have great reviews. It is very strange knowing the reputation and quality of their products.


Design
Design wise the most beautiful one imo is the B&W but want to make sure also that I get the best option out of these. If I have to go for the Wharfedale one... I'm worried that the sides of the speakers look a bit cheap with the painted wood in white.


Setup
I have an existing Sonos system with a beam and 2 play 1 so these floorstanding will have to be added to the system with the Sonos Amp that I already have. Would this work in your guys opinion?


Any help or tips on any of these topics would be massively appreciated.


Thanks!
Adrian

A review some years suggested the B&W 606 S3 will make a great pairing with the Sonos amp. Regarding the 606 - it got a great review here on WHF.

 

[Al ears]

A review some years suggested the B&W 606 S3 will make a great pairing with the Sonos amp. Regarding the 606 - it got a great review here on WHF.

The last time I looked the 606's were standmounts.....

 

[manicm]

The last time I looked the 606's were standmounts.....

Yes, hopefully the OP is aware of it now.

 

[Al ears]

Yes, hopefully the OP is aware of it now.

Hopefully he is because he wants white floorstanders.

 

[abacus]

B & W Speakers usually have the treble set higher then the rest of the speaker, (Hence the high end zing) so you have to be careful with component matching. (If you are looking for a neutral sounding speaker than forget B & W)
The only real way to be sure is to go to a dealer and listen to them with a Sonos system, to see which suits your ears.

Bill