B&W 685 S2

[eazyryder]

Was considering upgrading my old b&w 685s (S1) to the new 685 S2s. My question is, would this be a worthy upgrade? , has anyone compared the old 685s with the newer S2s and if so what are the differences between them (sound wise).

Would i be better spending more on the b&w cm series or changing to a different brand completely?. I listen to a wide variety of musical genres from heavy metal to classical to reggae to prog rock ect.

Really love the sound of my 685s, there just gettin a little long in the tooth and i have the upgrade bug

.

Any help or other speaker recommendations for my setup would be greatly appeciated. My system is naim nait 5i-2 amp and a nad 565bee cd player, my 685s are currently sitting on atacama se24 stands filled with sand.

 

[manicm]

I agree the 685 S1s remain great, great speakers. So, probably contradicting 99% of the 'speakers first' approach here, I will actually trade up the NAD - I never thought their CD players were the greatest. I'd look at a secondhand Naim 5 series player, perhaps a 5i to match your amp.

 

[BigH]

I have not heard them, but I doubt they will be that much different, if you want to upgrade I would audition others, Neat go well with Naim or try Kef R300s, not a great fan of B&W myself.

 

[eazyryder]

I agree the 685 S1s remain great, great speakers. So, probably contradicting 99% of the 'speakers first' approach here, I will actually trade up the NAD - I never thought their CD players were the greatest. I'd look at a secondhand Naim 5 series player, perhaps a 5i to match your amp.

Thankyou for your reply manicm, i have many times contemplated getting a naim cd5i-2 to perfectly partner my amp, but after listening to many cd players around this price level, i have only ever noticed minor subtle differences in sound, and i am really happy with the sound of my current setup just thought a next level speaker may get me more from my nait 5i-2.

Also my nad has a optical input so i can use the unit as a DAC if needed.

 

[eazyryder]

I have not heard them, but I doubt they will be that much different, if you want to upgrade I would audition others, Neat go well with Naim or try Kef R300s, not a great fan of B&W myself.

Thankyou BigH for your reply, i was thinking the same thing about the b&w 685 s2s myself. Have also heard good things about neat speakers on the naim forums too, not so keen on kef.

Just spotted a good deal on some acoustic energy reference 1 , what do you think about these with my naim 5i-2

 

[SteveR750]

The KEFs will be quite different from your B&Ws. Thing is, if you like the sound you have, then continuing with the same kit is probably the safest bet. If you're going to change, listen first before comitting £££s

 

[eazyryder]

Ordered and recieved my AE reference 1s and am highly impressed with them, unbelievable bottom end punch for such small speakers and detail retrieval and stereo imaging are simply amazing, individual instrument timbre is superb, an immediate step up sound wise from my b&w 685s which i thought were fantastic .

Really getting the full benefits from my nait 5i-2 now and apparently acoustic energy use a naim supernait during testing of these speakers.

Thanks for the replies and info

 

[ID.]

Having owned the 685s1 and heard the 685s2, I thought the s2 were a little better, but if I still owned the 685s1 I don't think changing to the s2 would feel like a significant enough upgrade for me. I'd be looking for something more worthwhile. The CM series seem to be voiced a bit differently, so although I think they are an improvement, they also have a slightly different sound.

With a Naim amp I guess I'd start off auditioning the usual suspects, like PMC and Neat.

 

[eazyryder]

Thank you ID. for your comment, i decided to go with a pair off acoustic energy reference 1s, i have commented on them above.