B&W 685 speakers on a desk

McRagefit

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Hi all,

I'm planning on buying my first hifi system: Marantz pm6004/cd6004 with B&W 685 speakers.
I might buy stands later, but in a first set-up, the speakers will be placed on a wooden desk.

What is the best position for the speakers and what is the best way to attach them to the desk? Will blu-tack do the trick?

My main concern is that the desk might resonate vibrations originating from the speakers. I've read a lot about decoupling speakers, but haven't found a good solution yet.

Thanks for the help!
 

CnoEvil

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Hi there and welcome to the forum.

How about something like this:
http://www.auralex.com/sound_isolation_speakerdudes/speakerdudes.asp

Available at Dolphin Music for about £46. Auralex also do Mopads.
 

McRagefit

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My desk is 160x80cm (63x31.5in). Can the supplied pads also isolate some of the vibrations? Or will the mentioned SpeakerDudes do a better job at that?

Thanks for your prompt replies!

PS: Are the supplied pads also easy to remove afterwards?
 

CnoEvil

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The Subdudes should be way better. It's whether you wish to spend the money....which itself depends on if you are going to get stands in the near future.

Auralex are a specialist acoustic company.....and I have Auralex Grammas effectively isolating my sub, as well as my main speakers, from a suspended wooden floor.
 

manicm

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McRagefit said:
My desk is 160x80cm (63x31.5in). Can the supplied pads also isolate some of the vibrations? Or will the mentioned SpeakerDudes do a better job at that?

Thanks for your prompt replies!

PS: Are the supplied pads also easy to remove afterwards?

If your desk is reasonably stable vibrations won't be a problem - the 685s are fairly hefty and the pads hold them in place well.

Having said that, envisage what your environment will be in the medium term - you might want to get smaller speakers, or even a smaller system - why not the Marantx MCR603 with smaller speakers?
 
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Anonymous

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The speakers will be ok but you'll still get some resonance I feel but I think only through playing them very loud etc...

Stands are really the only option; they can be picked up fairly cheaply 2nd hand from eBay these days (i.e. Atacama Nexus 6, SoundStyle Z2's etc...)

If still not an option then IMO the best alternative would be to buy 2 granite chopping boards from the likes of Tesco's or Dunelm Mill etc (c£10 each) and then isolate them from the desk via blutac and then the same with the speakers

No need for the pads then etc...
 

McRagefit

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Perhaps I can first try with the included pads and if they don't work, I can look into the Auralex products. They do look like a lot of money for some foam, but perhaps there's more technology in it..

The desk is only two months old, so should be pretty stable.

I thought about the marantz, already auditioned it too, but I live in a studio now and will move to something bigger in a year or two. Won't the combo I'm thinking of be more 'future-prove' in the sense it's easy extendable etc? I'm also thinking I might add a turntable in a later stage.

Or am I wrong thinking the pm6004/cd6004 will get more out of the B&W 685 than the m-cr603?

Thanks again!
 
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Anonymous

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Personally I wouldnt bother with the pads that B&W supplied or expensive 'isolation' products; blutac will do a superb job. Just use enough of it in each corner to help keep the speakers in place and to stop them passing resonance through the desk and you'll be fine

If you've acces to any, try latge tiles or maybe part of a concrete flag to put under the speakers and see how that effects the sound as well!

IMO the CR603 is a superb system (not being biased because I've got one as I was very wary in regards to the system as I've always been a seperates fan)

For me it reduces box count immediately but it's future proof as well (hell of a lot more than seperates unles youve a multi £ thousand budget)! Wifi (via a universal ethernet bridge like I use (Netgear), internet radio, brilliant DAB, superb CD playback and brilliant FM/AM radio as well. It's hard to beat!!!
 
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Anonymous

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plus one for the blutac.

The supplied pads are not good enough in my experience.

The only suggestion I may make is, if you are putting them on a desk, I think they are too big. Have you considered smaller speakers, maybe with a sub? Or actives with no need of amplifier.

I use my ADM9's on a desk at the PC. I had some purpose made oak stands made so the tweeters were at ear height (all attached with blu tak). And I use a sub.

This is mine.
IMG_8739.jpg
 

tino

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I've used old mouse mats under speakers before - the several mm or neoprene provides decent isolation over quite a large area, and you can still move the speaker (to toe it in for example) without having to un-blu-tac everything.
 

manicm

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I have the 685s and initially also had them on a table - and the pads were perfectly fine. On stands you would use blu-tac/putty yes.

To the OP - yes a bigger place would definitely warrant the Marantz 6004 combo.
 

McRagefit

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Well, I'll give the m-cr603 another audition and carefully compare it to the 6004 combo. I'll also check out some other speakers they have in shop.

If I do get the b&w 685, I'll at least have some ideas for placement to play around with ;)

Thanks for all your replies!
 

Pistol Pete1

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I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts after that audition, McRagefit....

Please let us all know, once you've had the demo.... :type:
 

McRagefit

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Well, I finally went for the pm/cd/st 6003 combo with the 685's. Because of the new 6004 series, I got a 10% discount on the total price (so not just amp and cd) and free cables etc. Thought that was a too nice offer to refuse!

I have the speakers temporarily in another room, placed directly on a desk, without playing with the position, and I must say the sound is already amazing.. I've tried electronic music (Dominik Eulberg), Gorillaz, classical music (Pavarotti, Verdi, Tsjaikovski, ..), some pop music cd's, .. It all sounded great and I'm amazed at the detail the system brings out. I got pads in the shop to place under the speakers and in the box I found the same ones, so I suppose they are adequate.

I didn't compare the m-cr603 to the 6003 combo to the bone, but I must say both sounded great to my untrained ear.

It all depends on your needs: I wouldn't really make much use of DAB and streaming and such (cd6003 has USB playback too), so I chose separates because of their long-lasting nature (bigger and sturdier build quality) and easier expandability (would like to add a turntable in the near future).

I'm also glad for all the things I read on the forums here, they greatly helped me narrow down my choice!

Keep it up What Hi-Fi!
 
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Anonymous

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I remember buying my first seperates system, i loved it, i hope you get as much enjoyment as i did :beer:
 

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