B&W 685 Speakers upgrade?

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Hi everyone I have a Denon D-F103HR DAB System which comes with small bookshelf speakers, Denon SC-F103 (http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/3040). I'm not entirely convinced by the sound, and I was hoping that a speaker upgrade would help, although I know it's just a midi system... I really love the look of B&W 685 - would these improve the sound a great deal? I purchased a midi system due to lack of space, although the room itself is fairly big, i just have a huge dining table and a piano in there! Cheers Weebs

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice dude. Just out of interest, did you have a preference during your testing? I wondered if my local store would let me try before i buy? Would be best I guess. I was planning on getting some wall brackets, but would stands improve the sound? Sorry I'm quite a novice at hifi right now!

 

[Anonymous]

i would not go down that route. i dont think your system would have the juice required to get the B&W's sounding good.They take a decent amount of power to sound anyway decent.Thats what i found anyway when demoing them. I also demo'd the 686's with my cambridge amp, which is not a powerhouse but not weedy either, and it did not have enough power to drive them properly.Just out of curiosity, why buy a mini system and then want to put large standmounters on the end of it?

 

[Anonymous]

i would not go down that route. i dont think your system would have the juice required to get the B&W's sounding good.They take a decent amount of power to sound anyway decent.Thats what i found anyway when i had a short listen to them. I also demo'd the 686's with my cambridge amp, which is not a powerhouse but not weedy either, and it did not have enough power to drive them properly either.

 

[Anonymous]

They were fine on a 40watt Rotel - 12 o'clock way was max listening volume. So I'm sure they would be good on the Denon - however I would go for the 685s rather than the 686s due to higher sensitivity, but I would personally pick some Wharfedale 9.1s because I think the B&Ws are a bit too good for the Denon...but yes, try.

 

[Anonymous]

What about half 9 or 10 0 clock on the amp? 10 o clock is fairly loud and the 686's sounded awful until you cranked them.You would not have paid £50 for them.685's barely better. At 12 o clock they were both good, but who actually listens at that level? i know some people do, but not many. I read a review in hi fi world this week and the reviewer said that the 686's need lots of power. and an amp with excellent grip and control.Think a 500 quid amp and 100w a channel minimum.That sounds not far off the mark from what i heard demoing them with a cambridge and a roksan kandy.The 685's are even more expensive so what do they need to keep a control on them, even if they are a bit easier to drive? I would suggest that it would not be a 35w a channel denon midi system.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your comments. I was worried that the B&Ws would really be 'too good' for the system. If I'm honest I guess I'm wishing I hadn't got a micro system! But hey ho... Just don't have anywhere for the space of 'normal' sized separates. Plus I use mp3s so much, which i used to stream from a laptop but that's got difficult now, so I thought I'd try this HD Denon system. I know what you're saying Fraziel, maybe it's just plain pointless to get a midi system and play compressed MP3s through really nice speakers!?! hmmm... 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

i think you could still get good speakers.Just not B&W. What about monitor audio? My mate has BR1's and although they are small the sound off them is unreal. He has them hooked up to a teac mini separates system probably of similar quality to your denon.I swear that the bass off them defies belief for such a small cabinet.Real punch too.they need to be on good stands though. If you think they are too small then maybe the BR2's?

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to go back a bit, but I'm sure that 12 o'clock on the Rotel is okay - you wouldn't listen any louder and I don't listen to music excessivly loud. At 11 o'clock they were still brilliant, at 10 o'clock they were a little underdriven (perhaps loudness boost would have rectified this problem) and at 9 o'clock they were still fine but a little muffled.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers guys. I think I agree Frog about upgrading again later, maybe get some decent speakers now, live with the micro system for a bit and then I'll probably get hooked on upgrading that soon after! Its the Bristol Sound & Vision this weekend, maybe there will be some good stuff on show there. But I reckon like you say, I'm gonna need to try some out.

 

[Anonymous]

Also, sorry I didn't know what you all meant about 10 o clock, 12 o clock etc (!), but I've just got it! Yeah I don't turn it up all that much anymore like I used to - feel too bad for the neighbours! So I kinda want it to sound sweet at mid-levels. The denon speakers I have at the moment sounds pretty muffled when fairly low, and go from muffled to distorted very quickly. 🙁

 

[Anonymous]

You need to take your kit into a hifi shop to test a few speakers. I'd be inclined to agree with Fraziel about the B&Ws, but what matters is if you like them on the Denon. Try a few different Monitor Audios as well as the B&Ws. I think you might be pleasantly surprised. Try as may as the store offers and decide...

 

[Anonymous]

ok. listen to frOg and buy them After all, i only spent two afternoons demoing B&W 6 series speakers on the end of 2 different amps and against other brands of speakers, so what do i know right? The idea that you shold buy speakers that are too good for your system so that in the future you have better speakers when you upgrade, is ridiculous and a back to front half arsed way of looking at things, unless you are already planning on upgrading. Buy speakers that suit and sound good on your current system. in my opinion, and that of the guys i demo'd them with,B&W 685's are not designed to be put on the end of a 35w per channel midi system.

 

[Anonymous]

The Monitor Audios BR1s and RS1s do look nice. Gona go try some today I think. Cheers all for the tips.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="fr0g"][quote user="Fraziel"]ok. listen to frOg and buy them After all, i only spent two afternoons demoing B&W 6 series speakers on the end of 2 different amps and against other brands of speakers, so what do i know right? The idea that you shold buy speakers that are too good for your system so that in the future you have better speakers when you upgrade, is ridiculous and a back to front half arsed way of looking at things, unless you are already planning on upgrading. Buy speakers that suit and sound good on your current system. in my opinion, and that of the guys i demo'd them with,B&W 685's are not designed to be put on the end of a 35w per channel midi system.[/quote]

I didn't say just buy them... Always demo first. You may be right, they may be a little hard. But they may be absolutely just the ticket. I'm gonna stick my old denon M31 on my Ikon 6's later and see how that sounds too. Crazy eh! A £200 mini driving £800 speakers... Bet it works though![/quote]

...ooh...let us know how it goes...always good fun mad ideas like that 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

Thinks like this can be very surprising. When my friend bought a Quad 909 power, 99 CDP and 11L speakers I'd just got my Arcam Alpha 8 and 8P from ebay. I took it over to try with his CDP and speakers. His face started going quite pale when he couldn't hear the difference between his 909 and my Alphas! As much to do with the acoustics, the speakers and the CDs tried but it taught me a lesson...

...a system is only as good as it's weakest link...never did like the Quad 11Ls at low volume. Seems like an obvious lesson but when you compare components like that you expect the world. I also think we drank too much port...

Oh, and leave that Beresford where it is!!