Demo no 1 completed yesterday. Took my new Leema amp in (not yet burnt in) and Superfi connected an Roksan CD player. Worked my way up through the price range in the order below then back down over a couple of hours with a couple of friends (both have hi-fiseperates and looking to upgrade themselves) and a very helpful assistant. Honest thoughts below:
Monitor Audio BX6 - sounded decent enough as a kick off - I'm not great with the terminology of how to describe the 'sound'. Didn't excite me particularly is as much as I would say, sound was 'thin. At lower listening volumes I felt the bass really dropped off.
B&W 684 - instantly felt a big jump from the MA's - really felt the B&W's brought the music to life and instantly appealed to the point that I felt I would discount the BX6's. Played a few more songs - yep, very happy. Only negative was similar to the BX6's, felt the bass really dropped off at lower volumes and some loss of clarity meaning just not as exciting a listen.
monitor Audio RX8 - initial thoughts with the RX8's was, yep, another step up here, nice. Interestingly though the longer we listened the less keen we were, coming back to these from the CM8's the sound from these felt 'thin' (my terms) - 1 friend said 'plasticky' and 'cheap' sound (in comparison to CM8's). Shop assistant thought touch 'bright'. Loved the cabinets though, might have even preferred to the CM8's - smaller too.
B&W CM8 - unanimous thoughts across all of us (very quickly) was big jump up again - £400 more expensive so maybe this was to be expected? Music felt 'alive' again - more punch than the 684's (although 684's at a decent volume not a million miles off). At lower volumes felt like an appropriate level of bass was retained. Outright winners here. I went back to the 684's after and back to the RX8's - RX8 again sounded a 'thinner' sound - not as much zing - dryer somehow.
So now it's whether can justify the additional cost and wait (for Superfi to reduce to £1050 in a sale). I'm planning on checking out Seveoaks at the weekend to see what they have to offer and hopefully get a listening test in. As mentioned, my amp isn't worn in by any stretch yet and I suppose the argument is that all the above would sound quite different in my dining room, different dimensions, acoustics, supporting kit etc but one thing at least, they were tested against each other in a consistent environment. Only real conclusion I did draw is by far preferred the B&W 'sound' to the MA - 4 of us in the room and we were all completely in agreement with that one (for this set up). A little gutted - had the RX8's blown me away I might have just gone for them there and then as the price sits more comfortably.
Were the CM8's worth double the 684's - not for me, but if I could get them for £1050 I think I would have to. If I get the 684's I'm likely to wonder what each song 'could' have sounded like. How true I'm not sure but the assistant suggested the 684's were a bit of a dis-service to the Leema Pulse and I should be looking more CM8 range (argument is that she would say that but to be fair she has been excellent in her advice so far).
For the record I don't think speaker cable and interconnects were the absolute best by any stretch - didn't catch the names - speaker cable approx £3 a metre - good stuff apparently but I'd expect to be getting something a notch or 2 up.
Ok, she liked them in walnut, and we ended up with blacks, but anyway... At £ 649 currently, with free delivery, 60 -days Home Audition and free collection thereafter ( check their web-site ) - you can`t go wrong with that, either 
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