Decided on bower and Wilkins 683

[atkins4725]

Sat at work slightly bored so I thought I'd share yesterdays speaker auditionings..........

I'd been browsing the net for speaker choices and liked the look of mordaunt short aviano 8s. So I called up my local richer sounds to book an audition. Unfortunately they didn't have them in stock and said they couldn't get a pair in for me to listen to. However, they did have aviano 6's and the sales rep said their wasn't much difference in sound apart from a little bit more bass with the 8's. Anyways, went to have a look and a listen. Soon as I set eyes on them I was disappointed. To my eyes they looked cheap and the sound wasn't to my taste either. My kef iq5se's that I've had about 3years sounded much better. (to my ears anyway). After that I decided to take a trip down to hifi corner where the guys happily dropped everything and let me audition a set of B&W 684's. Straight away these were much more pleasing to the eye and the quality of these cabinets were leagues ahead. He fired up the 684's using a lower end rotel setup that cost less than my CA setup which I was surprised by. The sound the 684's produced was truly on the ball with my ears, so, happy man I was at that point. After that i asked if the 683's were worth the extra pennies. To which he replied, i'll go get a pair and we'll find out. This speaker had the presence i was lookng for and the awesome sound to go with it. Within 5min I'd handed over my debit card and the guy knocked off £50, bonus So, after a disappointing start i walked away one very happy chap indeed. Many thanks to the guys at HiFi corner, Edinburgh.

 

[Dermondo]

Quite keen an the B&W's myself, alas maybe one day to.......

 

[Anonymous]

Good post, the bit I like is the " to my ears " bit. It just shows auditioning is key, and blind buying can lead to disappointment. I find personally that I don't get on with most B and W , I find them a bit too exciting if thats a good description. I recently blind tested 3 speakers that all won 5 stars. Shielded from the glamour it was a very interesting exercise.

I hope you get many years enjoyment from them.

 

[tyranniux42]

Good choice my man. I had them for just over 2 years and it took an awful lot of auditioning and money to significantly better them. Initially I auditioned Rega RS7, Linn Magik 140's etc but for the money (£1500 ish) nothing was making me want to open my wallet over what the 683's already did.

it was only once I auditioned the ovators (which obviously have amazing synergy with my electronics) that I really thought it was enough of a step up to make me part with (a lot of) cash.

So be happy that they are a very capable speaker

Happy listening

regards