Need help with my new setup B&w 685

[otakii901]

Just bought some 685s, however they don't come with cables, this is my first proper setup so have no idea what cables to get, whether I just plug them straight in or what. I'm guessing I'm going to need an amp so was looking for one thats good quality for max £50 that could support a subwoofer.

Thanks guys appreciate the help.

 

[otakii901]

Bump

 

[jmjones]

Hi,

Yes you are going to need speaker cables to connect to an amp, and a source component of some sort (CD player, computer, smartphone?).

You are also likely to need some stereo RCA connectors from source to the amp.

Are you in the UK? Try Richer sounds or Maplins for the wires.

Richer Sounds cheapest amp is a Cambridge unit at about £80. You could probably get something on second hand sites for your budget.

 

[otakii901]

Thanks for the reply, how many speaker cables will i need? Is it one for each speaker or 2? And will i need banana plugs?

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Hi there.it sounds like you haven't really thought this through and just bought the speakers on a whim maybe.the B&W 685's are great little speakers and no £50-£80 amp is going to do them any justice at all.but to get you started you need two lengths of speaker cable (preferably of equal length)and hook one end to a speaker and the other end to the amp.this will be much easier if you get terminated cables from your dealer,red to red on the amp red to red on the speaker.black to black on the amp and black to black on the speaker end. the cable is usually connected to the low frequency terminal of the speakers,(stamped LF on the jumper bars)if not biwiring(I wouldn't recommend it to start with). that's as best as I can explain it in simple terms. and keep those jumper bars in (that is important).As stated beforehand you will need some sort of source.cd player,turntable,if you plan on using a digital source like a phone or pc you're going to need a digital to analogue converter.but we'll maybe get to that a bit later on in the thread.lol.I'm sure others will step in and offer help.

 

[jmjones]

To be honest my friend, this is one of those things that is lot easier to understand if you go and see it. Mark is dead right with his description, but if I were you, I would go to a hifi shop or check things out at a knowlegeable friend's house.

Try a demo at Richer Sounds and take a look at the way speakers are wired and amplifiers connected. The connections are not hard to understand, but it's easier when you see it. Things have a nasty habit of blowing fuses or worse if not done correctly.

What do you intend to use as a music source? We can probably give some advice on that too.

 

[otakii901]

To be honest my friend, this is one of those things that is lot easier to understand if you go and see it. Mark is dead right with his description, but if I were you, I would go to a hifi shop or check things out at a knowlegeable friend's house.

Try a demo at Richer Sounds and take a look at the way speakers are wired and amplifiers connected. The connections are not hard to understand, but it's easier when you see it. Things have a nasty habit of blowing fuses or worse if not done correctly.

What do you intend to use as a music source? We can probably give some advice on that too.

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Thanks for the help and sorry for the late reply, hectic with Christmas stuff, and yeah I did kinda buy these on a whim. Do you guys have any recommendations for a decent amp, max really £100 can be second hand. Also I was looking at really hooking the amp up to my phone/monitor/and laptop (laptop has optical cable I do believe). Any help would be great.
Also would I need 2 cables for each speaker or just 1 for each.
Cheers

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

1 run of speaker cable for each speaker. You only need two runs if biwiring the speakers which isn't really worth the extra price of the cable imho. Especially at this level. For amps check out eBay and look for nad, rotel, marantz and you might even find an old Arcam in there, but make sure the seller has 100% positive feedback or there abouts. You don't need to look for big watt figures, the b&w's are pretty easy to drive, unless you plan on really cranking up the volume, which I wouldn't recommend on older amps at 100 quid. 20-50 watt amps will do fine if you're into looking at those kind of figures.

 

[otakii901]

I was actually looking to biwire them and I guess I could stretch to 150 just so if I wanted to crank up the volume to higher levels I don't have risk worrying about any problems, plus looking to include a sub at some point soon.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Hay bud.biwiring is a waste of money and speaker cable,put the extra cash towards a better amp.I've biwired speakers,biamped speakers and even then with the addition of a power amplifier (for biamping)it still wasn't worth the extra cash for the little improved sound quality.no kidding,

 

[otakii901]

Hmm okay but now I need to decide what amp to go with, can anyone point me in some good directions I can go, willing to up my limit to 200 and looking at second hand

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

I've just had a quick looks on eBay and I've already seen a nad 316bee,arcam diva a80,rotel ra 01,all within a £200 budget,I'd go with the arcam but I'm sure the nad and rotel will be fine amps also.

 

[otakii901]

Was it an old Arcam? I was looking to make sure the quality would still be there if I really cranked up the volume and if I added a sub

 

[otakii901]

I've just had a quick looks on eBay and I've already seen a nad 316bee,arcam diva a80,rotel ra 01,all within a £200 budget,I'd go with the arcam but I'm sure the nad and rotel will be fine amps also.

I was looking at rotel, seems to pair quite nicely with b&w, specifically the rotel RA-06/5 as the 685s seem to perform better with more power

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

The arcam a80 is 80watts per channel and will have no problem whatsoever driving the B&W's,I've used the a85 for many years driving 685's,cm5's and sold it to a friend and now it's driving more difficult cm 1 s2's after 14 years and yes it still goes loud.The a80 is only 5 watts per channel down on the a85,which is nothing and if I remember correctly,the a80 was released after the a85.Arcam also goes very well with B&W speakers,I haven't heard the rotels but I'm sure they're also very good amps and also very reliable.

 

[otakii901]

The arcam a80 is 80watts per channel and will have no problem whatsoever driving the B&W's,I've used the a85 for many years driving 685's,cm5's and sold it to a friend and now it's driving more difficult cm 1 s2's after 14 years and yes it still goes loud.The a80 is only 5 watts per channel down on the a85,which is nothing and if I remember correctly,the a80 was released after the a85.Arcam also goes very well with B&W speakers,I haven't heard the rotels but I'm sure they're also very good amps and also very reliable.

I'm probaly going to go for your suggestion of the arcam a80/85 thanks! I was just wondering if it's integrated or will I need a preamp with it

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

The a80 and a85 are both integrated amps the power amps to match are p80 and p85.

 

[otakii901]

The a80 and a85 are both integrated amps the power amps to match are p80 and p85.

Brilliant thanks for the help!

 

[otakii901]

The arcam a80 is 80watts per channel and will have no problem whatsoever driving the B&W's,I've used the a85 for many years driving 685's,cm5's and sold it to a friend and now it's driving more difficult cm 1 s2's after 14 years and yes it still goes loud.The a80 is only 5 watts per channel down on the a85,which is nothing and if I remember correctly,the a80 was released after the a85.Arcam also goes very well with B&W speakers,I haven't heard the rotels but I'm sure they're also very good amps and also very reliable.

I've actually been also looking at musical fidelity m3i which seems a very good piece of kit except I can't find any info in how it would pair with the 685s. Should I stick with the arcam A85 or go with the m3i

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

If you can get or stretch to the mf m3i then I'm sure that'll be the better amp,but I doubt it would be night and day better,just a bit with a different presentation.The 685's aren't the fussiest speakers so I wouldn't worry to much about partnering them with either......Either way after the amp upgrade you'll probably be after better speakers anyway.lol.