New B&W 686 S2 with Marantz Amp and CD Player?

[GCE]

Marantz and BW are generally considered not bright. COmbining them might render the sound as dull. Do audition first.

Rotel and BW speakers are considered generally a better match.

I think Marantz and B&W are not dark sounding, they pair well, but the overall sound

with bright software ( CD, mp3, vinyl, ecc) is revealing and could become

a little forward ...

 

[Davlink]

Hello, it has been a few days now that I own the new B&W 685 s2 paired with the Marantz PM6005.

I was totally charmed when I tested them and had a better feeling than with a Denon or Cambridge amp.

Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to test them with a Rotel amp so maybe in the future...

 

[Bromiley]

Not sure, but it will be my only option. Having said that, my situation has changed unexpectedly. I will have to buy the speakers first and wait a few months for the amp I like (Rotel RA-12).

In the meantime, I'm thinking of connecting the speakers to my old Denon AVR 1610 and using stereo mode. Yes, I can hear you all saying that will sound terrible, but that's the only way of listening to the speakers for the moment.

Anyone connected B&W speakers to a Deneon AVR for stereo playback out there? I'd interested to know what it's like.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi Bromiley

I'll still maintain what i said in my previous post. Look at the used/discontinued components market and for the RA-1062. You'll get higher quality of amplification for around half the price and this should then free your budget up for better speakers

Btw, in the meantime i can't see why the Denon AVR-1610's DAC, tonal presentation and power would not enable the AVR-1610 to put in a perfectly respectable level of performance with 686 s2's. Try it as you might be pleasantly surprised by the value on offer.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Bromiley]

Thanks, Rick. That's interesting. Another quick question: My living room is 5 m x 10 m and my speakers would be along the longer wall at about 1.7 m apart (due to furniture). What do you think about amps with 45 watts at 8 ohms for my size of room? Due to neighbours either side of me, I dont listen to listen to music very loud but do have an party now and again. Any thoughts?

 

[Bromiley]

Hi Plasterman, you said:

It's the dac in the rotel that does the conversion, set your bdp to output pcm 2ch audio. Pity you can't stretch to the ra 12 it's a good amp and it paired very well with my b&w 685 s1.

[/quote]

OK, so I can connect the bluray player to a stereo amp via optical and have HDMI from the bluray to the TV for the video signal. But what happens if I want to watch the TV and have sound from the B&W speakers? Wouldn't it be better to connect everything to the TV via HDMI and then run an optical cable from the TV to the amp? Is it still the DAC in the amp doing the work?

I'm also concerned about lip-sync problems?

I hope someone can help with this question.

 

[svenni84]

Hi

I am new to most HiFi stuff, but have come to the conclusion that I want a good set of speakers that can last for a while. Now, I have the Sony cmt ex1, an old micro system. Right now I can only afford speakers, would it work hooking up the Ex1 with 686s2?