New setup for £1000?

[admin_exported]

Hi there, I'm trying to setup my first hi-fi (till now have lived off micro's and integrated stuff) and would like some help please. Have quite a small room and around £1000 to spend - could stretch this a bit to a max of probably £1400. I listen to a wide range of music from classical to gospel to hard rock.

Am a big fan of B&W speakers, having heard them a few times and thought of going for the B&W 685's (not sure if they do the 602's anymore). I know these are naturally paired with Rotel - but anyone know if a setup of Roksan LIII amp/Arcam CD73/ B&W 685 would work? Or switch for the CA CD player (not sure of which exactly, read sometime back on it). Or would the Rotel's amp and CD player be the best deal after all?

Any suggestions? thanks in advance!

 

[gregory]

creek evo and epos,very nice,rega is also very good rotel and b&w will work well together.personally i would go for rega as their r3 speakers are very good and seem to work better with the brio amp.

 

[Anonymous]

I can defiently say that the Kandy matched with the B&Ws and the Arcam would be one heck of a system! Tonally balanced, not too upfront and not too bright. Perfect! I have the CD73 and can thoroughly recommend it!

 

[Anonymous]

I have heard the kandy amp with the Arcam cd player.They go well together i think. I have been, though, seriously underwhelmed by the B&W's.Heard the Arcam with the kandy and B&W 685 s at the weekend when my mate was demoing speakers.I also heard same amp and cd player with B&w686's and RS1's a few weeks ago ( incidentally if you like the B&W's,the 686's might be a better bet for a small room) and we were less than impressed with the B&W's. At high volume, as in at least 11 o clock on the amp, the B&w's sound amazing but at moderate volume they sounded flat and boxy. Unless you listen at high volume all the time i would make sure you demo the B&W's. We can't understand what all the fuss is about! My mate bought a set of mon audios instead.

 

[Anonymous]

Fraziel

I have the 685's teamed with the Rotel RA-05 and RCD-06 and they sound great together. Make sure you get decent stands. I bought the Super Dreadnoughts and Chord Crimson interconnector.

 

[Cypher]

I agree with Fraziel here. To me the 685 are very boring speakers. They start to sound good at high volume levels but a low volume they are simply terrible. Buy some Monitor Audio speakers and listen how exciting your music can be !

and Fraziel, you were right. I was impatient....the RS1 do sound just amazing now and are a lot better than the BR2. I used the BR2 2 days ago and played them for 5 minutes and decided to sell them right away

They are still a little bright and hopefully that will go away if they are fully run-in. But they are amazing though.......I hear things on my CD's that I've never heard before, the're so detailed.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Cypher"]
I agree with Fraziel here. To me the 685 are very boring speakers. They start to sound good at high volume levels but a low volume they are simply terrible. Buy some Monitor Audio speakers and listen how exciting your music can be !

and Fraziel, you were right. I was impatient....the RS1 do sound just amazing now and are a lot better than the BR2. I used the BR2 2 days ago and played them for 5 minutes and decided to sell them right away

They are still a little bright and hopefully that will go away if they are fully run-in. But they are amazing though.......I hear things on my CD's that I've never heard before, the're so detailed.
[/quote]

Terrible is not an exaggeration either. Makes me wonder what the what the what hi fi team saw in them if they demo'd them at moderate and low volume. Glad you like the RS1's. Mine are still being run in too.

 

[d_a_n1979]

As plenty of people have said; everyones hearing is different!

To me, having auditioned the M/A RS6's and RS8's along side the B&W 685's and 684s (yes, i know theyre standmounts vs floorstanders) the 685's made hell of an impression on me

They were fast, taught punchy bass, good timed midrange that went very well along side the treble. They didnt sound boxy at all and i thought they played well it low to mid volume but agree that they play fantastic at high volume.

They will go very well with the Roksan amp and Arcam CD73 CD player.

To be honest tho if youre looking at the Roksan, i'd consider the Cyrus 6v2 amp also. I have demo'd this with the 685's and the Cyrus 6 CD player and they combo was fantastic.

 

[Anonymous]

Guys,thanks so,so much for all the input - am checking the setup tomorrow, will keep in mind!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Fraziel you were listening to the 685s on a Kandy weren't you? I've heard that the Kandy is a very bad amp for maintaining quality at low volumes, and I wonder if this contributes to your perception of the 685s?

Obviously the effect must be more pronounced on some speakers than others as not all people say this about the Kandy and I assume you were using the same amp when trying some RS1s also, but it could be something to do with it. If you're demoing any time soon maybe try the B&Ws with a NAD or something they are sposed to be good at low volumes and see if there is a difference.

 

[d_a_n1979]

I tried the 685's with my Arcam Alpha 9 integrated amp and also bi-amped with the Alpha 9P power amp and the 685's were fine throughout low levels to medium to very loud and rattling the whole room

Also auditioned them with the NAD C352 and the C320BEE and again, the 685's were great throughout the whole range.

I think that Fraziel has had one bad audition with them and now may stereotype the speakers, not sure, just a thought.

 

[Cypher]

When I heard the 685 on a Rotel RA-04 amp the sound was really boring at low to normal volumes. They really sounded good at a high volume level. The problem is that I have neighbours and the RS1 (or the BR2) are good at all volumes. I also think the RS1 is a much better speaker but that is just my opinion

 

[Anonymous]

i listened to the 685's on a roksan kandy. I also listened to the 686's on the end of a kandy and then a few weeks later with my cambridge audio. The first time i listened to the 686's i thought they were superb but the whole demo was done with the amp at 12 o clock as thats the volume my friend listens at and he hogged the remote! When i went back and listened to them at moderate volume ( think half 9 to 10 on the amp) they were terrible. Same with the 685's. I dont just think its me being fussy either.They genuinely sounded bad.Dull, boxy sound with no soundtage whatsover as the sound was glued to the cabinets. Honestly, thats not an exaggeration.At 11 o clock or higher on the amp though and they sound superb but still not as good overall as the RS1's in my opinion.I was with a friend and we could not believe they sounded so poor at mod volume, it was like a differenr speaker altogether.I was going to by a set of the 686's based on my first audition.I am really glad i didn't.If you listen at high volume then i reckon the 686's and 685's would be well worth an audition, but if you dont i would steer clear. Its not just the 6 series either. I heard some B&W's, and i am not sure of the exact name here but i think it was the original cm1's, a few years ago and i thought they were the same. I think, as someone said, maybe a nad would help but the problem struck me as being more than just an amp issue.

 

[Anonymous]

i thought i would add something that might be of interest, the 686's at high volume with the Kandy were better than the RS1's in 2 respects.Outright punch and 3d soundstage.They were sublime, but turn down the volume to moderate ( 9 to 10 on the amp) and all the 686's qualities disappeared.On the end of the Cambridge 640 the 686's and 685's were outperformed by the RS1's at mod and high volume.The extra punch and soundstage from the B&w's were not there,compared to on the end of the Kandy.The RS1's soundstage and punch with the cambridge were the equal,if not better,than the 686/685's but the RS1s had much better transparency. What that tells me i don't know.Could be that the B&Ws need seriously heavy power or it could be they just get better and better with the quality of amp.Certainly the B&ws were poor at mod volume regardless of amp, and thats the biggy for most people.

 

[Anonymous]

Finally got my system - Arcam CD73/Kandy L3 Amp/ Epos M12i speakers on Epos st35 stands; QED XT300 cables with chord chameleon interconnects. Sounds absolutely fab. Bit bright, but the detail and crispness is amazing!!

Tried the B&W 685 several times, very dissapointed, they just lacked detail compared to the Epos.Bought the 12i instead of the 12.2 as it seemed to have the wee bit more bass! (or i could have been imagining as I read the spec first!!)

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="lrm"]Tried the B&W 685 several times, very dissapointed, they just lacked detail compared to the Epos[/quote]

... Good ears and you did the right thing by listening before buying unlike certain individuals on this forum.

Your Epos will get better as you upgrade your amplification and will not be letting you down with much more expensive components. I heard them (12.2) within a five figure system not long ago.

Once the warranty runs out and if the 'brightness' still bothers you, you can change the value of the series resistor to the tweeter from 2.7 to 3 ohm, this will supply less energy to the tweeter but by then you've probably changed other parts of your system and in any case, the metal dome used is of fine quality. Revealing rather than harsh. Enjoy your music

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="gregory"]creek evo and epos,very nice,rega is also very good rotel and b&w will work well together.personally i would go for rega as their r3 speakers are very good and seem to work better with the brio amp.[/quote]

I too can second the CD73 as being a very good player for the money. I have it paired with the Rega R3's and love them both. Not sure about the Kandy though, i have not heard it.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="drummerman"]

Once the warranty runs out and if the 'brightness' still bothers you, you can change the value of the series resistor to the tweeter from 2.7 to 3 ohm, this will supply less energy to the tweeter but by then you've probably changed other parts of your system and in any case, the metal dome used is of fine quality. Revealing rather than harsh. Enjoy your music

[/quote]

Thanks for the tip! Will keep in mind!