Question ROKSAN K3 FOR B&W 702 S2?

[ElRober13]

Greetings. Is the Roksan K3 enough for a B&W 702 S2 speakers? Ò works best with B&W 703 speakers? Currently I have it with the 603, but they do not leave me satisfied.

 

[Deleted member 116933]

Welcome!

So you have a 603s with roksan k3 and your looking to purchase some 702s2 and or 703's?

702s2 you're looking to purchase 4k (ish) speakers for a 1200quid amp? If I was buying those speakers id be looking at the same again on the amp or upwards of 6k to get the most of them.

The thing BW speakers regardless of what there spec's say are very difficult to control and need plenty of power and current. Id start with Musical fidelity even with your current speakers.

BUT it sounds like you don't really like the sound of the brand anyhow so I think really need to audition the products

 

[ElRober13]

Welcome!

So you have a 603s with roksan k3 and your looking to purchase some 702s2 and or 703's?

702s2 you're looking to purchase 4k (ish) speakers for a 1200quid amp? If I was buying those speakers id be looking at the same again on the amp or upwards of 6k to get the most of them.

The thing BW speakers regardless of what there spec's say are very difficult to control and need plenty of power and current. Id start with Musical fidelity even with your current speakers.

BUT it sounds like you don't really like the sound of the brand anyhow so I think really need to audition the products

Thanks for the tip.

Do you think it would be a better match if I buy a similar Focal speaker?

I'm almost decided by the B&W 703.

 

[Deleted member 116933]

Thanks for the tip.

Do you think it would be a better match if I buy a similar Focal speaker?

I'm almost decided by the B&W 703.

Speakers are a very personal thing. All I can really say is stick with price comparable speakers. Yes second hand will give you bang for buck but you still need to consider the tech to drive them.

I think you biggest problem is you’re not happy with the sound and you need to ask why. BW speakers will pretty much have the same character as you go up the range just more refined. So if they don’t float your fancy now they never will. So why continue to look at them? ATC do nothing for me so I don’t even listen to them or even entertain them.

I’d try and listen to a few with your amp as you’re looking at spending a great deal of money so would hate for you to get it wrong. If the situation at the moment is that COVID is preventing that be patient wait for the shops to open back up.

If it where me the audition list would be in no particular order

Monitor audio.
Kef
Focal
Fyne audio
Maybe ATC
Revel

Hope that helps a little

 

[ElRober13]

Speakers are a very personal thing. All I can really say is stick with price comparable speakers. Yes second hand will give you bang for buck but you still need to consider the tech to drive them.

I think you biggest problem is you’re not happy with the sound and you need to ask why. BW speakers will pretty much have the same character as you go up the range just more refined. So if they don’t float your fancy now they never will. So why continue to look at them? ATC do nothing for me so I don’t even listen to them or even entertain them.

I’d try and listen to a few with your amp as you’re looking at spending a great deal of money so would hate for you to get it wrong. If the situation at the moment is that COVID is preventing that be patient wait for the shops to open back up.

If it where me the audition list would be in no particular order

Monitor audio.
Kef
Focal
Fyne audio
Maybe ATC
Revel

Hope that helps a little

Thank you. excellent answer. I like the B&W's. I think the 703 will give a little more brightness and bass. The B&W 603 sounded excellent. . I guess the 703 will improve the sound?

 

[Deleted member 116933]

Thank you. excellent answer. I like the B&W's. I think the 703 will give a little more brightness and bass. The B&W 603 sounded excellent. . I guess the 703 will improve the sound?

Hmmmm, i think you're expecting the wrong things or at least not conveying the right words. What I would expect is refinement. The bass probably won't go any deeper and may actually seem tamer as it more controlled and tighter due to better crossovers and cones employed. The tweeter much the same might be smoother or more detailed but never bright and brittle ( that's my experiance moving to more expensive speakers) Refinement is the keyword i feel. eg no listener fatigue that's one of the things I look for that and easy to drive speakers.

"I guess the 703 will improve the sound?" its not as clear cut as that, the new speakers might not mesh with the room as well or require different placement or you actually just prefer what the cheaper/older speakers are doing. Expensive doesn't always mean better.

Normally when someone is underwhelmed with they have i look at the room placement (its free) then what's driving them, I wouldn't be afraid of putting the money you where thinking about spending (702s2 £$4k) straight into the amp to really juice up the 603s. Id seriously consider that as well! I'm constantly surprised by how good properly driven budget speakers can sound with a really powerful amp behind them very rarely swing the other way in my experiance ie cheap amp expensive speakers. Only then would i look at more expensive speakers.

I think what your missing is POWER and B&Ws love and can handle a lot of it

something like this will really grab them by the scruff

Musical Fidelity M6si500

High powered integrated amplifier

www.henleyaudio.co.uk

 

[rainsoothe]

Thank you. excellent answer. I like the B&W's. I think the 703 will give a little more brightness and bass. The B&W 603 sounded excellent. . I guess the 703 will improve the sound?

Sounds to me like you have your eyes set on the B&W. I don't doubt that they are great speakers, but speakers are a very personal choice, and you really should try to audition and let your ears decide. I used to do this when I first joined the forum - I had my mind set on a Rotel amp with my old B&W DM602 S3, and all I was looking for (subconciously) was confirmation that it will be the amp to get. The people here suggested all kinds of stuff, but I just ended up auditioning an older gen Rega Brio and a Yamaha AS 500 - both of which were a bad match for my tastes - but I was EXPECTING not to like them when I went out auditioning. Then, convinced that Rotel was the way to go, I skipped on auditioning great amps from Arcam, Naim and Musical Fidelity. So I ended up getting a Rotel RA 1520, and when I was still unsatisfied, I got the B&W CM5, which were better, but still let down by the amplification (imo). In the end, I sold them one by one and replaced the lot with more expensive stuff, but stuff I AUDITIONED first.

Moral of the story is that, the collective hive-mind will yield great suggestions, all you have to do is keep an open mind. Millenia_one's list is a great starting point, imo, and gives you some speakers with different presentations so you have a varied pallette from where to choose. I'm not the biggest fan of Monitor Audio and Kef, but love the Revels and some Focals, for instance.

I also agree that B&W like a lot of current. so Musical Fidelity is a great suggestions (even their entry M2si can give something like 25 amp peak current, which is quite a lot), so if the linked one is too dear, something like a Musical Fidelity M5si might be just what the doctor ordered. If you wanna stick with Roksan, a 2nd hand Roksan Caspian might be better suited.

But if you don't have the new speakers yet, do try some other amp/speaker combinations, like a Naim Atom + Wharfedale Linton, or Cyrus One HD + Fyne Audio F501 (or 502), or Acoustic Energy and Spendor speakers with whatever amp the dealer suggests.

 

[ProgDr]

As someone who owns B&W 603's i can tell you for certain the K3 wont drive them properly as i have tried it. The transformation when i put them on the end of a Musical Fidelity M5Si was huge. The 603's demand current not just watts and the K3 just doesnt control them. I found the sound undefined and lacking in energy. Moving over to the M5Si was transformational.
Moving from the 600 to 700 is a great upgrade but i think that the problems that you are hearing will actually get worse not better as the 700's are even more demaniding.
Only a few more weeks thent he shops open again and im sure you will be able to experience this all for yourself.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

I also agree that B&W like a lot of current (their entry M2si can give something like 25 amp peak current, which is quite a lot)

Going by their specs. the M2si will then actually have a peak of 12.5 amps (half of peak to peak) of current.

 

[rainsoothe]

Going by their specs. the M2si will then actually have a peak of 12.5 amps (half of peak to peak) of current.

Indeed, it was peak to peak. Read the figure in a review by Ed Selley, who compared the figure to Audiolab A6000 Play's 9 amps (also peak to peak, it was implied).

 

[AT1563]

Thanks for the tip.

Do you think it would be a better match if I buy a similar Focal speaker?

I'm almost decided by the B&W 703.

I see that the thread is old and you might have already purchased the desired amp.

Just to share my experience with finding speakers: you do not need to select a brand, the brand is a consequence of a test of what sound you like.

How did it go for me. I have a brand preferences, but I went for a blind test of 3 different brands. The guy in the showroom was patient enough to stay with me for 2 hours and change the speakers, without telling me which one is which.

I have tested
1. B&W 702 S2
2. Sonus Faber Sonetto 5
3. Monitor Audio Gold 300, G5.

I took B&W, and it was not my preferred brand, but the test put it on first place for me .

So, to recap - your ears will decide. Go, test, like.

 

[Gray]

....I went for a blind test of 3 different brands. The guy in the showroom was patient enough to stay with me for 2 hours and change the speakers, without telling me which one is which.

That's an unbeatable way of doing it.

(Yours might be the best first post I've seen on this site).