Upgrade path from B&W 686s

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

After some advice...a friend has fallen in love with my current rig: Bowers & Wilkins 686, Rotel RA-04, Sony SCD-XE597, Cambridge Audio DACMagic, Silver Anniversary XT bi-wire. He initially only came around to listen to the Bose Companion 5's I have connected to my Mac, but he left so enthused with the Bowers that he has offered to buy them from me (knowing full well my upgrade intentions)...

So with this opportunity having presented itself (all be it forced!) there come a few options to consider. I think I'm pretty settled on the next set of loudspeakers, obviously they're going to be have to be B&W again - the 685s namely. Wanted to go for the 685s from start but my budget was too controlling at the time. So the question really is what to pair it with. I had thought I would like to swap out my RA-04 while I'm at it, so naturally the 70-watt RA-06 seems a good idea but I was disappointed with the accompanying review.

I am however open to suggestions though as I have been eyeing up the Roksan Kandy III and Cyrus 6vs2 as these have great reductions in SSAV, down to £549 and £425 respectively. Unfortunately the pricing on the Kandy K2, as recommended in the 2008 rewards is not so forgiving!

Please let me know your thoughts,

James

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, I haven't heard the Roksan or Cyrus, but if you're considering the 685, many people on the forum use NAD amps with B&W, as I do, maybe check out the 525BEE...

 

[Anonymous]

I have had the B&W 685's with a Roksan LIII amp and a Rega Apollo cd player - this is an excellent combination. The overall balance was just right, in my opinion.

I have also had Cyrus kit - CD6 & CD8x partnered with the Roksan amp, and I'll pick the Rega Apollo anyday.

 

[Anonymous]

Pmaninit, will certainly have to audition some NAD kit - it always looks very well put together. Couldn't find a review on here, is there any in particular you can recommend? Or do you know if it's been featured in a WHSV issue yet?

Thanks,

James

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your advice EvilWolf - I had fallen in love with the look of the Cyrus kit and am a little concerned that the LIII only has two outputs instead of the four on my RA-04....any feedback re this?

James

 

[Anonymous]

Well I have the 325BEE, which I think is great, though it's not really an 'upgrade' from your current amp, more of a swap, but I think that with the 685s it will be an upgrade in sound.... you could check out the 525BEE for an actual upgrade in the NAD range, also check out the new 326BEE, which has just got a 5 star review, and I think looks a lot better than the others too.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all of your advice thus far - have a few leads to follow through. Also got chatting to someone from Sevenoaks today, and really should consider the B&W CM5 or preferablly (because they look much nicer, the 705).

Thoughts...?

James

 

[Anonymous]

I haven't heard these speakers before but I don't know if recommending those Nad's are a good idea. Now that is nothing to do with the quality of the amps but it's my understanding that these speakers need a lot of power to drive them properly.

I would say the best NAD amp to try for comparison to others for those particular speakers would be the NAD C355. I would agree those that you will definitely need to upgrade the existing amp to get the best out of the speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

JustJames:
really should consider the B&W CM5 or preferably (because they look much nicer, the 705).

I lied - having seen the CM5s today, I can say their piano black gloss finish is to die for. The magnetic grilles are really something quite special, not in the least to mention the quality that sings out. Have to get these!