whats best for b&w 685s

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help! heard that the best combo with the 685s is marantz cd6002 and rotel ra -4 amp however i was told that the b&ws need alot of power to get the best out of them, rotel amps only have 40 watts per channel. is this enough? should i go for roksan amp instead?

those are the options tho roksan amp and cd player or marantz and rotel?

thanks
 

d_a_n1979

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The Roksan has enough power to make the 685's sing well :)

IMO you would be better getting a different CDP over the Marantz though.

If you can afford the Roksan though i'd say go for that as it's a superb amp and will run the 685's very well.

Have you demo'd any of the kit yet? Also; what music do you listen to?
 
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Anonymous

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The Roksan would be a perfect partner for the 685s - plenty of power and a nicely matched tonality. I have heard the RA-04 with the 685s, and it didn't really impress that much - however, that was a long time ago - I felt the treble was a bit artificial and there was a lack of drive to the sound so it didn't interest me at all. They do need the best part of 100watts per channel into 8ohms to get the best from them.

Also, if anyone says that your CD player isn't up to the job for such expensive components, ignore them - IT IS! Just because it's fairly cheap, doesn't mean it's not good value!
 

d_a_n1979

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Hughes123:The Roksan would be a perfect partner for the 685s - plenty of power and a nicely matched tonality. I have heard the RA-04 with the 685s, and it didn't really impress that much - however, that was a long time ago - I felt the treble was a bit artificial and there was a lack of drive to the sound so it didn't interest me at all. They do need the best part of 100watts per channel into 8ohms to get the best from them.

Also, if anyone says that your CD player isn't up to the job for such expensive components, ignore them - IT IS! Just because it's fairly cheap, doesn't mean it's not good value!

I wouldnt say that the Marantz is cheap; far from it BUT the soundstage of Marantz gear, IMO, doesnt suit B&W speakers at all.

As ive said before, with the right speakers (M/A, Mordaunt Short, Dali etc...) the Marantz gear is good but with B&W, its thin and a bit forward, clinical sometimes.

B&W need a good amount of 'well' to really make them sing so separates like Cyrus, Arcam and Roksan really do well with them. NAD is another good make that gel very well with B&W speakers.
 
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Anonymous

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I never found the soundstage of Marantz gear to be that forward, especially with the CD6002 and I have an Arcam system! The treble on the B&Ws isn't as bright as some other models either, so a NAD amp wouldn't give the best treble extention, but a good C355BEE would be a nice amp to power them. I still think that the Roksan would be best suited, whether it be a Kandy MK.III or the new K.2
 

Clare Newsome

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The beauty of the B&W 685s - and one of the reasons they're two-time Award winners - is their flexibility. They are happy on the end of the Marantz 6002 combo - a system i've heard many times, and it sings - but also being driven by higher-end electronics like the Cyrus or Roksan players/amps.

Audition away, and don't forget to budget for a decent pair of speaker stands: the B&W 685s thrive on a sturdy base.
 

shep1968

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I have the 685's with the RA-05 and CD6002 and it is good and even better since i took Clare's advice and filled my Z2's with atabites. Does anybody think that the new Roksan K2 amp would be a significant improvement on the RA-05?
 
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Anonymous

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I had a Rega Apollo CD player and a Roksan Kandy LIII amp paired with the B&W 685 speakers with Chord Rumour Bi-wired speaker cables and Soundstyle stands and they were wonderfully balanced.
 

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