Yamaha AS500 with B&W 684 or alternattive speaker

[gurjitsidhu]

Hey

I listened to the Rega Brio R amp with the Bowers and Wilkins 684 and i loved them! Problem is, that setup is out of my budget so im looking for an alernative system which would pretty much give me the same sound? The Speakers are very powerful, energetic and have a lot of bass which i love.

I was thinking of saving some pennies by getting the AS500 amp? what do you think? Also any other speakers which you might recommend? Kef, Q accoustics etc?

thanks

 

[Al ears]

I would suggest you try to audition a pair of Epos Epic 5 floorstanders if you are going that way.

I would also suggest you could try B&W 685s or the new Boston Acoustic M25 on a decent (Partington) pair of stands if you think that standmounters may be a way to go.

My own opinion is that KEF's in general may be a little 'bright' with this amp but do have an audition by all means.

Try to audition as many as possible before parting with hard-earnt cash.

 

[gurjitsidhu]

Thanks for your reply mate. I will try to audition the other speakers you have recommended but i cant find anyone near me who sells those brands! lol

i might be able to get a pair of second hand 683's and I was wondering what i should expect in terms of how they are compared to the 684's? I really liked the stage and the bass from the 684 but this could also be down to the amplifier (Rega).

If i buy these speakers i would like to try and power them with the yamaha AS500 or the Marantz 6004. I know the latter has only got around 50W per channel and the former has 85W but the marantz still has good reviews.

I did also consider auditioning the Dali Zenzor 5 since steve at Audio fidelity and the chap at richer sounds were saying they are fantastic speakers but they only scored 5* in this website.

 

[matthewpiano]

Try the NAD C326BEE amp. I've owned pretty much all of the budget contenders and, IMO, the NAD is the best by some margin. Very involving and musical amp and dangerously close in performance to the Brio-R in my experience. Works a treat with B&W speakers too.

 

[hortensio]

If I were you, I will search for a second-hand Nad C 355 bee....you should got it with good price now...pairing very-well with B&W or DAli floorstanders.... :cheers:

 

[chip47]

Try the NAD C326BEE amp. I've owned pretty much all of the budget contenders and, IMO, the NAD is the best by some margin. Very involving and musical amp and dangerously close in performance to the Brio-R in my experience. Works a treat with B&W speakers too.

I have a c326bee amp and BW602 Series 3 speakers works well !!!!

 

[Hi-FiOutlaw]

If you want the Yamaha for is price is ok! And Yamaha pair very well with Monitor Audio, a must listen!

Like it was said before, the NAD 326 BEE is a stunning machine, i've heard the two in the same demo, the AS500 and the 326BEE, and my ears said the 326BEE by a long Shot. The speakers were Monitor Audio RX6.

 

[Anonymous]

For Yamaha A-S500 recommend speakers, Dali sensor 1, Monitor Audio BX2 and a warmer sound for A-S500 speakers, Monitor Audio Silver RX2

 

[Anonymous]

I've got Yamaha as500 and I had it with MA BR2 speakers. Even if the first impression was very good after some time music was just tiring. I've changed my speaker cables from QED to 6mm Van damme cables and that helped a lot but it still wasn't what I wanted. I auditioned my Yamaha with b&w 685 sounded better than BR2 and BX2. Than I've auditioned MA BX2 against RX1 (unfortunately the shop haven't got RX2 at the time) and against Dynaudio DM2/6 and DM2/7 When I've heard as500 together with DM2/7 my jaw dropped down. The difference was amazing, so much more details, so much more space and a bigger soundstage better base response and the virtual sources of sound was so good. What I mean is the source of the sound seams not to come frome the speaker but from wherever it is on the soundstage. I haven't heard MA RX2 but DM 2/7 was so much better than MA RX1 that I has no doubts and I've bought my DM2/7 and I absolutely love them.

My advice for Yamaha as500 is DM 2/7 speakers and if you go for others avoid the one with metal cone on tweeters.

Obviously DM 2/7 are expensive but if you go for as500 you can buy them later. Worth every single penny and better than any other speakers I've heard by a big margin.

...and for those who may be interested na RX1 was a lot better than BX2 and better than b&w 685.