The Official B&W Speakers Thread

[red_5ive]

Got the 705s. I normally wouldn't listen to speakers without giving them at least a day's worth of run time first, but these things sound excellent out of the box! Based on what I'd read, I was expecting ear shattering highs, but instead I was greeted with an open and detailed yet silky midrange, and smooth but tight/punchy bass, if that makes sense. And the highs are just clean so far!

Obviously these are just first impressions, but I'm loving them so far! Now I just have to force myself to leave the room and let them run... sigh.

[red_5ive]

After all the positives I keep reading about the KEF R3, I decided to place an order the other day, along with the R2C center. Just wanted to try them out. Then I fired up my system and watched a movie and was reminded how much I love the 705s and the HTM71. I canceled the order.

But now I'm wondering if I should move up to the 805s and whatever center matches up with it. I still have 8 days before my return window ends on the HTM71.

Sometimes I hate this hobby.

[Better in Blu]

Is the 805 S still available? I saw a pair several years ago, but settled on a less expensive bookshelf. The 71 is a great center. I'd keep it unless you are going with a diamond series 805 D

[red_5ive]

Originally Posted by Better in Blu

Is the 805 S still available? I saw a pair several years ago, but settled on a less expensive bookshelf. The 71 is a great center. I'd keep it unless you are going with a diamond series 805 D

Yeah I was referring to the 805 D series. I wasn't aware there was an S version. But it doesn't look like the D3s are available in white anymore, and I'd venture to guess the D4 will come with a price bump. I'm more than satisfied with the 705 S, and the HTM71 is just such a silky smooth center I have to wonder if going up to the 800 series is going to be worth more than twice the price.

[red_5ive]

^^Yup, just checked out the 805 D4. $8,500 / pair. The D3 is/was $6k / pair.

That's way more than I'm willing to spend. I'm gonna go indulge in my 705s and forget about the world for a little bit.

[Better in Blu]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

^^Yup, just checked out the 805 D4. $8,500 / pair. The D3 is/was $6k / pair.

That's way more than I'm willing to spend. I'm gonna go indulge in my 705s and forget about the world for a little bit.

The 705s are a great pair. Unless I had unlimited funds, and had a top of the line preamp with a Macintosh or Marc Levinson amp and the best acoustics in my mlp, then it's not worth it.

[red_5ive]

So I've been loving the 705 S2 and the HTM71 so much that it's getting harder and harder for me to want to listen/watch anything in my second setup/mancave.

I started looking at speaker options, and I was considering the 606 Anniversary (and matching center), which I had a set for a bit before exchanging for the 705 S2 and HTM71. Then I saw the 700 series is currently on sale. So as it goes in this hobby, I just placed an order for a 5 speaker compliment of the 706 S2, 707 S2, and HTM72 center. I was tempted to go with another HTM71, but being that I sit near-field in the mancave, I decided to go with the 72, which I also found one with an additional open box discount, which made it even harder to justify the 71 in a small room.

And now comes the wait. The 706 is actually backordered, but I'll at least be able to use the 707 and HTM72 for the front stage for now when they arrive.

I never thought I'd ever go from towers to bookshelves, and just a few months ago I was still in the mindset that I would NEVER replace my Rockets 850s in my main setup. And now here I am having just ordered another set of bookshelves. As I like to say, I love - and hate - this hobby.

[red_5ive]

The 707s arrived earlier than expected. I hooked them up right away as mains in my 2nd setup, and so far, blah. These things sound terrible out of the box, very boxy and thin sounding, and missing the mids that I love from the 705/706. Sounds like a different speaker, which might add some creedence to speaker break in - if that's what is needed - being that I've been listening to the 705s just about every day. Of course, the 707 are in a different room and have a smaller mid-bass driver, so there's that. In any case, I don't intend to use them as mains and will move them to the rear channels once I get the 706 - providing that I don't have the same experience with the 706.

Edit: Evidently my expectations were a bit high. I run the 705s full range, but with the smaller driver in the 707 up front I enabled my sub and set it to 40 Hz. Turns out it's definitely the less capable driver. I dropped the main bass curve -2.0 and set the crossover to 60 Hz. Sounds fuller now and closer to what I was expecting, without the boxy sound. Still not quite what I'm used to with the 705 bass definition, so I'm looking forward to when the 706 arrives.

[kopkiwi]

Need some advice from the BW crowd. I currently run Paradigm Prestige setup with 95F and 55C center however, I am unhappy with the look of my front stage and it's cramped nature. So, I am rebuilding the front projector screen area and moving to a baffle wall setup with the speakers behind the screen. I've been quoted a pretty reasonable price in an LCR config for the CT7.3 speakers. Problem is, I cannot find ANY reviews or user experiences online at all and listening to them sadly isn't an option as they're special order. My previous experience with BW (600 series) was that I really liked them, nice heavy hitting sound that packed a real punch.