Tír Na HiFi

Hi, at the moment I have a pair of B&W 603S2 and older model of speaker but still can achieve a good sound in my opinion.

I have being keen on an upgrade and getting the B&W 684 to complement my existing HTM62 & 686's I have got a qoute from Cloney Audio and is quite competitive, but I am still unsure on whether this is the best upgrade path and that it will be only a sidewards step and maybe should I be looking at different options, any input would be most helpful and many thanks in advance.

Kit: Denon 2311, Sony BD760, Arcam rDac, Nordost interconnects & speaker cable and russ andrews power cables.

By the way this is my second post and I should have officially interdouced myself initially, my name is Dermot.........

Hi have a pair of SA1530's that I might be selling if you want to check them out.

Hi Dermot
This is a tough one to answer. It really depends on the type of sound you like/want. There are so many good speakers out there and to me speakers make the biggest difference. Some do a better job with various aspects such as bass, attack/decay, midrange, treble etc. Some are easier to drive than others, some more forgiving of room setup and placement etc.

From your post in sounds like you might be including these are front speakers in a surround setup. This makes things more complicated (if you are using the surround system for something other than cinema) since in general you will want to match the sonic signature of all the speakers. That said for years I had Monitor Audio Golds for LCR with Definitive Audio sub and surrounds and was fine with the mix.

Over the years I have been a fan/owner of Focal, Spendor and the System Audio (mentioned in the previous post) , though have owned and enjoyed others as well.

The best thing you can do is to try listen to a few different .

I'm a bit out of touch with the current B&W range, but I have mixed feelings on those that I've heard. Some were giant-killers, some were so-so, I just wish I could remember which was which! I have a sneaking suspicion that I prefer standmount B&Ws until you get into the stratospheric ranges, I don't think I'm so fond of their mid-level floorstanders. Anyway, none of this matters, because I think speakers are incredibly subjective and we all have different tastes. Personally I prefer the System Audio sound, but lots don't. Also, don't rule out good second hand options!

Welcome to the forum, and keep us posted on how you get on.

Diapason wrote:I'm a bit out of touch with the current B&W range, but I have mixed feelings on those that I've heard. Some were giant-killers, some were so-so, I just wish I could remember which was which! I have a sneaking suspicion that I prefer standmount B&Ws until you get into the stratospheric ranges, I don't think I'm so fond of their mid-level floorstanders. Anyway, none of this matters, because I think speakers are incredibly subjective and we all have different tastes. Personally I prefer the System Audio sound, but lots don't. Also, don't rule out good second hand options!

Welcome to the forum, and keep us posted on how you get on.

I'd have mixed feelings on the B&W range too. Their lower end models are supposed to be very good and that end of the market is extremely competitive anyway so plenty of choice.
As for the 800 series, I think the 802 was the sweet point in that range but I never liked that fact they required big high current amps to get the most out of them.
I do like the System Audio and I would throw ProAc into that mix too.

Hi, thanks for all the imformative info and you have giving me plenty of food for thought.

Have just been talking to Neol in Cloney and it has been agreed to bring my speakers to the demo room and try to compare to other speakers and then take if from there.

By the way I only use surround set up for movies and the 2 channel, only for music.

+1 for ProAc also.

Hi Dermot,

For a little more that the 684 (price wise), I'd give a try to the 683.

I have the 683 for more than a year and for the price I find them Very very good!

As said previously, it then depends on your personal taste and type of music you like to listen to.

There are some ProAcs (2.5 I think?) on adverts.ie at the moment for 950 I think, plus there were some B&W803 (again I think it was 803, around 3k) I think if the budget would stretch that far.


I can't really comment on these as I haven't heard them. I've heard a few sonus fabers and they always seem nice. I'm a horn/electrostatic kind of afficionado, so its hard to comment further.


Fran

I have the PMC DB1+ for sale if they are of interest. They may need a sub if you need more bass. Or if you have space my ET LFT8 :D