Yes.

This weekend I made the ultimate sacrifice...or was it? For over a year now I've been running the setup in my signature. 13 months ago though my daughter came into my world and the only (tiny itty bitty) downside is that I do not watch movies at massively loud volumes any more. In fact I'd found that my 1070 was off a lot and I was using my TV speakers!

My 1070 was being used for music, which is does IMO quite well. But I didn't feel that way about my speakers. Delving more into jazz, classical, and keeping up with rock and whatnot, I was finding that the highs, for lack of a better term, sucked. There just wasn't enough definition. I thought for a while that maybe SACD wasn't really worth it.

April 4, 2009, after a $500 experiment with a ZVOX Base 550 for the master bedroom, I decide to return the unit and retrieve said $500 to be repurposed in an unknown manner. I knew I wanted music in the bedroom. I headed over to the local HiFi shop (Bob and Ron's World Wide Stereo) where I explained my dilemma to the salesman. I explained that I was looking for a nice pair of bookshelf speakers - efficient, tight response, clear highs, ballpark $500. He steers me towards the little B&W 686 - the most junior in the series. I demo'd for 15 minutes and found myself impressed. My child then did something in her pants and, assuring the salesman I wasn't using this as an excuse to bail, said I would be back. He said while I was out, he'd prep the 685's for the next demo - they were a little more but he thought I should hear them too. I agreed. I went out to the car.

Now those of your that are parents know, the strangest things can creep through your head while you exchange diapers staring at your child's what-was-breakfast. I was thinking "so these are more money...how are we gonna pitch this, Maggie?"..."those speakers sounded better than your current speakers..." - all sorts of random stuff.

I stroll back in, clean kid in arm. I have a seat as I see the new 685 on the stand, dantily sitting in the middle of the front of the room. I grab my leather seat. My kid grabs the remote (of course) and walks the room to check out the Sunfire subs. The salesman plays the 686's one more time to refresh my mind. He happens upon a live cut of Neil Young's "Cowgirl in the Sand", over which I gush. It's one of my favorite songs. It's at that point I tell him...cut over. And then it happened. about 30 seconds into it, I point to the larger 685's and say...

"I'll take those."

And not only was I taking those - they were going in the main setup. These sounded far too nice to go anywhere else. I don't know why the decision was so easy, but it was. I guess my priorities have shifted dramatically - but quietly.

And so it is done. I packed up child and speakers, and elated, drove home. I told my wife that the win for her is the 5 speakers are going bye-bye. (Needless to say she rolled her eyes at me, stating it was just a matter of time before I went back.) She might be right. Who knows.

I hook up the B&W's, reposition the Fathom, flatten the adjustments (I haven't even recalibrated yet, and STILL...so good) - and all I can say is - pure bliss. SACD's DO make a difference! How 'bout that! These speakers, mated with the Fathom, are simply the most wonderful additions I have ever made to my setup. I know I gave something up, but what I received in return...it was a no brainer. I know people around here have spent a lot more money than $700/pr for speakers. I quite frankly can't beleive how good these sound for that price. I guess that's why I took the leap.

I highly recommend the 685's for anyone thinking about a entry-mid-level 2 channel setup especially when mated with a good sub.

Now what to do with all this extra equipment...

Glad you like 'em. I still love my setup for both movies and especially music. Money well spent.

This is all great, as long as you don't want the CDM SNTs back.

Lookin for new speakers. 685's have made my list appreciate your reveiws.

Doug, if you note the signature, I have moved the B&W's into a new room with my Yamaha receiver running that as my source of amplification. It still sounds wonderful. I highly recommend them.

Hi

When I contacted B&W about what pair floor standing speakers to put in my den for a music only set-up they recommended B&W 684s or the B&W CM7's. How do the 684s or 685s compare to the CM7s? I listen to a lot of Rock and Alternative music. Do the B&Ws handle those types of music well? Whenever I go to their site I'm thinking the B&Ws are good for acoustic, Jazz or classical music more than rock. Thx in advance. JD

I can only tell you from experience with older model speakers. I have an HT setup including CDM7 NTs, CDM SNTs, a CDM CNT and a HSU STF-2. That setup is great in my HT room, which is 12' x 17', could shake the house, even when driven by my 1070.

I started with the CDM 7NTs for 2-channel about 9 years ago in my living room, 12' x 20', with lots of windows and doors. They were great for that purpose as well, driven by a 100-watt/ch integrated amp. Used them to play rock classical, bluegrass, jazz. They have great bass, even though they are not very large as towers go, and the highs are crystal clear. Before buying them I compared Dynaudio, Mirage, Canton and others. In fact, the day we bought them we set out to do a final test, expecting to buy a pair of Dynaudio 72s, but came home with the B&Ws.

About 2 yrs ago, when I started builting my HT I moved those upstairs and bought a slightly used pair of 703s from a neighbor for the 2-channel system. They are good, but I think the CDM 7s were tighter and clearer at the bottom, even though the 703s are significantly bigger. I do not sense that my integrated is being taxed, so I doubt that my issue with the 700s is due to a lack of power.

The bottom line is that B&W makes great speakers. Although some think they are overpriced, and the 800s probably are, the construction quality and sound place them in a class with much more expensive speakers.

I cannot tell you about the newer CM7s or the 600 series. But I repeat something I have said here before. There are lots of used B&W speakers available that are in very good condition (I bought the SNTs and CNT used through Audiogon).

The other thing I will tell you is don't rely on websites and others' recommendations (including mine). You should gather up some of your favorite music and plan to spend a few weekends traveling around to compare speakers. That's not easy in the big box store era, but there are places that offer reasonable listening spaces and more than one brand to try. The investment of time will pay off for many years.

Hello Mr. Becker.

Thank you so much for your insight & opinion. It is much appreciated as I'm new to higher-end speakers. One other thing that your reply got me thinking about is speaker break-in/run-in. I know the benefit of this is hotly debated but one additional benefit from buying used is I don't have to go through the whole process. I'm trying to do this with my current pair Athena speakers and finding varying content to play for 50-100 hours is a chore for me.

Thanks again. JD

I have found that the CDM series and the 600 series are excellent performers in their price ranges. I have the 600s3 series and have listened to the CDM's a lot. My choice was made when I was patient and found great deals one pair at a time used and got absolutely like new speakers for about half the price of new. There are deals out there if you have the time to wait for them. At half price you will be more than pleased. The 800's are phemonenal, but are very expensive but that technology trickles down to their more affordable lineups. I listen to almost everything: Metal, R&B, Jazz, Classical, Acoustic, HT, you name it.

As Bob said, spend some time and listen with your music if that's possible. You can't go by spec's alone because everyone's ears have different response curves and a speaker that has great specs might sound terrible to your ears whereas one with not so good specs might sound terrific. No two ears are alike.

I think Bob's recommendation on going to listen to speakers is the best and least adhered to advice out there.

We all have probably made the mistake of jumping on equipment and we damn well knew we could have spent more time researching - but we jump for a variety of reasons - impatience, the need for gratification, the "wife seems to be ok right now with this so I'd better pull the trigger before she gets un-ok with it..." factor (a big one that pushes the credit card out of my wallet... )...but at the very least, make sure you demo the speakers you do buy for a respectable time with music you know...pieces you know and are intimate with. You should be picking out subtle details that you "never heard before" and be oooh'd and aaah'd a couple times. That's the fun in shopping for gear. You don't get that blindly shopping on Audiogon.

But if you do settle on a certain model/manufacturer, Audiogon does have some killer deals all the time but they move fast so you have to be ready to jump. B&W's in particular move quite briskly. I've made it a point to hold onto the packaging for my new 685's and all the material that came with them because I'm very confident that when I get the upgrade bug again, I'll put them up for sale there, they'll move quickly, and the proceeds will fund the next duo of speakers to bless my listening space.