B&W 603s2 or 705s2

[drphlox]

Hello, trying to decide on front speakers for a 5.1 with possibly adding another sub later if needed. The room is fairly large with 12’ ceilings. This setup would be for 70/30 movie to music. I’m looking at the B&W 706s2 or the B&W 603 S2 anniversary edition. I have listened to both in a Magnolia store and love the sound of both. Nothing else in the room was close. Thanks for your guidance!

The other equipment in the room will be,
Sony XBR900 75”
Denon AVR-X3700.
Center channel matched to the fronts
Surround rear in ceiling: B&W CCM683
Subwoofer: SVS PC-2000
Floor plan:

 

[Gasp3621]

Hello, trying to decide on front speakers for a 5.1 with possibly adding another sub later if needed. The room is fairly large with 12’ ceilings. This setup would be for 70/30 movie to music. I’m looking at the B&W 706s2 or the B&W 603 S2 anniversary edition. I have listened to both in a Magnolia store and love the sound of both. Nothing else in the room was close. Thanks for your guidance!

The other equipment in the room will be,
Sony XBR900 75”
Denon AVR-X3700.
Center channel matched to the fronts
Surround rear in ceiling: B&W CCM683
Subwoofer: SVS PC-2000
Floor plan:
View attachment 1624726

If you had to choose from B&W my money would go to 706S2 or 704 S2 (open box / ex-demo/ex-display pair ask around and never pay RRP price!!). They are without doubt more balanced and detailed for music listening and they look much better (no vinyl wrap). The main thing why i would choose 700 serie is the HTM 71 S2 larger 3-way center channel which is the most active speaker in your system with movies! It will cost more, but will be worth every penny. This has been the case since CM range, i believe real world stories from owners who has owned both. Build slowly and you end up with great system. Also keep in mind if you now buy 600 serie that leaves you upgrade path and you will be thinking "what if..". Go with the 700 serie and i believe you hit the sweet spot and the next path with B&W would be the uber expensive 800 range which is more serious audiophiles with expensive amps etc. So if you think about this for long term i believe the 700 serie is where you want to be at! Ask around if you can find cheaper 704 S2 pair, there is tons of B&W dealers in US..

As you live in US i would register to AVSForum (US based) and ask in this thread which dealer they recommend for best pricing / deals regarding 700 range. You can mention that you looking 704 S2 ex-demo pair if you are fine with that. You can save so much vs. new and get full warranty.

B&W Owner's Thread

I made a mistake the subs have a spectate box because I they are passive subwoofers not active, Sorry my bad. I just got off the phone with my buddy who has 3 of the CT8.4’s and was able to get his for much less than list price, did you ask your dealer for a discount? Also did you look on the...

www.avsforum.com

Keep us posted what you end up with!

 

[rccarguy2]

I'd demo other brands personally find b&w sound bit brash

 

[drphlox]

Thanks for the suggestions, do you feel the bookshelves are enough to fill the room adequately? I’m not looking for perfect home theater immersion but I do want the system to at least fill the room with rich sound. I have posted some questions on AVS, thanks for the link to the BW owners thread I will check it out. I plan to audition some focal, KEF and paradigm speakers tomorrow to be sure I like the B&W as much as I do.

 

[Gasp3621]

Thanks for the suggestions, do you feel the bookshelves are enough to fill the room adequately? I’m not looking for perfect home theater immersion but I do want the system to at least fill the room with rich sound. I have posted some questions on AVS, thanks for the link to the BW owners thread I will check it out. I plan to audition some focal, KEF and paradigm speakers tomorrow to be sure I like the B&W as much as I do.

Great, ask them to use Denon X3700H in pure direct mode if you can compare few speakers. If you listen the speakers with some high end stereo amp it´s going to be quite different what you have at home. Naturally it won´t sound 1:1 to your home as the room/acoustics are very different, but you will get some idea. Kef R range and Focal Aria battles with B&W 700 where as Kef Q and Focal Chora are more in line with B&W 600 serie. Paradigms are said to be more on bright side, if you feel they are bit harsh (try higher volumes too) then it might give listening fatigue in long run so something to keep in mind. Hopefully you can listen some music and also play some clips from movies, using different material.

I believe most people would opt floorstanders and dual subwoofers in such large open room as yours, that is why i mentioned the 704 S2 as you would get the midrange driver and extra bass driver. I wouldn`t pay the RRP price though and they are still bit on small side. Focal Aria 926 and Kef R5/R7 are likely out of your budget. Focal Chora is intresting option as they do offer large center channel and the floorstanders Chora 816/826 would fit your budget similar to Kef Q750/Q950 and Q650c. But are they musically satisfying then? For movies i believe they can be satisfying.

I wonder how you going to have surround speakers there as the room is so open and it would be painfull to hide the wires. Some US folks use ceiling speakers as surrounds due to open plan and not having walls close by. Also the tv/av-cabinet should ideally go more left so you have more space to spread the mains apart due to door (arch) on the right hand side. You don´t want to squeeze front three too close together and then sit far away from them, but at the end of day you do what is possible.

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