Hi-Fi overhaul - Specific B&W 6xx series advice

Barks

Barks

Barks

Soldato
Joined
20 Jul 2008
Posts
4,480
Hi,

First of all my current equipment:
NAD C320BEE Amplifier (80W/channel)
Tannoy F2s
Wharfedale SW150 Subwoofer

I have two main uses for my Hi-Fi equipment. Firstly I enjoy listening to music just like the rest of us. For this quality is obviously important. However, I am also a student and being the 'audio nerd' of the house I always end up using my setup when we're having parties and I've decided I want something that is going to deliver. I bought the SW150 to give the setup more bass but it's a cheap solution and is more suited to films.

Firstly, no matter what happens I'm going to sell my NAD amp and upgrade to a new amp. I'm looking for a minimum of 120W/channel power rating. Something similar to a NAD C 375BEE (150/channel) but that is way out of my budget. My budget for the amp can't really go over £400. Is that simply not enough?
Secondly, I've set my heart on the B&W 6xx series. I've seen them in Hi-Fi shops (not asked for a demo yet) and I think they look ace :p

- The 683 floorstanders. They look incredible but what are they actually like? I'm sure quality-wise they will sound amazing, but would they be able to take a good 2-3 hour thrashing at a house party or should I look elsewhere? Would my amp budget be realistic to drive these?
- Alternatively I thought about getting the 685 bookshelf speakers and banking the rest of the money until I can afford to go all out on an expensive setup. If I do opt for these, am I going to notice much difference between my current F2s in terms of volume?




I'd really appreciate some advice as I'm a bit confused.

Many thanks!!

P.S. When I use the term house party please don't imagine us as a bunch of chavs listening to Kanye West in a blow-up-the-sub competition. That's not us, what I usually do is have the speakers at about 70% volume (so pretty loud) and keep them running for a couple of hours :D
 
I dont think £400 is enough to get you a NEW amp that will give you a noticable improvement over your current one. It will buy you a very nice second hand one though.

That kind of money will let you snap up something like a Roksan Kandy LIII, I had one and it was a simply stonking amp, huge dynamics and clarity. Its one of the most musical amps ive heard under a grand. I dont think you will find better for the cash, I demod quite a few before deciding on it. It also has the power to drive some pretty decent speakers. I ran mine with Monitor Audio GS10s, but I did loan a set of RS8s for a while and it had more than enough grunt for them.

Dont get to hung up on the B&Ws, make sure you demo quite a few. im personally not a fan of B&W, I made the stupid mistake once of buying a set of speakers just on the strength of reviews, a set of B&W CDM1, whilst the mid range were great, the bass was slow and ponderous, a trait ive heard in a few B&Ws since. all I can say id demo, demo, demo. if you can find a decent local hi-fi shop they will be more than happy to let you sit and play for a few hours.
 
scott212 said:
Something similar to a NAD C 375BEE (150/channel) but that is way out of my budget. My budget for the amp can't really go over £400. Is that simply not enough?
Click to expand...

not if you want a quality amp @ 120wpc minimum, at that price you're looking at quality 2 channel amps about the same wattage as you already have .....and that's 2nd hand.

how about the CambridgeAudio 740A which is 100wpc....should be able to pick one of these up 2nd hand within your budget - pretty decent amp too.

barring that you could try some older gear on auction, but the good stuff still goes for good money because a lot of the best stuff is older.



scott212 said:
Secondly, I've set my heart on the B&W 6xx series. I've seen them in Hi-Fi shops (not asked for a demo yet) and I think they look ace :p

- The 683 floorstanders. They look incredible but what are they actually like? I'm sure quality-wise they will sound amazing, but would they be able to take a good 2-3 hour thrashing at a house party or should I look elsewhere? Would my amp budget be realistic to drive these?
- Alternatively I thought about getting the 685 bookshelf speakers and banking the rest of the money until I can afford to go all out on an expensive setup. If I do opt for these, am I going to notice much difference between my current F2s in terms of volume?
Click to expand...

quite awhile back i demo'd some B&W 6 series speakers on two occasions once of which was on some uber expensive Chord pre/power amps and found them wanting to be honest - they sounded very flat to me with a more laid back sound than i expected.....most likely great speakers if all you play is heavy metal but they weren't very revealing at all. if you want party speakers they might suit the bill to be honest but don't expect to get thrilled by them at moderate levels on you're own or be able to pick out every little instrument ....they're just not terribly revealing, it's almost like they have a 3" piece of foam taped to the front.

with the Chord gear we switched between the 683/685 versus some Monitor Audio RS6 and GS10's and also some Quad speakers (21L2 i think) and as soon as he put the GS10's on i was gobsmacked - sure they're £900 bookshelfs but they left all the others in the shade for everything bar some lower bass extension which is natural. i like you had a soft spot for the B&W 6's because of all the hype surrounding them but after listening to the MA speakers they weren't for me.....the RS6 also sounded very good for the price which is about the same as the 684's, more revealing than the B&W but just not as special as the Gold Series...the Quads aren't bad either and worth a listen.

you have to demo and gauge for yourself, all of us have a particular signature of sound that we like and you also have to match the amp to the speakers - this makes a huge difference.

as far as difference in volume unless you're F2's are very hard to drive (unlikely) you won't hear much difference except that the floorstanders will give you a lot more bass extension than the bookshelfs.
 
I love my 685s and they can certainly take a good blasting. I particularly like the clarity they give in the midrange for vocal songs :)

The 683s are monsters and will certainly blow you away ;) - but you'd need an amp to match. A friend has a MA RS6 / Cyrus system and that sounds very nice indeed - excellent detail and good bass.
 
There are certainly some decent Hi-Fi shops around here so I'll definitely pop in and have a listen.

I'd like to buy the speakers brand new to be honest, but I'd certainly be willing to go second hand on the amp. Will Hi-Fi shops sell them second hand or am I looking at eBay. Any other decent places where I can buy used Hi-Fi gear?

Many thanks for the advice
 
scott212 said:
I'd like to buy the speakers brand new to be honest, but I'd certainly be willing to go second hand on the amp. Will Hi-Fi shops sell them second hand or am I looking at eBay. Any other decent places where I can buy used Hi-Fi gear?

Many thanks for the advice
Click to expand...

it's your choice but there's some amazing deals to be had at the moment with 2nd hand gear - like the GS10's i talked about which are usually about for sale/auction at about £400-500...forget B&W they absolutely brain them.

AVForums is a good place too, i picked up my P90 power amp there for a bargain price.
 
marscay said:
it's your choice but there's some amazing deals to be had at the moment with 2nd hand gear - like the GS10's i talked about which are usually about for sale/auction at about £400-500...forget B&W they absolutely brain them.

AVForums is a good place too, i picked up my P90 power amp there for a bargain price.
Click to expand...

The GS10s are stunning speakers, I love mine but pickign up a decent set 2nd hand is hard work. the ones in the not so popular finishes tend to go for around £400-£500. But if you want the light oak or black expect to pay a premium. I ended up buying them new in the end, I got the price down from £900 to £810.

So while they are another big step up from what your looking at, expect to pay a bit more. there worth it though :cool:
new-setup-close.jpg
 
You could probably get a second hand Audiolab 8000S/P combo for £400, which would give you a 100 (more like 120) watt power amp and a 60w integrated you could use to drive the top end.

Might have to get silver ones though, but they're not 'crap' as a lot of hifi snobs seem to make out (I've got a 90's black and a new silver 8000p and there is little difference between the two)
 
kidloco said:
The GS10s are stunning speakers, I love mine but pickign up a decent set 2nd hand is hard work. the ones in the not so popular finishes tend to go for around £400-£500. But if you want the light oak or black expect to pay a premium. I ended up buying them new in the end, I got the price down from £900 to £810.

So while they are another big step up from what your looking at, expect to pay a bit more. there worth it though :cool:
Click to expand...

i see them for sale all the time here and there, ppl love them but trade up for some extra bass extension ...very hard to find a better speaker without going considerably higher in price grade.

big brother says hi btw :p

 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom