Bowers & Wilkins - 6-1/2" 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) - Black Ash Vinyl

Looking for a small bookshelf class speaker with good tonal quality, excellent imaging, firm balance and good range? Look no further. The B&W 685s are a great choice. Surprisingly good low end for small speaker.

These speakers were the final piece to my home theater setup. I listen to all types of music and was getting back into watching movies. The wife complained about my playing movies too loud so I never set up the old system after we moved. I moved again an got a new HD monitor so it was movie time again. I had Yamaha bookshelves for the front and center with sony rears. First problem was old A/V receiver had no sub out and only component connections I had Yamaha so went to best buy and bought a new unit, now I needed a sub. I like bass a lot when things go boom, and if the sound engineer puts it on the track I expect to hear and feel it. Finding myself back at best buy I asked the fatal question for my check book. What is a good sub for movies. The magnolia guys had my answer, a Martin Logan dynamo 500. We'll it didn't sound as good at home. Back to best buy the demo was with a pioneer elite receiver. Listen close with Yamaha and pioneer. Took a pioneer vsx-53 home and let the daughter hear both. Yamaha got returned. Now the problem really set in. I had been sitting in the magnolia room and those floor standers sounded good. After taking with the magnolia team they suggested the B&W speakers for my taste and usage. After much deliberation and score listening I got the 683's and the htm62 center. We'll it was great, but the receiver was capable of driving two subs. So here came a second ML 500 sub. So now what to do with the rears. We'll for room size the 686's would have been fine but I just had to listen to them and the 685's like I had done for the 683's decision. We'll of course I knew better, but at the same levels the 685's just had more fullness. They are a bit larger also, but as I have them stand mounted that is not as much of an issue if I had had to wall mount them. These speakers can be used for fronts and have great reviews for that reason. The only reason for giving them up would be to move to the CM series. You can hear the difference in the two series of speakers but my wallet could not. No matter what, once you have gone down the path of the B&W speakers, forever will it consume your destiny.

I recently bought a Sony STR-DN1050 receiver at BestBuy. I also bought the Sony CS5 bookshelf speakers and the Sony CS9 active subwoofer, but felt the CS5 speakers were too bright / trebly. I replaced them with a pair of Bose 301 speakers, and was surprised at how hollow the sound was (I had run Easy Setup on the Sony receiver for calibration, but may not have configured the subwoofer correctly). I returned the Bose 301 speakers and was intending to purchase the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR bookshelf speakers and the Pioneer SW-8MK2 active subwoofer (both designed by Andrew Jones), but I wandered into the Magnolia studio while at the store, and after comparing the Pioneers (which the salesperson brought into the studio for me) to the B&W 685 S2s, I was amazed how full the B&W sound was - highs, mids, lows. I should note that my primary use of these speakers - and other audio components in my system - is listening to music (mostly rock, jazz, folk, bluegrass). I did play a bit of The Dark Knight on my BluRay player, and they sounded fine. I did not do a side-by-side comparison between subwoofers. I've read some less-than-positive comments on AVSForum about the B&W ASW610 subwoofer, and after a few weeks with this setup I'm still tinkering with the settings on the Sony STR-DN1050 and the B&W ASW610. I mention this here because I read another review here (and another elsewhere) suggesting you don't need a subwoofer with the B&W 685 S2s. That may well be true ... but the more I've read, the more I believe that a subwoofer rounds the sound out nicely. I've tried the speakers with the subwoofer disabled, and I like the overall sound better with the subwoofer enabled. One thing I did not initially note about these speakers is that the are considerably deeper (12-3/8") than the Sony CS5, the Bose 301, the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR and all of the other speakers I saw out on the main floor of BestBuy. I did not think to examine the depth of these or others speakers in the Magnolia studio. The B&W 685 S2s are designed to be mounted on stands, but due to our room configuration, I have to mount these in shelves, and they overhang the 11" deep shelves by about 2". The B&W 685 S2s are about 5x more expensive than the Pioneers, 3x more expensive than the Sony CS5s, and 2x more expensive than the Bose 301s, but after listening to the B&Ws,, I knew I would always be dissatisfied if I didn't upgrade. My last speakers were a pair of floor-standing Laser 150s, which included 10" woofers, and they have lasted me 30 years (my daughter has them now), so I'm hoping the extra investment will amortize out over a long period.

This is my second set of 685s and the sound is excellent. The high is clear and the bass is tight and loud enough to enjoy both music and movies. Even without a subwoofer, you can enjoy the sound of 685s.

Crystal clear sound quality. Amazing speakers. Even made my old cd's sound great again. Highly recommend!!

This is the best bookshelf I have ever owned. Sound stage and separation of the sound are great in music and there is enough bass in movies. Now, I see why they call B&W is the BMW of speaker brand. I added subwoofer such as Def Tech Prosub 1000 and SVS PB-1000 to these. If you do not want room shaking bass and cannot increase AVR gain -20 db for some reason. You do not need subwoofer with these speakers. I am completely satisfied with the sound of speakers.

Those speakers are $650/pair NOT per speaker. this works out to $325/speaker. Compare that to the rest @ Magnolia in this price range and it's just a no brainer. B&W is a well known brand of high end speakers and 685s don't dissapoint. Its a tremendous value @ this price point. I was upgrading from 10 year old Boston's Lynnfield VR 40s - large towers w/2 6.5" woofers and big boxes. The 685s sounded way better, clearer, cleaner and just more airy. Basically it felt like getting multiple levels upgrade in sound, or taking the proverbial ear-plugs out. The one thing to keep in mind is that to get the best sound you should have a subwoofer in any decent sized room if you are thinking about using those speakers as front stage - which they are completely capable of doing. In the end I ended up returning them and getting CM-8s (next level up line of B&W's and the small tower size), but those are basically 3xPrice / per speaker (@ $1100/speaker). I did that because they do sound a bit better and have a much higher quality finish w/piano/gloss black. Thy are in a large 2 story family room about 25x20 feet w/18 foot ceiling so I have space for the larger speakers.

I LOVE the speaker, it is perfect size and the sound quality is super