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

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.

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've been a proud owner of 685's since the beginning of the year. I, like most non-audiophiles, wasn't familiar with B&W's line up because before now, you had to go to specialty home theater stores to purchase them. I happened to demo them almost a year ago and was blown away by the quality of sound they were putting out for the money. I was really happy to see the Bowers and Wilkins name come to a larger distribution channel like Best Buy/Magnolia because it will give this incredible British brand more reach and exposure. These speakers have a great, smooth sound which for those more used to Klipsch will probably be a little disappointed. IMO, B&W's give a more accurate reproduction of the sound being sent to them. I'm not 100% on this, but I think that "smooth" sound is very characteristic of British brand speakers. My set up is: Pioneer Elite VSX-32, B&W 685 (L-R), B&W HTM62 (C), Bose V100 (surr), Polk 10" sub. Pretty mismatched, but the B&W front channel speakers are stars. I removed speaker covers to show off the yellow kevlar woofer cone and "Bowers and Wilkins" name plate. Movies sound very dynamic, detailed and move seamlessly from speaker to speaker. I'm eventually going to get a pair of 686's or 685's to replace the surrounds. For music, I go with just a 2.0 set up to let the 685's really shine. They sound very detailed and create a wonderful sound stage-- you'd swear the other speakers were on! For a little more lower end punch when listening to a little hip-hop, r&b, or rock, I'll switch to 2.1. I wasn't real big on just sitting and listening to music, but these speakers have really made me rediscover my music collection. Nothing to take away from the 686 or 684/683 floor standers, but the 685 is the sweet spot in the 600 series. For $650, these sound like a much more expensive set. Don't take my word for it! The 685's won all kinds of awards when they came out a few years ago. Go to What HiFi?'s website and read for yourself. They just named the 685 home theater the best traditional home theater package (1000-1500 british pounds) for the 3rd straight year.

If you're reading reviews of this product you already know that all loudspeakers are not created equal. There is little credible information that would lead you to doubt that Bowers & Wilkins represents an excellent value in their price range. These speakers are TRUE bookshelf design, meaning they're ported through the front! Any loudspeakers ported through the back, bottom, or sides is not true a bookshelf design because they rely on clearance behind, above, and on the sides for sound. Simple but effective wall mounts are available and work wonderfully. In my living room I simply cannot have floorstanding speakers because they will instantly become cat scratching posts. Sigh. But I had these on the wall, up and out of the way with very little work and no extra expense for brackets or mounts. I was very pleased to find that the package included small stick-on feet intended for setting the speakers on a surface, and also a set of larger standoff "feet" to put on the back when using the wall brackets. These standoffs hold the bottom of the speaker out the same distance as the bracket holds the top, so the speakers are perfectly parallel to the wall. This also eliminates cabinet-to-wall rattling. It's good to see the small touches like this. The two foam port plugs can be used to partially or totally choke the cabinet. Each plug will tighten the bass, meaning that you lose a little of the lowest frequency but gain response just above the choke point. Proper use of the port plugs is DEFINITELY dependent on your room and speaker location. It's very easy to swap them in and out. For instance, my speakers get a good deal of bass reinforcement from my ceiling and wall and sounded a little boomy until I put in the semi-closed plugs. Sound wise, both drivers in this speaker have well-known properties. The tweeter is crisp and moderately bright with no shrillness. Any reports of this tweeter being shrill are likely due to its inability to hide harshness; it's unforgiving of poor signal quality. The woofer is beautifully innocent of break-up and comes across a bit warm, which works very well for rock or jazz but may be a little too colorful for demanding classical listeners. The cabinets are more solid and resonance-free than almost anything you'll find (especially retail) in this price range. You're dealing with MDF wood with black laminate, which is not ideal but you'd need to pay more for a true hardwood finish. This is more a price than quality issue. I can't imagine anyone having a problem with these speakers unless their idea of audio is solely based on sattelite-subwoofer systems.

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.

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.

I've tried several speakers in my living room (15X30 Feet) to create a full and good imaging sound experience. These are (in my opinion) the only true bookshelf speakers that can deliver floor standing quality sound imaging. these are the only "bookshelf" speakers that are TRUELY bookshelf speakers. WHY? because the woofer port is front firing. Almost all other "bookshelf" speakers are rear port firing which defeats the "bookshelf" definition because the woofer port fires in the rear (wall). Well, if you place them on a "bookshelf" the port will be blocked from the back of the "bookshelf". whether you crank up some good old "Earth Wind and Fire" or "Adele", these speakers make you close your eyes and imagine you are at a live performance. As a bonus, you can Bi-Amp (google search what this means) these speakers which truly brings them ALIVE! They are floor-standing speakers at a fraction of the cost and space!

After comparing a lot of speakers over the months. The B&W 685B is the best sounding bookshelf speaker out there. I think they sound even better then the higher end B&W bookshelf speakers with a fuller sound field. The quality and detail you get when listening to these speakers is amassing. Right now I'm using them as my main connected to a Pioneer Elite SC-35 and when I crank it up my neighbors hear them. If you want an accurate speaker that reproduces sound the artist intended you to hear get these speakers you will NOT be disappointed.