Customer Ratings & Reviews

Not Bad at all for starter set. My first 2 speakers for my furture 5.1 setup

I was looking for some speakers to listen to music. I invested in a Klipsch surround system. It was ok but there was something missing. I went in to best buy and told an associate there my problem. He recommended these speakers. I ordered them, hooked them up, and listened. What a difference. I can hear each instrument. I can hear the artists fingers slideing over the guitar frets. The speakers have great separation and spacing. There is just enough bass to fill out the music without thumping. They sound like a much larger pair of speakers from a different era. I am very happy with this purchase.

The speakers sound OK for their size, a little more bass capability would be better. For the money and size they are OK for what I needed on a bookshelf.

I replaced my 2 bookshelf speakers with these keeping same subwoofer and Denon receiver as before and wow what a difference in the clarity, the bass, and the listenability! Before my ears grew tired, but not here, well worth the investment, i read that the most important upgrade was the speakers not the receiver and that is correct! and great service at Best Buy too thanks!

Audio, like many things in life, is very subjective. Some people like highs, other mids and others lows. Not all kinds of music are for everyone too, but trying to be as objective as possible, these little speakers rock at Jazz and Classical. Obviously, if you like a hard rock punch bass, you will need to add a sub-woofer. Being a bookshelf with a 6.5" woofer they won't go down in that range of the frequency response, but they are not too shabby playing Rock. These speaker are very clear and not muddy at all. I did not get tired of listening and had great stage presence to me. It's all about room size and speaker location. They are so pretty, I play them without the grills on. One last thing, the listening room at Magnolia did no justice to these speakers. Thanks to the many positive reviews I read, I knew they were not performing well at the store, for so many people can't be that wrong. They are not very efficient at 87 db sensitivity, so you will need a good amp. Once up in volume, you will see how these speaker rock and perform.

These are some of the greatest value speakers over the past few yrs. getting a lot for a good price and not too power hungry

After 2 weeks of listening I'm very impressed with their sound. Took some time for the bass to show up and the highs to soften. I didn't bi-amp them but they are capable of it. I hooked them to a Marantz AVR and use them as L/R front mains for HT and casual listening using bluetooth. Just for grins I connected them to my serious listening amp. Gee Wally!! I do believe they give the Triton 3 plus floor standers a run for the money. They are just at a handicap due to being a bookshelf speaker. If you're looking for great sounding small speakers these will do nicely. I listened to Def Tech Demand 9, and a KEF Q series and the B&W won out IMO.

I picked up my set of Bowers and Wilkins 685 S2 last Thursday 3 Mar '16 from Magnolia in Oklahoma City OK and after 4 days of listening to music through these speakers i am very impressed. The Treble and Mid-range are crisp and the Bass is tight without any strain. I am powering my 685s set up as a basic two channel stereo without a Sub-woofer with my Marantz PM 8004 Integrated amp with 70 watts of clean power and a Marantz SA 8004 SACD player. These speakers perform nicely without a Sub-woofer and I recommend to anyone looking for a great set of speakers to give them a try. Though my taste for music is not restricted to just one type, I have mainly been listening to Classic Rock for the past few days but I believe these speakers would compliment any musical preferences.

I upgraded to these speakers from Definitive Technology SM450. The DefTechs sounded great but these definitely sounded better. Happy with my purchase.

You can't go wrong with B&W, they are replacing a set of MartinLogans. They are much better handling my music, love them!

If you're looking for some knockout rock and roll speaker stop now and go to Klipsch or even Cerwin Vega. If you're looking for a speaker that can resolve the difference between components and also dig down deep and to your music files regardless of media this might be the speaker for you. One of the most overlooked aspects of the 865 S2 is the fact that it comes with Port Stops. Pieces of circular foam which can be inserted into the port(s) changing the speaker from a bass reflex design into an acoustic suspension design. So why does this matter? If you're going to be using the speakers as standalone transducers by all means keep the ports open. This will give you the greatest sensitivity and lowest bass extension. However if you plan to use a subwoofer particularly in a small room you definitely want to use the port stops. pulling the speakers away from the wall you'll find that the integration between the 865 S2s and your subwoofer will be much better. The base will be much more articulate and well-defined. You'll also note that the speakers have a lot more "slam" and this configuration. In any case try them both ways and see which one you like best. Ultimately it's your ears that need to be satisfied. Good listening.

These speakers have crystal clear sound quality. Great value for the money.

Great speaker for the price point and has great sound quality! Love listening to music with the 2 channels just need to add a sub then ill be set! cant wait to get their big brother 683s in the future to get the full 5.1 feel for movies! But overall this new 685s are great speakers they can go way louder then i need them to and are very reliable!! 5 year warranty cant complain about that either!

These are the first pair of hi-if speakers that I've owned and I must say that I've fallen in love with the 6 series. I have the 686s in my rear as well as well as these in the fronts and they do a great job. They can get super loud and provide superb clarity. I have these paired with a pioneer LX 501 receiver and they compliment each other very well.