Customer Ratings & Reviews

Bought these for my home theater system. They sound great with smooth sound. They work well with my subwoofer.

I use these speakers as the left and right channel in my home theater. They sound great, good bass and great highs. Definitely pleased with this purchase

Excellent build quality and outstanding sound clarity. Listen and enjoy to any genre of music with these babies and I bet they will make you go WOW :)

These speakers have excellent range and Sound-field imagining. I found them easy to set up in my living room and I use them for listening to music (just using them alone) and for movies in 5 speaker surround sound. One may like to add a sub-woofer. I currently live in an apartment and have stored my sub-woofer for now.

this is my first pair bookshelf speakers and I was impressed with their performance and build quality. although I found them bit pricey for the quality of sound they produce. I woudl recommedn this over 686s2 as 685's midrange sound response is much better.

Overall, a very good sounding bookshelf speaker. The highs on the 685 S2 model is more spacious and detailed than the previous 685 model. The bass is a little lacking due to the placement of bass port in the front vs the back. Still, a very enjoyable speaker to listen to for hours on end without fatigue.

These are by far the best speakers for the money. I originally had planned to purchase a set of Bose speakers but these were recommended by a sales associate. After hearing them in the store, I was quite impressed. These are crazy good for the home. I'm blown away. These are of way better value than any other speaker.

This speaker really sound good very clear and precise. I love it no regret in buying it.

Moved into a new home and had to replace my floor standing speakers with bookshelf units. After listening to a number of different products went with these as they had the best overall sound. Highs were clear, lows were strong for a small speaker. Fit and finish is top notch.

I love my BW speakers. These are my left and right rear channels. It’s amazing how much surround sound you get out of these compared to my old speakers. So amazing. Best speakers for the price. You can’t beat this steal of a deal. Buy buy buy.

Great speakers! I spent hours in the magnolia center testing out what they had. By far, B&W was the best!

This speaker sounds amazing; recordings of acoustic guitars you’d swear the person was in the room with you. Vocals are a little too up front but at this price there are bound to be some trade offs. Bass is surprising for a bookshelf speaker

listened to these speakers at a best buy store-sounded great-found b and w cm5 s2 on line- returned the 685s and bought the cm5 s2-theyare a little bet crisper

Great upgrade from B&W 685. The design is similar but the protection of the tweeter is great and a little bit slimmer than the previous ones. The sound improvement of the speakers are great both in high and low. Always looking around a matching subwoofer but convinced myself these speakers are great even without a subwoofer.

I absolutely fell in love with the B&W sound when I first heard them at a friend's place (he had a complete 683, 685, HTM61 S1 setup powered by an Emotiva XPA-7 and a Marantz SR-7010). I knew I had to get them. I waited patiently until I had completely my move to California while on the meantime I did plenty of research on pre-pros, amps, speakers, and other HT topics. I budgeted around $5k total with the TV. A few months later, I was in California and decided to listen to them one more time. I pulled the trigger on 683 S2 for FLR, HTM62 S2 for C, and 686 S2 for SLR. I got the Marantz SR-5010 for the receiver. I carried over a SVS SB12-NSD sub. I was looking to save a few bucks on center and surrounds. I wasn't happy. I ended up returning them for HTM61 S2 and 685 S2. They just sounded much fuller (without getting into too much audiophile lingo) and matched better with the 683 S2. As this is a review for the 685 S2, I will say as much as these are very darn good bookshelves for the price. And at MSRP, they're hard to beat (note: if you can find sales on speakers like JBL Studio 530, I'd say it be a better speaker - the new ELAC UniFi UB5 also seem promising). They produce plenty of bass for their size and have sparkling highs (the tweeter with the Nautilus tube design is much better than the original S1 tweeter). Midrange is honesty where this speaker lacks a little if I had to be picky. The 683 S2 with its dedicated Kevlar midwoofer performs better, but that's not to say the 685 S2's is rubbish. It's not. I also highly recommend you put these on stands and give them a few weeks to break in. As for amp choice, anything with 50W or more per channel will suffice. I highly recommend anyone looking to build a HT with a budget of $4000 for speakers to look at the 600 series from B&W. They should be on the everyone's shortlist. If you're looking for bookshelves around this price range too, I'd recommend having to these on your shortlist. Your ears will thank you.

I purchased these to replace my Infinity RS5 tower speakers. I am amazed at the quality of the music and sound these speakers provide. The sound is more crisp and natural than my previous speakers, and they don't take up much space.

Hard to believe these are bookshelf speakers. Crisp and full sound...with very good bass. Having said that...I will probably add the sub woofer...after listening to the combination at Magnolia. It adds a new dimension to the sound!

These speakers are awesome. I bought them after researching, listening to them at B.B. and reading BB online reviews. If you hear these you’ll buy them. Totally worth the price for both music and movies

I am very satisfied with the sound of the speakers.

I am a huge cinema enthusiast and I love watching big epic movies at home. My Onkyo home theater in a box was great when I was in college but I wanted to step up to the next level. I picked up these B&W 685's and I am extremely glad that I did! I watched Man of Steel that first night I hooked them up and it was just like a movie theater. The music was more powerful the sound drew me and my family right in. Also sounds great with music and Cable. I definitely recommend it if you are an audiophile looking for the next level in home theater.