Customer Ratings & Reviews

Speaker sounds great for surround paired with the towers. Just wish it had a hook to hang it on the wall.

Very well pleased with the new-600 series 685 S2- Bowers and Wilkins bookshelf speakers hi Quality sound delivered from this new speaker design. Bose watch out !!

I replaced an excellent but dated pair of bookshelf speakers (KEF) with the Bowers & Wilkins speakers. They have excellent clarity and stereo separation, and so far I've seen no need to add a subwoofer.

We have a very high ceiling in the living room. The TV speakers didn't project the sound very well. These speakers project sound very well! We were considering adding a sub, but we don't need one.

We use two of theses speakers for our surround sound. We enjoy the heck out of them. We were considering a coupe more speakers to supplement but these are plenty for us.

Positioned these speakers so that the sound fills our open concept house. Not bad bass for bookshelf speakers, but for bass heavy music, would be best to have bass assist.

I've owned some very good speakers and B&W 658 S2 speakers are without doubt are top shelf. The matching stands add to the over all quality of the B&W line.

This is the right tool for you if: - you love music and prefer hearing it as the musicians & studio engineers did in the studio - have a small to approaching-medium-size room - hate mediocre sound - your receiver or amplifier has robust power with which to feed them I was a pro musician in the 80's and spent loads of time in recording studios. The last 2-channel audio speakers I bought was a pair of JBL L20T's in the 80's which cost me the 2015 equivalent of $900.14 plus tax. They have and continue to serve me well. 30 years later I got the itch and brought these B&W 685 S2's home. I set them up on stands about 1 foot from the wall in a 12'WX13'DX10'H guest room and hooked them up to a Yamaha C70 preamp & Yamaha M70 power amp (200wpc into 8ohms). A laptop served as the music source with JRiver Media Center (v19) as the software player of lossless flac files which were then fed to an outboard Schiit Modi DAC (Audioquest Forest USB & RCA cables). I turned it on and allowed this system to play non-stop for 2 days before listening to it. WOW! Fast, crystal clear, & natural sound. Amazing with vocals, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, acoustic drums, jazz, classical, rock; there's nothing they can't do well, and so much they do great. I had mixed feelings when I realized how much they trounced all over my old JBL's in every way - especially with bass, which is always tight & controlled. These are easily Highly Recommended.

These speakers rock! We always have something playing, tv, movies, and music. These speaker handle all with ease and are crystal clear.

I've been trying to replace my beloved Monitor Audio GR10's since I stupidly sold them to a friend (side note: If you have speakers you really love, don't think because you are willing to spend a bunch of money, that you will better them). In the past couple of months I've had several pairs in my house that I either bought and resold, demoed, or returned - Monitor Audio Gold GX100's (list price $2200), Epos Elan 15's ($1400), and Totem Acoustics Rainmakers ($1225), and straight out of the box, these 685's blew them all away. And I firmly believe that speakers need a good 100 hours of run in before they sound their best, so I expect them to sound even better in the coming weeks. Admittedly, I am powering them with a Rega Elex-R integrated amp ($1700), which has plenty of good, clean power, and is probably a cut above what most people would be using for an inexpensive bookshelf speaker, but I think a NAD 326, or something similar would drive them nicely. Nice, rich bass without any boominess - great detail in the high end without being fatiguing, and the mids sound fantastic with vocals. My favorite aspect so far is that even at lower volumes, they pull you in and make you want to listen closely - which I appreciate because I live in a condo building and don't want to have to crank it to really engage with the music. Yesterday, I was listening and realized I had something to do, and I thought I'll just listen to one more song, and then, one more song, and the next thing you know a half hour had flown past and I was running late - and this is literally straight out of the box. There is a reason these are getting all the rave reviews online - they punch way above their weight.

The sound these produce is very crisp and clean. they work great for movies and music.

I actually went to the store many times to hear these speakers, before deciding on getting them.

I like them without the cover so I can see those cool yellow woofers.

Where I live my choices for quality audio are limited. So I took a trip to my closest Magnolia store in the neighboring state. I brought with me a small selection of music and a few movies so that I could audition the speakers. I understand that how it sounds in the showroom is not exactly what I should expect in my home but it would give me some idea of what the speaker's themselves can handle. I told the Best Buy rep what my goals were. He brought me into the higher end sound room and let me audition the whole room. After trying out a few systems he steered me towards the B&W line. I had never heard of these guys but after the first demo it became my baseline for comparing everything else to. The sound was clear, full, and essentially my ears loved them. After about an hour of playing around with music, movies, and matching center and subs I finally settled on the 685s. They fit the balance of size and price I was looking for. I have not regretted the decision. They sound just as wonderful in my living room. I chose to match this up with the HTM62 S2 and the Energy ESW-C10 which was on sale for half the price of the B&W Sub. Music sound wonderful compared to my old Bose 321 system. And I find myself leaving the radio running all day now that music doesn't have that cruddy Bose sound. Movies are full and rich at all volume levels. When I finish building out my home theatre they will be with additional B&W speakers.

Salesman was very knowledgeable and helpful. Would recommend him to everyone.

These speakers out a smile on my face every time I hear them.

I purchased an lg tv and I am very happy with it and it's options

Great sounding speakers for a medium sized room. I prefer a bit more base and the 6-1/2" really performs vs the 5". Good but a bit pricey and a bit power hungry for a small amp.

I got this speaker and it was great for listening to music and movies. Build quality is excellent. The bass was low.

Really happy about my recent purchase I love to listen to music and like it to be loud awesome choice !