Bowers and Wilkins 685 Standmount Speakers
The new Bowers & Wilkins 685 Standmount Loudspeakers are just about one of the best all round performing speakers you buy today for under £500. They have quickly established themselves as the one to beat and ruffled a few feathers in the camps of the competitors.
Measuring 198mm wide by 340mm tall with a depth of 331mm and a sensitivity of 88db into a nominal impedence of 8ohms, the Bowers and Wilkins 685 loudspeakers really are the one to beat at the moment.
Borrowing heavily from their more illustrious and expensive brother, the B&W 805S Standmounts, the 685s are essentially a cut down version using very similar kevlar drive units and crossover components without the same standard of finish lavished upon the B&W 805's - mind you to be fair they are £1200 cheaper !
However what you do get is a geniune all round performer that is very hard to catch out and like the best of the rest costing under £500 manage to get the music right more often than not and in doing so embarass many other makes with a price tag two to three times as much.
It is no wonder with a performance like this that What Hi-Fi quite correctly awarded the Bowers and Wilkins 685 speaker the prestigous 2007 Product of the Year in the Stereo Speaker category.
If you planning to upgrade in the not to distant future and have a budget of £500 set, then the Bowers and Wilkins 685s at £380 are an absolute steal and a must audition.
This entry was posted on Tuesday November 6th, 2007 at 6:14 PM and is filed under Loudspeakers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
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1 Response to Bowers and Wilkins 685 Standmount Speakers
Dan peithman Says:
November 22nd, 2010 at 10:55 PM
Hello!
I 've had a pair of 685s since August 2008 - they replaced my former DM602s2 that I had since 1999. I LOVE B&W! They "get it right" better than any other true audiophile company that builds their own speakers.
B&Ws need to be "broken-in" over a period of time - my 685s started to 'open up' and 'disappear' sonically after about 20 hours. And they seemingly get even better over time - probably my ears getting used-to how good they really are. Mine are on SolidSteel's SS-5B 20.5" high stands, filled with lead shot. I have them bi-wired to my Counterpoint SA-5.1/SA-12 'combo' of "classic" tube gear with two pairs of Monster M2.2s cables.
Is it worth it? You better believe it!!!
I've been into 'audio' gear since the late '60s and have 'fine-tuned' my systems because it's "fun" to do and you get the benefits of paying attention to the 'details' that make a difference - you can HEAR it!
Someday I want a pair of N805s in 'real' black ash, but for now there's NOTHING that can seriously "worry" the 685s at anywhere near their price point! They're an audiophile/music lover's delight and a stone-cold bargain.
Enjoy the Music! Dan