B&W 685 S2 & Marantz SR 5008

[timtom]

Friends,

Sharing my experience on acquiring the new speakers and amplifier

Requirement : 2.1 Speakers to compliment my big TV. Can be Bookshelf or Floor Stander, Movies : Music would be 80:20.

I have not had any speakers earlier and the only system I have is the BOSE sounddock which i have been using with IPOD for last 9 years and it still sounds good. I had decided on BOSE cinemate SurroundBAr which sounded good on Demo that also reduces all the wiring associated with speakers and Amps. Still I decided to demo some speakers just for the sake of it before the big purchase.

Based in Chennai, I had no clue of retailers for HiFI systems. Started googling and came across HifiVision. First a big thanks to HIFIVISION and its members that has immensely helped on my eventual purchase. Based on information gathered, shortlisted below venues for audition.


1. http://volumate.in/volumate-brand.html
2. The Audio People
3. Grand Cinema | We furnish your thoughts on Home entertainment experience
4. ProFX CHennai
5. Welcome To Decibel, a Leader in Home Entertainment Solutions | decibel - the art of sound | Home Theatre, Hi-Fi, Custom Installation, High End Audio, Multi Zone Installers Chennai, India
6. Torvin - Products | Accessories
7. AutoNode Best Car Stereo Home Entertainment Shop Chennai
8. Audio craft/ Craftel
9. Cressida AV Zone
10. :: Vipul Audio Tech ::
11. Cinema Focus
12. Rebhin Systems
13. http://www.fendaaudio.com/index.html
14. http://hometheatersolutions.in
15. Http://cinebels.com


Eventually could visit only the below based on the hectic schedules and travel spanned across 3 weeks.

1. http://volumate.in/volumate-brand.html
2. The Audio People
3. Grand Cinema | We furnish your thoughts on Home entertainment experience
4. ProFX CHennai
5. Welcome To Decibel, a Leader in Home Entertainment Solutions | decibel - the art of sound | Home Theatre, Hi-Fi, Custom Installation, High End Audio, Multi Zone Installers Chennai, India
6. :: Vipul Audio Tech ::


Honestly I do not recollect the models of receivers auditioned hence indicated those as ?? . Also I carried my media player to play movies and TV shows of my choice.

I am no AUDIOPHILE and below are purely my observations.

Speakers auditioned ::

Decibel

1. B&W 685 S2 + Rotel ?? - Fantastic
2. B&W 683 s2 + Rotel ?? - The Best
3. B&W 685 s2 + Pioneer ?? - Fantastic
4. B&W 683 S2 + Pioneer ?? - The Best
5. B&W 685 S2 + Marantz ?? - Fantastic
6. Revel M12 + Pioner ? - Good
7. Revel F12 + Pioner ? - Good
8. QAccoustics 2020i + Pioneer ? - OK
9. QAccoustics 2050i + Pioneer ? - OK

Subwoofer for all the above combo -B&W ASW 610 - Very Good.

Vipul Audio Tech

1. Yamaha NSF 140 + Yamaha RXV 377 - Decent
2. Yamaha NSF 140 + Yamaha RXV 477 - Decent
3. Yamaha NSF 140 + Yamaha RXV 577 - Decent
4. Yamaha NSF 150 + Yamaha RXV 577 - Decent
5. Dali Zensor 3 + Yamaha RXV 577 - OK

Subwoofer for all the above combo - Yamaha SW 215 - Decent

GrandCinema

1. Paradigm 5.1 ? + Denon ? - Very good
2. Wharfdale Jade 3 + Denon ? - Very good
3. Wharfdale Floorstanders ?? + Denon ?? - Good.

ProFX

1. POLK TSX 220 + Pioneer or Denon (not sure) - Good.
2. Polk 440 + Pioneer or Denon (not sure) - Good.


The AUdIO People

1. Monitor Audio Rx2 + Denon ?? - Fantastic
2. Monitor Audio Rx6 + Denon ?? - Fantastic


Volumate

1. Tannoy v4i + Yamaha RXV 677 - Fantastic
2. Wharfdale 155 + Yamaha RXV 677 - Good
3. Wharfdale 102 + Yamaha RXV 677 - Good

Volumate also had the best non-treated room for audition as close to one might experience in their living room.

My Final conclusion

B&W 683 S2 > (MA RX 6 = B&W 685 S2 = MA RX 2) > WharfDale Jade 3 > (Tannoy V4i = Revel F12) > Revel M12 > (POLK 440 = Wharfdale 155) > (POLK 220 = Wharfdale 102 ) > Q Accoustics > Yamaha > Dali

1. B&W 683 S2
2. MA RX 6
3. B&W 685 S2 = MA RX 2
4. WharfDale Jade 3
5. Tannoy V4i = Revel F12
6. Revel M12
7. POLK 440, Wharfdale 155
8. POLK 220, Wharfdale 102
9. QAccoustics, Yamaha, Dali


Now Dali has a big following in this forum, so I am not sure if the speakers for demo had some problem or if it did not gel with the yamaha receivers, Zensor 3 was the least I liked.


Shortlisted B&W, MA and Tannoy.

1. B&W 683 S2 - The best..Little out of budget and also felt these floor standers were too big for my L shaped living room.
2. MA RX6 and RX2 - Really loved RX6 but the price quoted for both were not in sync with the indian prices published in the current editions of WHATHIFI and other forums. There was a big gap.
3. Tannoy v4i - the best value for money of all. The location of Volumate was more of a deciding factor to not buy this speaker.
4. B&W 685 S2 - selected.

After my very first audition of paradigm speakers, BOSE Cinemate Surround bar was out of the race. They are still good but speakers are better.

Receiver

Since I could not get a side-by-side comparison of receivers unlike speakers ranking the above receivers would be unfair. Went with brand reputation based on reviews provided in many forums mainly AVSFORUM and chose Marantz sr5008 which was not auditioned at all.

Floor Stands - Purchased revel PED22 stands.

Total cost of B&W 685 s2 + Marantz SR5008 + Revel Floor stands = 1.3L

Dealer experience

1. Volumate - Owner Harwin is very friendly. It has a large treated room as well a big non treated living room for audition which can give a home like experience.
2. Decibel - THe place to be in. Owner Raghu is very well informed and he and his staff are very customer friendly.
3. Grand Cinema - The staff is very friendly though the audition room can be a bit disappointing as there is very little gap between TV and seating location.
4. Vipul Audio Tech - Owner Praveen is very well informed and ready to audition all the products.
5. THe Audio People - Friendly staff mainly marketing Monitor Audio products though there are other products on display.
6. PRO FX - Most disappointing of the lot. Not only uninformative and non-technical staff they were not willing to audition the products in display like the KEF bookshelf speaker which was not auditioned for no apparent reason though I asked for it.



Had the system for close to 2 months now and have kind of become addicted to speakers now. That good they are.

 

[elangoas]

re: B&W 685 S2 & Marantz SR 5008

Exhaustive list of auditions.... B & W are highly regarded speakers....Congrats on your purchase...

I have been to Vipul Audio, Decibel, Cinebels, Pro FX, Grand Cinema so far.... Pro FX wasn't convincing experience...

 

[harrsha]

re: B&W 685 S2 & Marantz SR 5008

Congrats on u r purchase.
can u give the price of 685 S2 speakers quoted by decibel .

 

[Audio_Freek]

re: B&W 685 S2 & Marantz SR 5008

Congrats for your purchase, The B&W going to blow away you with its sweet music shortly.

BIG thanks for a neat professional write-up ..Simply WOW..

Main thing to mention is the List of Dealers whom you crossed in the audition journey and your personal comment on the paring.I would say People from chennai or Near by chennai could refer your post for the audition and Seletion.

One stop thread for Chennai Location, I guess yours. Happy Journey thanks again for your write-up and time spend on the post with tons of Info.

PHOTOS Pls with some write-up on the Impression on the new set-up

 

[nmursekar]

re: B&W 685 S2 & Marantz SR 5008

congrats for Buying b&w.
The must have factor of every audio freak..... 685 s2 are good for your purpose. They really will blow you away with the sonic experience and i'm sure one fine day your interest of movies : music will be 20:80.
Pls post some pics to support your writeup. Also pls let us know what deal you got perticularly for B&W 685 s2.

 

[Murlidher]

good to know the amount of efforts you have taken before you have purchased your items. Please post pics and share the individual cost of Marantz SR 5008.

 

[kvandhi]

Congrats on your great purchase.

Your post is very useful for Chennai people to know where to audition speakers.

Keep sharing your post purchase listening experience.

Thanks for sharing the information.

 

[timtom]

PICS Attached

 

[timtom]

Price:

B&W 685 S2 - 60K

Receiver

Purchased during Diwali when Hifi Mart was offering 22% discount at around 56.5K. Multiple dealers here were offering the same at 56K. Purchased from decibel at 56K . A week later it was again back to 65K.

Floor standers :

Revel PED 22 - 14K

Other options

1. Tono Stands :: Volumate has tono stands on display at their store. Details of stand can be checked here
Tono HF-B101 - Bookshelf Speaker Stands | India
2. Sound Foundation : Sound Foundations - Homepage. Plenty of options available here.
3. Stands available in ebay.in


Also made a one-stop shop for all purchases so that problems with any of the component can be dealt at one place rather running around.

 

[jags]

Now Dali has a big following in this forum, so I am not sure if the speakers for demo had some problem or if it did not gel with the yamaha receivers, Zensor 3 was the least I liked.

It is unfair to compare Dali Zensor with B&W and MA Silver series. Dali Ikon sounds much better than Dali Zensor and is typically compared with B&W and MA Silver series.

 

[shkumar4963]

Great set up. Congratulations.

Do you know a good site for indian music that has 320kbps music. Most site I know have 128kbps only.

Also if anyone know a site to purchase high res 1080p music videos. They could be live concert recordings or promotional music videos.

 

[kestrel5915]

Congratulations on the purchase!

I have bought the 685 S2 based 5.1 system powered by an Onkyo.

I hope your are enjoying your system!

 

[phoenixranjeet]

Congrats on your purchase. Well how is your system sounding? Could you throw some light on the efficiency of marantz b&w combo?
Is your b&w 685s2 singing at low volumes?
Does your marantz 5008 capable enough to drive those 685's?
Have you bi-amped your receiver? If so, is the avr fine enough to drive speakers at 140w/ch. And if so at low volumes, are you able to hear all the instruments and vocals?
Sorry for so many questions. Kindly throw some light.

 

[kestrel5915]

Congrats on your purchase. Well how is your system sounding? Could you throw some light on the efficiency of marantz b&w combo?
Is your b&w 685s2 singing at low volumes?
Does your marantz 5008 capable enough to drive those 685's?
Have you bi-amped your receiver? If so, is the avr fine enough to drive speakers at 140w/ch. And if so at low volumes, are you able to hear all the instruments and vocals?
Sorry for so many questions. Kindly throw some light.

By "low volume", how much low do you actually mean?

 

[timtom]

Hi Ranjeet,

Speakers are sounding really good. Sound is crystal clear at low and mid ranges, have not tried high volumes. Cannot provide any technical details and I am not an audiophile . I have not bi-amped the receiver and I am not sure what that means . B&W says to use amplifiers rated from 25 to 100 watts with the 685, and SR 5008 has power output to 100W again as per specs. Just followed the guide..

 

[Srinath_seshadri]

My friend said the B&W 602's sound good on his denon 3808. So a marantz 5008 should work good I think.
Cool.
Srinath.

 

[noknor]

timtom, nice setup and I think you must have invested a lot of time and effort in doing the auditions to get what sounds best for you. Congratulations and have a good time.