703 auditioning with rock music: not good?

[goalie81]

I'm finally ready to upgrade speakers, and one of my local dealers has a pair of 703's available to demo. I took seven CDs I know rather well, and almost all of them sounded fantastic. I actually expected them to be brighter than they were. Very impressive.

My problem was with the harder material, specifically Porcupine Tree's 2003 CD In Absentia. The first track. Blackest Eyes, features distorted guitars, while the second track, Trains, is softer and has more acoustic guitar. To be honest, Blackest Eyes sounded weak, almost lacking some life compared to other systems I've tried, almost compressed. Trains was fantastic though.

I'm going back to hear them again, as I am very impressed with the other discs I tried. The P Tree disc was the last of the day so maybe fatigue was kicking in. I'm also going to take some poorly recorded music based on threads on this forum to hear just how "bad" they can sound!

I guess I'm wondering how the 703's fair for rock music in general now. I've read on this forum that the B&W line can be problematic when it comes to reproducing rock and roll versus classical or whatever. I'm going to take more of my "harder" material to hear for myself, but is that a reasonable generalization for B&W speakers?

By the by, I'm looking to get the following setup IF I were to choose B&W and can get a decent discount (10-15%) at my dealer. Am I crazy? I've got the sub I like, so:

four 703s (fronts/side surrounds for SACD/DVD-A/full-range)
one HTM7 (center)
two DS7s (rear surrounds/DTS-ES, etc.)

Thanks!
Marty

[perato]

There was a previous thread on B&W pricing. Search this forum.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=10567&highlight=pricing

[jclyle]

Hey-
I too took a bunch of rock CD's with me when I gave my 703's a listen at my local dealer. I don't pay too much attention to what I hear in a demo room since I know it will be completely different at home, but do listen for things like amount of bass etc... When I first hooked up my new 703's at home I wasn't very happy with them. They sounded waay too bright & didn't have much bass at all. That was back in July 04. Since then they have opened up very well. They are a fast speaker & rock sounds great on them :twisted: Im very happy with my purchase. There are times when I wished they had more bass to them, maybe one day I'll add a sub, im not using bi-wire cables right now which I know is a sin & could account for the lack of bass. (703 owners please PM me if you have had luck finding a bi-wire cable that really strengthens bass...)I was rockin to Deep Purple's Machine Head last night and was very happy with what I was hearing... Acoustic songs shine very well on the 703's, I dont listen to that style very often but when I switch cables around & such I do rely on that for comparisons. I paid a little over $2900 for mine. I bought a pair of sound anchors for mine & that has made a big differnce in the overall sound. Since you say you have a sub that you like, I say go with the 703's and use the sub when you want more boom in the room.

Carter

[Mitchell]

I have 703's and initially thought the same thing. Music I had been listening too for 25 years, Stones, Zep Who sounded strange initially.
The speakers definitely opened up after break in. The only problem I still have with them is that source material that is recorded poorly shows it. Other systems including my car system looses the detail in the mix and its the way i am used to hearing my old favorites. The 703's are so clean and detailed that bad recordings sound bad. Often a greatest hits album that goes from the sixties through the 80's (ie The Who) will sound flat on the oldest stuff and great on the later stuff. Steeley Dan Aja sounds teriffic.
I bought Sound Anchors and that helped the bass quite a bit. Very articulated. I originally bought SA to reduce sound to a downstairs neighbor but the better bass is a welcome result.
I hope this is helpful.
Mitchell