Hi-
I'm fairly new to B&W having just picked up my first pair about 6 months ago (DM 601 s3's). I've been reading this forum a lot and on numerous occasions I've seen posters pretty much dismiss the 705. First off, I'm strictly bookshelf...the fiancé is not a fan of floorstanders...hence my 601's. My retailer offers trade up, but like many, I don't have a lot of money, so my upward mobility is limited....I viewed the 700 series a nice stepping stone since the shelling out for the 800 series too dramatic a jump from my $450/pr 601's. So, the first thing I did was read about them over at B&W. The first thing I'm greeted with is the fact that they won the European Loudspeaker of the Year award for 2004-2005. Then, I read reviews...all pretty favorable. Next, I listened to them and definitely heard a decidedly nicer sound than my 601's could produce. It seemed more dimensional..could be the outward protruding tweeter that my 601's are lacking. Overall they sounded smoother and seemed to "disappear" more than my 601's.
So, now I'm wondering...why does it seem that everyone writes these off as a "skip and move on" speaker. I've even posed the question before and most responded with "save your money" and "skip to the 800's." I'm wondering why. I don't know if anyone can put it into words, but is it just that they don't live up in terms of price-to-performance ratio. Again, I saw them as a nice stepping stone. To go from my 601's to the 705's is about $1100 out of pocket, while out of pocket from the 601's to the 805's would be $1000 more than that at $2100...that's a lot of dough where I come from. Can anyone give me the dirt on why so many seem to knock these speakers? Just want to be an informed consumer. Thanks in advance.
I'm fairly new to B&W having just picked up my first pair about 6 months ago (DM 601 s3's). I've been reading this forum a lot and on numerous occasions I've seen posters pretty much dismiss the 705. First off, I'm strictly bookshelf...the fiancé is not a fan of floorstanders...hence my 601's. My retailer offers trade up, but like many, I don't have a lot of money, so my upward mobility is limited....I viewed the 700 series a nice stepping stone since the shelling out for the 800 series too dramatic a jump from my $450/pr 601's. So, the first thing I did was read about them over at B&W. The first thing I'm greeted with is the fact that they won the European Loudspeaker of the Year award for 2004-2005. Then, I read reviews...all pretty favorable. Next, I listened to them and definitely heard a decidedly nicer sound than my 601's could produce. It seemed more dimensional..could be the outward protruding tweeter that my 601's are lacking. Overall they sounded smoother and seemed to "disappear" more than my 601's.
So, now I'm wondering...why does it seem that everyone writes these off as a "skip and move on" speaker. I've even posed the question before and most responded with "save your money" and "skip to the 800's." I'm wondering why. I don't know if anyone can put it into words, but is it just that they don't live up in terms of price-to-performance ratio. Again, I saw them as a nice stepping stone. To go from my 601's to the 705's is about $1100 out of pocket, while out of pocket from the 601's to the 805's would be $1000 more than that at $2100...that's a lot of dough where I come from. Can anyone give me the dirt on why so many seem to knock these speakers? Just want to be an informed consumer. Thanks in advance.
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