705 vs 603 - music only

[SpongeRob]

Hi,

For some time I've been looking for new speakers to replace my old 110i's (still love them ). I wanted to buy a ht-system, based on 602s and 601s, but I listen much more music than wathing movies, so I decided to spend some more money to buy some better fronts. In future I want to add speakers for ht-surround.

I have been listening to the 705 and the 603, unfortunately not at the same time, so I couldn't compare these. I thought the 705 had come cleaner mids, but the 603 had some more "body".

Of course sound is very personal, everybody loves another kind of sound, but which one would you choose? Most music I listen is soft-rock, like Marillion, Toto, Pink Floyd.

Thanks!

[junior77blue]

705s are a much better speaker, IMHO...however they won't have enough bass on their own...will need a good sub to go along with them. B&W 700 or 750, depending on size of room....but 700 should be MORE than enough...especially for music. Obvsiouly, there are other brands of subs that may be better 'buys'.

With a sub in the system, the 705s should be crossovered ~60-90Hz to help relieve strain on the solo 6.5" mid-range/bass driver.

[Ash]

SponeRob,

As you said the 705 will have cleaner mids and better highs as well. However, as they are bookshelves they will be limited in the bass. Therefore, as junior77blue said, you will need a good sub to get the most out of those speakers.

You will probably need a sub for the HT system your considering at some point.

If I was in your place I would get the 705 plus sub rather than the 603.

[perato]

If you can afford it, go with the 705 and a subwoofer (you can get just about any sub you want, not just B&W). When I bought 705, I compared it to the 602. I found that the 705 has a more three dimensional soundstage whereas the 602 had a two dimensional soundstage. 705 seemed slightly more detailed but that could have just been my imagination. If you listen to recordings that have a three dimensional soundstage, then you might prefer the 705, if not you might be better off saving your money and going with 603 or some other speaker.

[jim777]

Another vote for the 705's here. Get the 705's and save some money for a sub Or if you think that you are going to stay in stereo like me (no 5.1), maybe save for a pair of 703's instead and forget the sub...

[ArtUnlimited]

$2000 802s

I used to own all the B&W CDM series with 9NT, CNT, SNT, etc. I Sold it all and bought a used pair of B&W 802s. There is a pair for sale on eBay right now for $2000 - and I'm not selling mine! These are well beyond any level of sound from the 700 series. The 802s sold for $8000 new, by the way. Good Luck! -Q

[ausmatt]

jim777 has got the right idea, save up and buy 703, they are sensational speakers for there price and have enough bass to not need a sub, and if you decide you do want to go multi channel then the 703 will give you a great front end.
good luck making the final decision

[jim777]

Well I just thought about it, the problem with the 703 in multi-channel is that there isn't really a perfectly matching center speaker (with a FST). That needs a little consideration if 5.1 is really your end goal. But for pure stereo without sub, get at least 703's

[ausmatt]

ive had a good listen to 703 with htm7 and it sounds really good for the money, but a valid point about fst, it would be a bit of over kill to use htm3s with 703.
on another subject you should have a look at the new htm1d it's an absoluste monster

[BlazeMaster]

I had the 603s for almost a year before I upgraded to the 704s. I asked about the difference between the 603s vs. the 704s before on this forum and alot of people told me that I'd get more bang by going with something in the 800s series. After having the 704s in home for almost a month now, I can easily say that the 704s are significantly better than the 603s and thought the extra $1000 that I spent to upgrade was really worth the money. Like what others said, the 700s will have a better and more open highs, and less boxy mids, which is even more noticeble with music programs, rather than movies stuff. If you mainly use the speakers for music, than I'd vote for the 705s first and then get a decent sub when you have more funds.
BTW: the reason why I didn't get the 703s was that, I knew eventually I'm going to upgrade the 804S within my dealers' one-year-upgrade program. IMO, I would see more improvement of going from 704s to 804s, then 703s to 804s.

[SpongeRob]

Thanks all for your replies .....Seems that all of you think that the 705 is a much better speaker than the 603. I thought that maybe the difference in the hights and mids were not big between them, and then to get the 603 for more bass.

Many of you mentioned the 703's...of course, the 703 is much better for music than he 705, but I can't afford them in short future, the 703 costs a lot more. I have allready a Canton sub, average in sound quality, so maybe the best is to get the 705's in stead of the 603's. Maybe when I saved some money in the future I can buy a good sub or sell the 705's and buy 703's.