B&W FPM Series

[Nolan B]

Well I guess I going to have to head something up on these speakers.The lack of reviews, and information on these speakers is amazing especially when they are such good speakers. I did a search for "FPM" on this site and many other and came up with almost nothing (absolutely nothing on this site).



Anyway I recently bought the following:
FPM 6 for Mains
FPM 4 Center
FPM 2 Surounds.


Since I am not a pro when it comes to writing reviews please bare with me.

I have owned B&W 300 series, 600 S3 series and now these. I bought them mainly becuase I got a new plasma and wanted to get some speakers that looked as good as they sounded. I will admit that I bought them without auditioning, and I know I may get some slack for that, but I wanted flat speakers and these not only looked the best in my opinion, but I trusted the B&W brand since they havent le me down yet.

To get to the point they sound fantastic! The people from B&W told me they are considered to be a slightly better speaker then the 600 S3 series, and with out a doubt they are. They were originally power by a Denon 1803, and now more recently powered by a Rotel RSX 1055 which has made a huging difference in sound quality!

I didnt know what people meant by 3D sound quality until now. They definately need a good sub to reach the lows, but when having friends over to watch movies or listen to movies there is constant compliments on the quality of sound. When listening to David Grey's "Babylon" in 2 CH stereo the sound of the accoustic guitar is almost visual, and when watching movies I feel much more emotionally involved.

There is no question that they're pricey, but thats only when you compare them to speakers that sound the same. When you compare them to speakers which have as much looks as sound i.e. products from B&O, Vienna Accustics etc they are very reasonable.

If you are considering these speakers, but are reluctant becuase of a fear in sound quality rest assured that if you are happy with the 600 S3 series you will find the FPM series equal to those or better.

[bbboesch]

I can't believe the lack of info on the web about these speakers either.
These are my first B&W's.
I have also recently purchased a plasma and was searching for some good on the walls. I went to the local store to buy some other brand and saw these.
They were more expensive than the other ones , but when I did a side by side listening test it did not matter.
These speakers sound AWESOME.
Just one question for Vancouver - why the smaller center? I went with FPM6 for all three fronts.

[Nolan B]

I can't believe the lack of info on the web about these speakers either.
These are my first B&W's.
I have also recently purchased a plasma and was searching for some good on the walls. I went to the local store to buy some other brand and saw these.
They were more expensive than the other ones , but when I did a side by side listening test it did not matter.
These speakers sound AWESOME.
Just one question for Vancouver - why the smaller center? I went with FPM6 for all three fronts.

Thats a very good question and perhaps I will post a picture to illustrate. My plasma is a Panasonic HD 42inch. The only way to send its native resolution by an external scaler (in may case and iscan HD) is via its VGA input on the front of the plamsa. The FPM 4 fits perfectly infront to block the exposed VGA cable.

You madea good choice with the FPM 6s. They sound great in 2 Channel Stereo mode for music as well as 5.1 suround. What are you using to drive them? Wht color did you get?