Purchased 703's . . .

[NMG]

Well I finally bit the bullet and picked up some Cherry 703's today to replace my Paradigm Studio 80's. I really enjoyed my Paradigm's but these 703's are a definite step up. Before purchasing the 703's, I auditioned them against the current Studio 100's just to make sure the extra money was worth it and I can honestly say that in my eye it was. The Studio's had more bass but the 703's just sounded more open and effortless, almost like the Studio's had something that was holding them back a little bit. The quickness and detail of the 703's sold me.

So for now my system consists of the 703's, and Rotel components (RB-1080, RC-1070 and RCD-1072). I also have a Paradigm PW-2200 that should handle the lower frequencies no problem, it certainly did so with the 80's.

I have only listened to to the 703's without the sub thusfar and only for an hour or so, so they still need some additional break-in time and once I get a feeling for them a little more, I'll get the sub dialed in. I assume I'll have it set to handle below 50-60hz or thereabouts but we'll see about that more in a few days.

Happy to have joined the B&W club

[Joey_V]

Even though I'm not a member, I would like to welcome you the BW club.

Joey, a frequent peruser of the BW Club

[Aussie Geoff]

Welcome,

Excellent choice. And just wait 50 or so hours until they have broken in the high is so much sweeter then

Geoff

[dknightd]

Your impression of the studio 100 and b&w 703 echos mine. I also ended up with the 703 - they just did a more convincing job on acoustic intruments (including voice). Congrats on a good decision (it must be a good decision since I made the same one :roll: )
The 703 do take some time to break in. More than I would have thought reasonable. I think mine took about 100 hours before they had really settled down.
I'm still undecided if the 703 really needs a sub for music (which is all I use mine for). Certainly the bass is leaner than what the studio 100's would have delivered. The bass is all there in the 703, but seems to be missing some of the visceral thump - sometimes. I suspect I need to do some more work on positioning and room treatments to get the best of these speakers. Maybe just use the tone control knobs a little. . . After that I'll reconsider if buying a sub is required or not.

Anyway, welcome to the club. Take a few days off work to celebrate and listen to your nice new speakers :W

[Shyamalan]

I'm also thinking about buying the b&w 703 but I'm afraid about the size of my listening room: it has only 30 m2 (16x19 feets).

What do you think? Which is your room size?

[jim777]

My room is a lot smaller than that and I have no problems. Just be careful with acoustics (if you have a big couch, it will help).

And like the others said, the 703's need many many hours before the tweeters smooth out, than many hours later more bass kicks in. Well maybe it took so long because I don't listen too loud.

IMO a sub will not required because it's seemless integration is hard (you don't want your great system to sound like a system with a sub but like a clean system with low end extension) and because the 703 goes lower than the lowest note on a double-bass (so that leaves only bass drums, funky synths and organs with fundamentals below the 703's bass extension).

[dmccombs]

I have the 703s and wrestle back and forth weather to use a sub for music. The 703s handles music well done to ~30hz.

At one point, I had these positioned in the corners and the low bass (~25-30) sounded terrific. The fall-off of the speaker was nicely matched by the extra bass provided by the corner positioning. The problems was the area from ~40-100hz was too much and became muddy.

So, I have moved them out of the corner (currently 36" from the back wall and 20" from the sides). The muddiness is gone now, but that "umph" in the 25-30hz range is gone (as it should be).

I think the 703s bass is pretty clean down to almost 30hz. If you have a good clean sounding sub, I would set the cross overs at 40hz. If you sub is only so-so, then I would set the 703s to large and let them take the full range.

Experiment and have fun.

Darrell

[Shyamalan]

As I sayd before, I'm going to buy the b&w 703 but in my case, as I'm going to use them for ht in a 70%, I'll complete the system with the 705 and the htm7.

Do you think it's necesary a sub? In afirmative case, do you think the asw750 it's much better than the asw700?

Thank you very much for your oppinions. They are very important to me.

[Charles]

Shyamalan, be cautious of the HTM7, been there done that with the 703's. You may want to check other threads on this. The HTM7 didn't mix well in my case with the 703's.

[dmccombs]

If you are 70% HT, and like to feel the bass when something in the movies explodes, or a building falls, etc. then yes a sub is recommended. The 703s have good solid bass, but not the type that some of us like for movies.

Also, The sub will provide the bass that the Center and Rears Channels should deliver, but can't (i.e. the 20hz to 60-80hz range).

I can't help you with the B&W sub choice. When I bought my speakers I was told there are better values for a sub, and trhe sub doesn't need to match like the rest of the speakers do. I bought a SVS 20-39pci sub ($649) from www.svsound.com, and it has been a good match for the 700 series setup.

Regards,
Darrell

As I sayd before, I'm going to buy the b&w 703 but in my case, as I'm going to use them for ht in a 70%, I'll complete the system with the 705 and the htm7.

Do you think it's necesary a sub? In afirmative case, do you think the asw750 it's much better than the asw700?

Thank you very much for your oppinions. They are very important to me.

[NMG]

Just a quick update, I am now running the sub along with the 703's. The 703's are running full range and I have the crossover on ther sub set to handle everything below 50hz. In my room this is working out very well. The 703's definitely go lower than my old speakers so I had to lower the crossover on the sub a fair bit from where it was, but I feel that there is still a great benefit to having the sub kick in additional support below 50hz, at least with the music I listen to. Everything is integrated very well and there appears to be no gaps.

Oh, I forgot to mention the best part about my audition against the Studio 100's. After I had listened to them both, I said to my wife (she was there as well), "The B&W's sound quite a bit better to me". Her response was "Yeah, even I could tell the difference". Doesn't get much better than that :B

[wb2fcr]

After I had listened to them both, I said to my wife (she was there as well), "The B&W's sound quite a bit better to me". Her response was "Yeah, even I could tell the difference". Doesn't get much better than that :B

NMG - Congrats on the 703s!

Isn't in great when the wife 'buys in' when we go to make a puchase like this. Mine did the same thinkg when I was looking at the 703 vs. 804S. I didn't tell her pricing or anything when I had her listen to the two. Once she said "I think the 804s sound better"..... SOLD!

[dknightd]

You guys are lucky. My wife doens't seem to care. On second thought, maybe I am lucky.

[jim777]

Be careful, my wife loves the 703's so much that she doesn't want me to upgrade to 800 series.....

[Shyamalan]

Thank you jim777: I have two big couch

Do you think there is a real problem with the 703 and the htm7? Some people says that they don't match very well... you know, the htm7 isn't a full range speaker.

[jim777]

I've heard the HTM7 sounding great with 704's but I have no idea how they sound with my 703's. I only know that the 703 is the only 700 series with a FST so the HTM7 mid-range might not be a perfect match. I wouldn't mind because HT ain't as important to me as stereo, but if I was to design a system from scratch for HT, it would be 704's or 804S's just to make sure.

[joetama]

I have the HTM-7 (couldn't really justify spending more money on a center channel speaker because I mostly listen to stereo Music) and when I watch movies it is mildly disappointing compared to the 703 but not bad. Something farther up the line would do better I’m sure but I really have no real complaints on the HTM-7...

[JohnAng]

Personaly i didn't like the HTM7 when i had it with my 703's, there is just too much difference in the midrange character.
I was considering moving up to the htm3s, but couldn't justify the cost, so purchased another single 703 to use as a centre speaker.
Of course this is not for everyone.

Congrats on your purchase of the 703's i love mine and i'm sure you are going to enjoy yours for a very long time, or until you feel a need to upgrade to the 800 series

[Mitchell]

Congratulations on your purchase.
I have the exact same system and have been very happy. At first I was dubious about the break-in but it really did break in and improve after about a month. Very dramatically in fact.

[bigburner]

I run a pair of CDM9NT speakers which are very close to the 703 as you will see from the attached brochure. If anything the mid range of the CDM9NT is superior to my ears, but I would say that, wouldn't I?

My CDM9NTs are in a 2.1 configuration with an ASW750 sub. The CDM9NT definitely doesn't give me the bass that I want at mid-high to high volume. I have the crossover at 80Hz. The secret of good integration for my ears is to make sure that the volume of the ASW750 is exactly at the right level. This unfortunately requires fairly regular adjustment. My one criticism of this setup is therefore the lack of a remote control for my ASW750.

A friend with whom I listen to music frequently runs a pair of Studio 60 V3's and a REL sub. I used to envy his sound but as time goes on I prefer the sound of my system more and more. To me his front speakers now sound muddy.

Nigel.

[sarsi]

Hi Shyamalan, I think you should go for ASW750 very good match for 703 and is a very good music sub as well.

I am currently having 703 Front, 704 Rear, HTM7 and ASW750, the reason I go for 704 instead of 705 because I do listen to multichannel SACD/DVDA occassionally. My setup is 50/50 between HT/Music

703 is the way to go

As I sayd before, I'm going to buy the b&w 703 but in my case, as I'm going to use them for ht in a 70%, I'll complete the system with the 705 and the htm7.

Do you think it's necesary a sub? In afirmative case, do you think the asw750 it's much better than the asw700?

Thank you very much for your oppinions. They are very important to me.

[chinets]

Nice going!!!!!!!

Congratulations on those Cherry 703s you just got. :T I had those before graduating to the 800 series, so all I know is that the 703s are bass shy so a good ASW sub like the 750 or better the 825 will give those speakers justice!! :W
My 2 cents. :T
Good Luck with those beauties, and by the way, they will give you the best HT EVER!!!!!!!!
Cheers

[NMG]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm enjoying the speakers more and more every day. In fact, I still get a smile when I walk in the room and see those gorgeous cabinets looking back at me. For what it is worth, I think the addition of a sub is a big improvement when it is properly dialed in.

[chinets]

NMG,
I'm glad you are happy!!
Good to hear a happy camper on this forum!!
Good Luck!! You deserve those 703 puppies.
NOW ENJOY!!!!!!!
Cheers.