Not sure if it worth mentioning my little testings, but...
Before buying the 705, I asked a friend to help me decide...
I have tested some other speakers before the final decision:
- 602s3 (already had);
- Kef iQ90;
- Kef XQ20;
All the speakers were tested with:
- Denon 3806;
- Harman Kardon AVR254;
- Rotel RSP-1068 + Rotel RB1080 + RB993;
- I tested the Rotel Amps with the AVRs (as pro)
Sources used:
- Denon DCM350;
- Denon DVD-2910;
- Marantz SA-8003;
- PlayStation 3;
The discs/media tested:
- BD: Celine Dion;
- DVD: Eagles - Farewell Tour;
- SACD: Rodrigo & Vivaldi : Guitar Conciertos - The Romero (Decca);
- SACD: Emi Fujita - Best Audio (Pony Canyon - Japan);
- CD: Maastricht Orchestra Serenada (Philips);
- CD: Le Couple All Singles of the decade and more (Pony Canyon - Japan)
Other equipments used during my testing:
- Multimeter Philips/Fluke PM2525;
- SPL/dB Meter - Radio Shack;
------
After many hours of testing, I have decided to purchase the B&W 705...
Eventho the jump from quality is not as big as I expected (going from 602s3 to 705), I have to say that I am very satisfied with with my decision
It wasnt really easy to decide, I have called a friend to help me adjust the volume/SPL from the AVRs and Amps, so the "volume" would be equal, we used a multimeter to check the pink noise voltage, and we set all the volumes to the same level. Also we used the Radio Shack SPL meter to re-check.
Along with my testing and audition, I followed the review written by John Atkinson, published by Stereophile, February 2004 http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/204bw/
We really payed attention to the graph posted by him in here http://www.stereophile.com/standloud...bw/index4.html
On the 1st test, using the HK AVR 254 and an old Denon 2910, we can clear notice that lack of power from 254 somewhat affects the quality, the sound gets better as we raise the volume, however as pointed by my friend the more pressure level, the bigger the distortion.
With the 3806, even tho its a bit old, the audio quality got a lot better, especially the mids and highs, of course, the 3806, construction is far superior then the 254. My friend pointed me that the difference could be the betters 3806's DACs and ADCs.
However I noticed that the 3806 was a lot "flatter" then the Harman Kardon, latelly I learned that it is a Denon signature, my friend pointed that most Denon receivers are flatter then Marantz & Harman Kardon.
He also pointed that most of the times "flat" is more close to the real sound, as we usually do not want any coloration caused by an AMP or AVR.
With the RSP-1068, RB-1080 and RB993, the B&W got a lot better, even the bass became better, however it was easy to notice that the 602s3 had a better punch, the 705 sounds a bit more "bright" (not HARSH, please), which gives me immense pleasure.
I also have to point that after carefully listening the 602s3 and 705, we can notice that even tho the 602s3 have better bass, it is "discontrolled", while the 705 sounds brighter, but the bass is more "in place". Its like the 705 has a "dry" bass, with less extention, however the MIDs and HIGHs are awesome.
I also noticed that the "sweet" spot of the 705 is a bit more "closed" and "concentrated" then the Kefs.
My friend also pointed that the 602s3 is bigger both the cabinet and the speaker, which gives a better bass response.
I will not post my thoughts between the 705 and the Kef IQ90, because it is impossible to compare a big tower 4-way speaker with a medium 2 way bookshelf.
However, I have to say that the XQ20, which should be neck to neck with the 705, the sound is less bright, the highs are more difused, giving a wider sweet spot. Also I have noticed that the Denon + Kef combo is very nice.
Next we tested the 705 in a HT enviroment, using the matching HTM7 and LM-1, and with the Kef we tested XQ20 with XQ50x and Kef Iq1. And using my older setup we tested 602s3 with LCR60 and LM-1, all the setups using the a Velodyne DLS-4000r.
The velodyne was set to "Jazz" and volume to 28.
Again the 254 (without the amps) was pretty good with the 600s series, however for a better sound we needed to set the volume @ -30 to -25.
The denon showed its power when controlling the speakers, and proved (again) to be flatter then the 254.
And finally the Rotel + RB 993 + RB 1080 combo proved to be vastly superior in both musc and movies.
The EZsetup from the 254 set the 602s3 as Large, the XQ20 as small and set the xover to 80 and the 705 also as small, and setup up the crossover in 100hz! Needless to say that the old 3806 setup is cumbersome, with an old gui, but also gave us like wise settings.
Using the graphs showed in the Stereophile's review, we manually set the 705 and HTM-7 to small and the crossover to 60hz, even tho the author stated that tuning the crossover to 80hz would give a better transition. The LM-1 was crossed @ 80hz.
In both stereo and HT setup the Kef XQ and the 705 was amazing! And in my opinion the tone matching of 705 with LM-1 and the Velodyne DLS-4000r is perfect.
After carefully reviewing all the tests and my notes, I decided to choose the 705, even tho with less bass and a narrow sweet spot, the mids and highs of the 705 were excellent.
It is worth to note that with the 705, I used a 15 to 20 degrees toe-in, to give a better image.
Thats it! I just gave back the 3806, the Kefs, to my friend... Sold my 602s3 and I am very happy with the 705!
The only thing I disliked in the 705 is that the phase plug is not fixed, where in the new 600s the phase plug is fixed! And according to B&W it gives a better sound with less distortion.
Hopefully in a couple of months I will be able to buy a pair of 703 and finally close my set.
It was tough to decide between the 705 and the XQ20, however I already had the HTM-7 & LM-1 and I didnt want to buy everything KEF....
Photos:
'
Before buying the 705, I asked a friend to help me decide...
I have tested some other speakers before the final decision:
- 602s3 (already had);
- Kef iQ90;
- Kef XQ20;
All the speakers were tested with:
- Denon 3806;
- Harman Kardon AVR254;
- Rotel RSP-1068 + Rotel RB1080 + RB993;
- I tested the Rotel Amps with the AVRs (as pro)
Sources used:
- Denon DCM350;
- Denon DVD-2910;
- Marantz SA-8003;
- PlayStation 3;
The discs/media tested:
- BD: Celine Dion;
- DVD: Eagles - Farewell Tour;
- SACD: Rodrigo & Vivaldi : Guitar Conciertos - The Romero (Decca);
- SACD: Emi Fujita - Best Audio (Pony Canyon - Japan);
- CD: Maastricht Orchestra Serenada (Philips);
- CD: Le Couple All Singles of the decade and more (Pony Canyon - Japan)
Other equipments used during my testing:
- Multimeter Philips/Fluke PM2525;
- SPL/dB Meter - Radio Shack;
------
After many hours of testing, I have decided to purchase the B&W 705...
Eventho the jump from quality is not as big as I expected (going from 602s3 to 705), I have to say that I am very satisfied with with my decision
It wasnt really easy to decide, I have called a friend to help me adjust the volume/SPL from the AVRs and Amps, so the "volume" would be equal, we used a multimeter to check the pink noise voltage, and we set all the volumes to the same level. Also we used the Radio Shack SPL meter to re-check.
Along with my testing and audition, I followed the review written by John Atkinson, published by Stereophile, February 2004 http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/204bw/
We really payed attention to the graph posted by him in here http://www.stereophile.com/standloud...bw/index4.html
On the 1st test, using the HK AVR 254 and an old Denon 2910, we can clear notice that lack of power from 254 somewhat affects the quality, the sound gets better as we raise the volume, however as pointed by my friend the more pressure level, the bigger the distortion.
With the 3806, even tho its a bit old, the audio quality got a lot better, especially the mids and highs, of course, the 3806, construction is far superior then the 254. My friend pointed me that the difference could be the betters 3806's DACs and ADCs.
However I noticed that the 3806 was a lot "flatter" then the Harman Kardon, latelly I learned that it is a Denon signature, my friend pointed that most Denon receivers are flatter then Marantz & Harman Kardon.
He also pointed that most of the times "flat" is more close to the real sound, as we usually do not want any coloration caused by an AMP or AVR.
With the RSP-1068, RB-1080 and RB993, the B&W got a lot better, even the bass became better, however it was easy to notice that the 602s3 had a better punch, the 705 sounds a bit more "bright" (not HARSH, please), which gives me immense pleasure.
I also have to point that after carefully listening the 602s3 and 705, we can notice that even tho the 602s3 have better bass, it is "discontrolled", while the 705 sounds brighter, but the bass is more "in place". Its like the 705 has a "dry" bass, with less extention, however the MIDs and HIGHs are awesome.
I also noticed that the "sweet" spot of the 705 is a bit more "closed" and "concentrated" then the Kefs.
My friend also pointed that the 602s3 is bigger both the cabinet and the speaker, which gives a better bass response.
I will not post my thoughts between the 705 and the Kef IQ90, because it is impossible to compare a big tower 4-way speaker with a medium 2 way bookshelf.
However, I have to say that the XQ20, which should be neck to neck with the 705, the sound is less bright, the highs are more difused, giving a wider sweet spot. Also I have noticed that the Denon + Kef combo is very nice.
Next we tested the 705 in a HT enviroment, using the matching HTM7 and LM-1, and with the Kef we tested XQ20 with XQ50x and Kef Iq1. And using my older setup we tested 602s3 with LCR60 and LM-1, all the setups using the a Velodyne DLS-4000r.
The velodyne was set to "Jazz" and volume to 28.
Again the 254 (without the amps) was pretty good with the 600s series, however for a better sound we needed to set the volume @ -30 to -25.
The denon showed its power when controlling the speakers, and proved (again) to be flatter then the 254.
And finally the Rotel + RB 993 + RB 1080 combo proved to be vastly superior in both musc and movies.
The EZsetup from the 254 set the 602s3 as Large, the XQ20 as small and set the xover to 80 and the 705 also as small, and setup up the crossover in 100hz! Needless to say that the old 3806 setup is cumbersome, with an old gui, but also gave us like wise settings.
Using the graphs showed in the Stereophile's review, we manually set the 705 and HTM-7 to small and the crossover to 60hz, even tho the author stated that tuning the crossover to 80hz would give a better transition. The LM-1 was crossed @ 80hz.
In both stereo and HT setup the Kef XQ and the 705 was amazing! And in my opinion the tone matching of 705 with LM-1 and the Velodyne DLS-4000r is perfect.
After carefully reviewing all the tests and my notes, I decided to choose the 705, even tho with less bass and a narrow sweet spot, the mids and highs of the 705 were excellent.
It is worth to note that with the 705, I used a 15 to 20 degrees toe-in, to give a better image.
Thats it! I just gave back the 3806, the Kefs, to my friend... Sold my 602s3 and I am very happy with the 705!
The only thing I disliked in the 705 is that the phase plug is not fixed, where in the new 600s the phase plug is fixed! And according to B&W it gives a better sound with less distortion.
Hopefully in a couple of months I will be able to buy a pair of 703 and finally close my set.
It was tough to decide between the 705 and the XQ20, however I already had the HTM-7 & LM-1 and I didnt want to buy everything KEF....
Photos:
'
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