Sweet sounding B&W 705......... Finally

[Briz vegas]

The 705 did not get much love on this forum. The story was one about the treble, and it wasn't liked much for that reason. I struggled with them and ended up with 804s, then finally Vivid B1s, all of which I still own.

So, what is the new role for my frustrating 705s that makes them so much better compared to my mid naughties setups. Vinyl.

The system is :

a second hand Rega p5, TT PSU Ortofon 2m bronze,
my old NAD 713 analogue receiver and
B&W 705

Apart from the fact that the NAD needs a service to fix an occasional drop out in the right channel
(only if you move it), this system reminds me of my pre audiophile days when I could just focus on the music, but this sounds much much better.

This little setup cost me one tenth of my main 2 channel system yet I could happily live with the sound. I did try my main system tweaks and cables just for fun. It sounded great, but it didn't need it to sound good.

If you want your 705s to sound fantastic all you need is a good basic " audiophile" turntable. I guess the p5 is more than basic, but I'm a bit fussy and I only paid RP3 money. The p5 is a great little table with a reputation for a musical sound. I enjoy both my setups equally. Both are very satisfying in their own way.

[bigburner]

I can believe that Briz. I bought an RP1 recently so that my wife (the vinyl enthusiast) could play our small vinyl collection and I think it's a worthy addition to our system.

Nigel.

[Briz vegas]

Your a lucky man Bigburner.

[PewterTA]

I always thought the 705s were a really nice set of bookshelves. I wish I had gone with the 700 series when I got my 600 series, but at the time I wanted full surround sound not 2ch... later in life I realized the mistake (and compensated for it).

I definitely loved the sound that came out of the 705s and all the 700 series as I, at the time, couldn't find a place to hear the 800s.

There's nothing better than being able to just sit back and enjoy the music!

[Shinnosuki]

I'm currently using these now and they sound better than ever. With a new addition pair of Pass Labs XA60.5 monos, the fullness of the speaker is revealed! Of course its way way overkill for these speakers. The imaging on these are beast! Just taking my time with it and upgrading as I go, perhaps a set of Dynaudio C1 next year. It'll definitely be hard for me to let these go, they are a keeper for backup emergencies and more rarer to find each day.

[Dmantis]

Coming from the CDM NT series before the 7 series , I strongly believe this is why they didn't get much love. It was like B&W was testing crossovers and cabinet designs and let a prototype model out. The CDM NT series was as close to the N series of that day as one could get. Many then argued that the N804's where not much better then the CDM9NT's and some actually preferred the 9's over the 804's.

But honestly the 7 series was still a fantastic line. They had a unique cabinet design all of it's own and sounded better then most others in the price point. I wouldn't go as far as saying they where leaders in the price point but a strong contender.

As anything synergy is so key when looking for perfection. It sounds like you found a good match for yours which is great.

[Briz vegas]

I have to say that for the moment if I have it on vinyl I will use this system in preference to the big one. It may just be the novelty, time will tell. I found the bass and balance really surprising. The NAD does a great job. It's not as nuanced as the big setup but as for amount of bass and tightness of bass it's very good and overall the sound is very integrated. I would never feel the need to make excuses for this setup, as I did it the old days with a CD player up front.

Apart from my modest old collection of vinyl I picked up Austra's Olympia last week with the bonus CD and it's much nicer on vinyl through the 705s. It's just more engaging and musical. I may have discovered a limitation in my main rig. It's lacking that fun factor, although from what I have read it may just be that vinyl has an unfair advantage.