What Hi Fi Sound and Vision
17 JUL 2007
B&W 685
The B&Ws take time to appreciate fully, but they have no real weaknesses and are sensational all-rounders
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Intimate - that best describes our knowledge of the B&W 685s.
After all, they were What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision Award-winners in 2007 and 2008, and to date we haven’t reviewed another speaker capable of worrying these entry-level marvels.
Believe us, we’ve tried. Unlike some rival speakers, the B&Ws don’t hammer home their ability in an obvious way ?In fact, it’s true to say that the 685s are relatively easy to ignore.
Why? Well, they boast such perfect balance that you can just sit back and bask in their all-round brilliance. Let them go about their business, and you’ll come to appreciate the terrific dynamics.
A fantastic sense of scale
Bizet’s Carmen Suite No.2 starts off daintily and the B&Ws bring you the delicate orchestral notes before exploding into life. These speakers create a fantastic sense of scale and extend beautifully through the higher frequencies without any sign of straining.
Switch to Kanye West’s Love Lockdown and the B&Ws extend to great depths. Each bass note is taut and precise – the speakers stamp their authority and don’t hesitate before launching into the next note.
Just make sure that you partner the speakers with an amp that has a decent amount of grunt and don’t position them too close to a wall or else you run the risk of them soundinga ?tad ‘boomy’.??
The bar is set high?
You could argue that the B&Ws can’t match the midrange intensity of the Dali Lektor 2s, but during Adele’s Hometown Glory her emotive lyrics still manage to captivate with their detailed, natural delivery.
For all their ability, the 685’s don’t look particularly special: the trademark yellow Kevlar mid-bass driver and shiny tweeter plate are pretty much standard dress for B&W speakers at this price. The matt-effect paint job on the front does make them smooth to the touch and highly strokable, though.
There’s no doubt that B&W has set the bar extremely high.
Click here to watch our video review of the B&W 685.
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