B&W 685

i have brought a set of these with a denon m37. its the most amazing little combo i have ever heard. i got mine from the original factory in worthing(wear i live) they are great. my freind don't no why i spent £600 on the lot but only when they heard it did they understand !!!!

I never write reviews, but I'm sat at home playing some tunes and felt I had to give some praise for these fantastic speakers.

I recently moved to Australia and left my slowly evolved, mismatched but much beloved Hi-Fi behind in the UK, but was soon fed up listening to music on rubbish mini systems and TV through TV speakers.

For music I rip everything losslessly to iTunes and run it over a wireless network to a Sony STR DG820 receiver through an airport express and optical digital lead, the receiver does the DAC bit and then via chord carnival cable to the 685's. I went for this set-up primarily for how few boxes it would mean shipping home and how flexible it is for really quite a modest outlay.

I never expected an entry level receiver to be up to much musically and only went for the 685's because I got a deal at a local hifi shop. To further hamper musical performance I've stood the speakers on top of a boxy entertainment unit either side of the tv  with only four half squash balls to isolate them.

Initially the speakers were very muddled, weak midrange, patchy bass and poorly integrated treble, but now three months in (with very heavy use) they're a revelation. I listen to everything from Daft Punk and The Bloody Beetroots, through Steve Miller and Blur to Brahms and Prokofiev. They can err on the safe side with bass heavy and very fast music but to my ear still excel, but for nearly everything else they're faultless, brilliant separation when you consider the limitations of the receiver and the positioning in the room and their recreation of simple acoustic and lyrically driven music is astounding.

I can't wait to put them on some quality stands and pair them with some decent hifi separates. Just as a nod to some of the other reviews, I haven't used them with any source other than digital direct from blu-ray or the apple airport - but if anything given the limitations of the receiver that should indicate that you don't need quality separates to get great results.

Definitely 5/5

i have been listening to hi fi for many years now thanks to my dad (also a keen hi fi enthusiast) and since listening to b&w speakers 601 s3s 602 s3s and now the 685s i have not in my opinion found anything at the 685s price range (or slightly above) that comes anywhere close to matching the sound quality of these fine speakers yes they may not look flash but that for me is not an issue. carefull partnering is essential with these speakers i found they work superbly with cambridge audio,s 540 amplifier and just to cool things down a touch ive added the nad 541i cd player. i would highly recommend these speakers without hesitation and as b&w say "just listen and you will see"

B&W - Cool for cats!!! But these are CM1s...

Guess you want to know about why I reference the CM1s? And whats the mention of cats about? Read on McDuff!!!

A couple of years ago I finally succumbed to pressure from my ???Significant Other??? to part company with my beloved Dali Blues ??? a wonderful set of rather large floor-standers, which provided me with the balanced sound production suited to how I like to enjoy my music ??? a tightly controlled bass, full of detail at the mid and upper ranges. The Dalis were replaced with a genuine stop-gap cheap solution of wall mounted mini-Missions, aided at the bottom end with a Mission sub. Big mistake: the sub ???hummed??? which switched on (so I hated to use it at all), and the mid / top end detail was frankly laughable - however I tolerated it for the sake of matrimonial harmony.

Anyway, last week when playing a recently purchased ???Sky??? CD, I almost kicked the speakers in frustration at the hideous sound and decided enough is enough. Something must be done!!! I duly logged into the What HiFi website to check out what???s in, what???s out and what might be worth listening to ??? bear in mind that I needed something small and book-shelfish, but without too much compromise on the bass delivery. It appeared that the B&W 685???s were worth a listen, and perhaps the Dali Lecktors (1 and 2). My local hifi dealer provided me with the opportunity to hear the 685???s and true enough they were okay, though a bit OTT on the bass end (as I have already mentioned, I like it present but tightly controlled), however when we swapped over to the CM1???s ??? an altogether smaller speaker ??? I knew straightaway that I had hit (totally by chance) a little gem.

Unfortunately my local dealer hadn???t got the Piano-black version available and could only promise me a 2 week wait. I telephone ring-around confirmed that not too many dealers normally stock it but finally I got through to one who did. This is not a forum to advertise dealers on but I have to give a double thumbs-up to Grahams HiFi in London. I am currently suffering from a dodgy foot and hobbling around is extremely painful, but Grahams arranged personal drop off of the speaker FOC ??? and I live way outside of London ??? making any travel into London unnecessary. The speakers have not let me down in the slightest. Yes they need to be run for a while before they are at their best, and they are located much closer to a back wall than is ideal (much less than the recommended 0.5m) so I may have to consider using the supplied bungs to reduce the bass coming from the rear port, but I am now hearing detail of which I was totally unaware.

If you can afford the extra £120 for the CM1s, all I can say is that you???ll get a more controlled and focussed bass, and as far as the mid and top range sound is concerned, the CM1s are in a totally different class to the 685s. The mid / top of the sound spectrum details are pure musicality My Jacques Loussier CD collection require some major listening sessions!!!!

Oh yes, final comment ??? my young cat has taken to sitting and listening to my music played on the new speakers, turning her head to look at the virtual location of the instruments and players!!!! What can I say?!!!!

I have audition the 685 with roksan kandy K2 cdp and int amp at our local HiFi shop in Malaysia. I am not impressed, the sound is veiled like a thin towel covering the speakers. I think it is over exagerated. I later audition Epos M12i with creek cdp and int amp. What a world of difference and this i'll consider high end sound, transparent and clear!

The 685 retails higher than epos m12i in Malaysia. The 685 is at GBP477 and m12i at GBP 426. I believe our local importer marks up very high!

The clear winner four us is Epos m12i! period

Following my previous comments I've had the chance to spend a few days listening to a pair of 685s driven by my own NAD amplifier at home and I can see now why they are so liked.  Properly run-in and driven by good amplification these are detailed and well balanced speakers that fail to put a foot wrong across a wide range of musical styles. The bass is particularly well judged and provides a firm, tuneful foundation to the music without ever becoming bloated.  The 685s benefit from good support on strong stands and from being toed-in towards the listener.  Set-up in this manner they'll give good soundstaging.  Ultimately they are still not the speakers for me as I found them slightly too safe sounding, but for many they will be very hard to beat without spending significantly more.

Simply put, I found that the recessed midband frequencies robbed the music of all its emotion. Surely music is all about emotion? Timing was below par and the whole presentation was lumpy, clumsy and non musical.

Luckily, a very good hi fi dealer local to me allowed me to exchange them for speakers that sing instead of thud.

Thoroughly disappointed with the 685's and couldn't recommend them.  

I can now see why these speakers have won so many awards but also won the hearts of many fans.

I've had mine about 4 days now and they have been on non-stop (apart from time whilst sleeping...)

To begin with they were muddled and dull (which i knew about from previous demo'ing). Now that they're home, sat on Dreadnought stands and being fed via a NAD C352 and NAD C542 CDP; they sound superb.

They still have a fair bit of running in to do but my my; the power these speakers have is astounding.

I've owned the B&W 602 S2 and S3 speakers in the past and yes; they were powerful but they were big as well. The 685's are small in comparison but their soundstage is oh so much better and lovable.

Smooth, detailed midrange; crisp & clear treble and the bass is solid, punchy and deep!

IMO; these speakers need good amplification to get them to sing so i'd say look at an amp with the min fo 70w per channel and you're bang on the right track!

I am a great fan of B&W speakers and own the DM602 original version and love them to bits. However these replacement 685's don't sound anywhere as good as my own speakers. The cabinets are a lot smaller so obviously they don't have the same bass weight but the midrange and treble detail is not as good either. As mentioned earlier they are too laid back and boring and get tiring after a short listen. I was looking for small speakers for my office to go with my Denon DM37DAB and ended up buying Dali Lektor 1's after auditioning many makes including the 685's, MA BR2's, Tannoy F1 Customs, WHARFEDALE DIAMOND 9.1's and MS 902i's. None of the above speakers come close to the Dali's for clarity, detail and and an exciting and involving sound which is never tiring. The 685's are not worthy of a five star rating. B&W could have done a lot better than these boxes at this price range.

After an extensive audition, I was not wholly taken with these B&Ws.  Detail levels are good and these speakers are capable of copious amounts of bass, but they sound overly safe in their presentation and more than a little ragged at the top end.  The B&W's tweeter is well off the pace compared to those by Mordaunt-Short and Monitor Audio, failing to strike the necessary combination of clarity and control.  Whilst ideal for bass heavy, synthetically produced music, these would not be my first choice for rock or classical music lovers and, for me, they are out performed by the cheaper Monitor Audio BR2s and by closer competitors by the likes of Mordaunt-Short and Usher.

GREAT SPEAKERS IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!

THESE SPEAKERS DO NEED TO BE RUN IN FOR A FEW WEEKS AND ALSO NEED GOOD KIT TO DRIVE  THEM THAY WILL NOT TAINT THE SOUND IN ANY WAY SO YOU WILL ONLY HEAR WHAT WAS RECORED ! (SO IF YOU ARE INTO PUSHING YOUR AMP'S TURBO BOOST BASE BUTTON WITH FLASHY LIGHTS !) THESE ARE NOT FOR YOU I THINK THERE IS A PLACE CALLED CURRYS WHERE YOU WILL FIND YOU SORT OF THING!

I bought these speakers in december 2008.

I am dissapointed when I compare to my old KEF K20 which are even smaller than DM685. DM685 is missing too much in the middle range tone, only the highest and the lowest frequency really good. I have even heard even smaller speakers with better sound and they were also cheaper. I cannot understand how they have become a winner in test. Not that they are bad speakers, not at all. But as someone else wrote here, I wish to be able to hear and point out where the instruments are. Unfortunately I played to high on my KEF speakers and then you know what happens :( I think I migth sell the DM685 and go look for some new KEF og BOSE speakers.

I purchased the 685's after having major problems with a set of Quads that sevenoaks sold me.I had the 12L's on the front and 11L's at the rear. After two woofer replacments and three tweeter replacments I'd had enough and demanded sevenoaks replaced them with another make. They sold me the 685's discounted and chucked in a pair of DS3 rears for nowt !!! Over the years I've been through several makes and models between £300-£750 and the 685's are the sweetest speakers I've had. Even a friend who had a pair of Monitor Audio reference speakers(£1000)worth had to admit they were very nearly as good as his! The 685's DO need to be on some solid stands,mines on Patington super dreadnaughts,also it took me a good month to get them sited correctly but when done you wont be dissapointed. I can wholly recommend the 685's. 10/10

I have these speakers since last week and I am thinking about returning them. They are not for everybody and not for every type of music (not for punk, electronic-rock, etc).  Listen to them first (not like me). Onkyo 701E.

Yesterday I was with friends listening to music and one of the girls asked, "What is that noise? Is that a thunder storm? It is like if they only played the highest and the lowest frequency producing a sub-sonic effect but, I do not want to hear an sub-sonic effect, I want to hear a musical instrument.  I rather hear comments like "Is someone playing the "contrabajo" in the next room"?  

I bought these a couple of months ago to go with my Arcam alpa 9 integrated and 8SE player.  These are good speakers, great detail, nicely balanced, but they're not the most exciting.  This may ofcourse be due to what they're partnered with - the Arcams are hardly 'rocking'.  But I still get the sense that they need to be partnered with a powerful amp, and generally fast, bright sounding  equipment. They also need plenty of space.  My 13.5 x 13.5 foot room is probably just a touch too small for them.

There is upside of the laidback character  - you don't need to worry too much about 'balance' in the rest of your system - you can also use Nordost interconnects and cables, which are great (but slightly bright) and add a huge dollop of speed and detail.  I changed my Straitwire Encore 2's to some Nordost Blue Heavens and the difference was amazing.  

Bad:  Need zuped up electronics to sound their  best.

Good: Just about everything else about the sound is good.

(4/5)